Hudson’s Bay Inspired Crib Blanket
We love the Hudson’s Bay Blanket for its classic simplicity and beauty. And maybe more, we love the underlying belief that, even in the midst of the great Canadian wilderness with its arduous cold and haunting vastness, the Hudson’s Bay Blanket will protect us.
Originally, the Hudson’s Bay Blanket’s lightweight warmth and insulation made it common barter for Native American goods, like beaver pelts, buffalo robes and moccasins. But in the last three hundred years the Hudson Bay Blanket has come a long way. Now it is practically a national symbol to many Canadians, and to the rest of the world, an unmistakable design icon.
I love the idea of a handknit version, borrowing the iconography of the original and lending it a little homemade twist! Sized for a baby’s crib, I’m also tickled by the notion of a small child wrapped in the gear of a rugged adult. No baby in sight? Use it as a gorgeous throw over your favorite chair, in front of a roaring fireplace. It may not be an open fire deep in a white pine forest, but, hey, you’re probably not a fur trapper either!
For this special project we turned to Anzula’s absolutely gorgeous For Better or Worsted. A merino, cashmere, nylon blend, it is the perfect blanket yarn with its machine washable durability and cuddly soft coziness. And its quirky hand dyed colors give the Hudson’s Bay Blanket a fresh look, warm and bright!
So, for a great barter idea this holiday season, give a handknit Hudson’s Bay Crib Blanket. In exchange, you’ll get a whole lot of love! -Whitney
Designed by Purl Soho designer, Whitney Van Nes.
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, and #PurlSohoHudsonBayBlanket. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
10 skeins of Anzula’s For Better Or Worsted, 80% Superwash Merino Wool , 10% Cashmere and 10% Nylon; each skein is 200 yards/ 100 grams. You’ll need the following color breakdown…
- 6 skeins of Au Natural; approximately 1200 yards required.
- 1 skein of Teal; approximately 200 yards required.
- 1 skein of Ducky; approximately 200 yards required.
- 1 skein of Candied Apple; approximately 200 yards required.
- 1 skein of Juniper; approximately 200 yards required.
You’ll also need…
- US 7 (4.5 mm), 24- or 32- inch circular needles
Gauge
19 stitches = 4 inches in garter stitch
Size
34 inches wide and 39 inches long
NOTE: Garter stitch has a tendency to stretch, so your blanket will “grow” beyond these dimensions.
Notes
- When this pattern refers to “ridges”, it means a garter stitch ridge which is formed by knitting two rows. Counting “ridges” is an easy way to determine how many rows you have knitted without having to count as you work. But if you find this confusing, just multiply the number of ridges given by 2 and that is how many rows you should knit (ie 6 ridges is 12 rows).
- Always change colors with the right side facing you, so that all of the tails are along the same selvedge.
Pattern
With the Main Color (Au Natural), cast on 162 stitches. We used a basic Long Tail Cast On.
Knit until piece measures 4 1/2 inches from the cast on edge (or 21 ridges).
With the Teal, knit 6 ridges.
With the Main Color, knit 6 ridges.
With the Ducky, knit 6 ridges.
With the Main Color, knit 6 ridges.
With the Candied Apple, knit 6 ridges.
With the Main Color, knit 6 ridges.
With the Juniper, knit 6 ridges.
With the Main Color, knit for 11 3/4 inches (or 53 ridges).
With the Juniper, knit 6 ridges.
With the Main Color, knit 6 ridges.
With the Candied Apple, knit 6 ridges.
With the Main Color, knit 6 ridges.
With the Ducky, knit 6 ridges.
With the Main Color, knit 6 ridges.
With the Teal, knit 6 ridges.
With the Main Color, knit 4 1/2 inches (or 21 ridges).
Bind off loosely in knit stitch.
Weave in the ends and tada!
Hi Susan,
To figure out how many stitches to cast on, you take the gauge, i.e. the number of stitches you are knitting per inch, and multiply it by the number of inches wide you would like your blanket.
For example, our blanket’s gauge is 19 stitches = 4 inches, that means per inch the gauge is 4.75 (19 divided by 4 = 4.75). We wanted our blanket to be 34 inches wide and so we multiplied 34 x 4.75 and got 161 (okay, we cast on 162 stitches, but close enough!). Note: Be sure of your gauge before you make these calculations!
And, unless you’re thinking of making your blanket much bigger, one skein of each stripe color yarn will probably be enough. And depending, again, on how big you intend to scale up, you should buy one, two, maybe three more skeins of the Au Natural.
Please let us know if you have any more questions and good luck!
Whitney
Love this blanket. Made one for my granddaughter in Japan to remind her of her Canadian roots. Working on a second and wondering how to avoid the previous colour showing up in the first stitch of the new colour row. Hope that makes sense. Thanks.
Hello Jane,
Are you referring to the jog of the previous color showing up throughout the row on the wrong side of the blanket? Unfortunately there is no way for that to be invisible. We recommend changing colors always on the same side, so at least all the changing color rows will be on one side.
If you’re worried about the colors slightly overlapping along the edges of the blanket, don’t worry too much! You’ll be able to hide and manipulate the color slightly when you’re weaving in your ends!
We’re so glad you like the blanket and happy knitting! -Alyson
Are you talking about the little color dots? If so, Techknitter has an explanation of why it happens and how to correct it. Search her index for “Color, texture and ribbing without the icky dots–a mystery of knitting, explained”. I tried it and it works, but it takes adjusting your row counts for each color.
Hi, I’m just getting ready to switch colours, and I’ve been slipping the first stitch of each row as if to purl. Do you recommend carrying the main colour along or cutting it?
Thanks!
Hello Gillian,
I wouldn’t recommend carrying up the main color since the stripes of the contrasting colors are so wide. You will be able to see a significant bar of the main color along the edge of the blanket. Even though it will take a lot more weaving in of ends…it will be a more finished looking piece in the end!
Best of luck! -Alyson
Hi,
Am thinking of knitting this for a future baby coming into my life and am wondering how many yards of yarn each of the stripes took? Sounds like the natural color uses all of the skeins, but am thinking that the stripes use less yardage than in one skein.
Thanks!
Hilary
Hello Hilary!
You’re totally right! You don’t use the entire skein at all for the stripes. Were you thinking of reducing the amount of colors used for the stripes? Let us know what you’re thinking and we can do our best to help you estimate!
Happy knitting! -Alyson
How many yards is a skein of the anzula’s for better or worsted?
Hello Alice!
Each skein is handmade, but they are estimated to be roughly 200 yards per skein. Thanks for asking! -Alyson
I have just started knitting the Hudson Bay blanket. To make a smooth edge, I have been slipping the last stitch of each row purl wise with the yarn in front..
Could you tell me the best way to start a new color?
Thank you.
Hi, Vickie!
Thank you so much for writing in! The Slip 1 purl wise wyif makes such a lovely, neat edge! I recommend starting a new color in the same way that you would join a new skein of yarn.
If you have further questions please let us know! Again, thank you for your question!
Best wishes,
Kumeko
Hi Purlbee – I’ve had this on a Pinterest page for years and years, and would finally like to do it, hey I might get it done by next fall! I’d like to do it on a knitting-peg -loom though, do you know what i mean? My question is: i’d plan to loom-knit each ‘stripe’ separately, but then do you have any advice on a stitch i can use to attach the stripes together? Thank you! Maya.
Hello, Maya!
Thank you for writing in! You could use the mattress stitch to seam your stripes. If you have further questions please let us know!
Best,
Kumeko
Hi! I love this blanket, thank you for sharing it! I was wondering does it have to be a #7 circular needle or is it 34 inch circular needle? I am new to knitting and still understanding the language. Thanks!
Hi Cori,
We are glad to share it! So happy you like it! US 7 refers to the needle gauge, or how big the needle is, while 32″ refers to the cord length. You’ll need to knit this on a corded needle because there are so many cast on stitches. Let me know if you have any other questions!
-Adam
This is a beautiful blanket. My son and his wife are expecting a baby in June so it will be warm weather. My daughter-in-law has requested white, yellow and gray. I was looking at the Cascade Ultra Pima Yarn and thought it would have a nice drape and not be too warm for summer weather. A couple of questions: 1) Which color would you make as the main color? 2) How much yarn of each will I need to purchase? 3) Will I need to adjust the pattern and/or needle size? Thank you.
Hi Amy,
Thanks for writing in and congratulations! To modify this blanket to work with a thinner yarn, you will need to do some modifications as this pattern is written giving the number of ridges to knit rather than the length of each stripe. For our version approximately 4.5 ridges equals 1 inch. You may want to choose 4 ridges or 5 ridges for your blanket.
To make a blanket of equal size, you will cast on 204 stitches on a US 5 or 6 using the Cascade Pima. I think that you will need about 4-5 skeins of the main color and then a single skein of each of your stripes. For the color palette that your son is requesting, I think White as the main color would work well with stripes of Gold, Gray, Silver and Buff.
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
I really appreciate Purl Soho! I’m making a felted wool tote bag (for myself) and am using the HBC colours and someone asked me if I’m allowed to use the HBC colour/identity in my project. Could you comment on borrowing identity?
Hello Yolande!
Thank you so much for writing in! You are welcome to use our Hudson’s Bay Inspired Crib Blanket colors for your felted tote bag. We are delighted that you found inspiration from one of our projects.
Best wishes,
Kumeko
I was wondering if i could use wool-ease thick & quick yarn by lion and if so, what size circular needle would be used. Would i follow the same pattern or would i have to cast on a different number.
Thank you
Hi Sharon!
Thank you for your question! You can certainly substitute Wool-Ease Thick & Quick yarn in this pattern. You can use a US 13 24 or 32-inch needle. Since the Thick & Quick is a chunkier yarn you’ll need to adjust the pattern slightly. We always recommend making a gauge swatch to help figure out your cast on. For example, if you get 2.25 stitches per inch you would multiply 2 x 34 (the width of the blanket) to get 68. You would cast on 68 stitches.
Next, knit with the main color until you get 4 1/2-inches. Then for the striping, knit each stripe to be about 1.5 inches. Then, once you get to the end you’ll knit with the main color until you get 4 1/2-inches. Finally, you’ll bind off loosely in knit stitch.
Does that make sense? Please let us know if you have any more questions!
Best wishes,
Kumeko
What cast on method do you recommend for this blanket?
Thanks!
Hi Maggie,
The long tail cast on will do just fine!
-Adam
love this pattern, I want to make it for a newly pregnant friend of mine, any suggestions of yarns to use that will make it affordable? with a total of 10 of these skeins, it seems like I can’t afford to bust out $350 for a baby blanket 🙁
Hi Angela,
Thanks for writing us! I’d look at Blue Sky Cotton for a less expensive version. Hope you like the recommendation!
-Adam
How much of each color would one need to scale this up to a queen size blanket? Thinking of investing the time into making something timeless for our home 🙂
Hi Loren!
It’s hard to tell how much yarn you would need to change the size of the blanket but I did a little blanket research and it seems like anywhere from 2,500 yards-3,500 yards of a worsted weight wool would be enough for a queen sized blanket.
I hope this helps!
Carly
Hi, I’ve just finished knitting this blanket and before casting off I thought I would try an applied I-cord. Do you think this would add or detract from the beauty of the blanket? Also, since the finished blanket is a bit heavy, do you think I should pick up two and skip one along the long sides to prevent sagging. Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Suzanne
Hi Suzanne,
Thanks for writing in! You can certainly add an applied i-cord here if you like! I tend to like the total simplicity of the garter stitch! If you decide to give the i-cord a go, I would knit a few inches picking up every row and then a few inches picking up every other and see which you prefer. You may also want to try picking up 2 for every 3 stitches. There are no hard and fast rules here and what looks best to you tends to be the right answer!
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
I’m planning on using your blanket as a start to making a king sized blanket in strips to be sewn together later
Hello Cat,
Thank you for writing us! This sounds like a lovely idea- let us know how it goes!
Warmly,
Marilla
I am VERY new to knitting but I want to try a simple, small blanket. I have only done scarves. This might be a dumb question, but can I knit this as one solid piece (aside from the color changes) or am I knitting portions together? It’s hard to imagine fitting this all on my needles. Thanks for helping a newbie.
Hi Molly,
Thanks for writing in and welcome to the world of knitting! For this blanket, we knit it in one solid piece, changing yarn colors when we get to them!
To join a new ball of yarn stop knitting with the old ball when there are at least 8 inches of yarn remaining. To begin the new ball, put the right needle into the next stitch. Leaving an 8-inch tail of the new yarn, begin knitting with the new yarn as usual. Do not tie a knot.
This leaves two tails. It also leaves stitches that seem loose and a small hole in your knitting, but never fear! You will fix this at the end of the project when you weave in the ends. At that point, you will cross the tails so that you weave the right tail to the left of the hole and the left tail to the right.
It’s a good idea to add new balls of yarn a few stitches from the beginning or end of a row, rather than in the middle of the row. This way your woven ends will be near the edge of the knitting rather than conspicuously in the middle.
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
Good Evening
I am wanting to Knit a Hudson Bay scarf. Unfortunately as yet I haven’t been able to find a pattern.
I am wondering if I divide the Hudson Bay Crib Blanket stitches of 162 stitch in 1/2 it would be 80 stitches for a Scarf.
But since I would like to make a wide and long scarf 80 stitches doesn’t seem to wide enough. So how does a 100 stitches instead for a Hudson Bay Scarf ?
I would follow the pattern as you have shared with us, the pattern would be just be a tad smaller.
Instead of 6 skeins of Natural (White) how does 3 skeins sound instead? The other colours would still be 1 skeins, even if I don’t use all of them.
I am a Canadian and presently live in Vancouver, BC and have shopped at the Hudson Bay stores for many years, as did my Mother. In the beginning it was called Morgans and then changed to the Hudson Bay Company.
Thank you for sharing all your glorious patterns and yarns to inspire us that we too can be creative and knit anything we
wish to do.
Wishing you and the Purl Soho Staff and Team along with your family’s, a most Happy New Year for 2018.
Hi Sandra,
Thanks for writing in and thank you for your kind words! We are happy to help! Were you to cast on 81 stitches (half of the cast on number for the blanket), you would have a 17 inch wide scarf. Most of our scarves range from 8-12 inches wide and our wraps range from 18-20 inches wide. A cast on of 100 stitches would give you a 21 inch wide scarf. For a scarf that is 21 inches wide and 70 inches long, you will need 5 skeins of the main color and 1 of each of the contrast. As garter stitch does have the tendency to grow over time, the finished length will be less than 70 to begin but after blocking and wearing will be the correct length.
I hope that this helps and happy new year!
Cassy
I also love the idea of a scarf in this pattern (I just finished the crib blanket). How many stitches would I need to cast on for 12 in wide, and how many skeins of the main color would I need?
Thanks for your help! Jenn
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks for writing in! For a 12 inch scarf you will need 1 skein of each contrast color (you will have left overs) and 4 skeins of the main color! You will want to cast on 57 stitches!
Happy knitting!
Cassy
I could use some expert help selecting yarn for a blanket I am crocheting for a mom who wants to use her grown children’s favorite colors so I am having a problem selecting yarn that goes well with the 4 colors to work with: Blue, Green, Purple, Orange. Geez Louise, I didn’t think it was going to be hard, but it really is. I finally caved in and decided to do a stripe, but then found that wasn’t easy either. Then, I saw this pattern and thought it would make the best choice. Can you suggest bulky choices that would look nice? Thanks, Kathy
Hi Kathy,
Happy to help! Those are some challenging colors but I think that we can help! I would suggest going with a gray as the main color, perhaps a charcoal. I think that it would set off the brightness of the colors and perhaps in an order of Orange, Green, Blue and Purple, they will seem a bit more intentional! I think that Cascade Superwash 128 would be a great choice here! A washable, bulky yarn that has some great color options and a fantastic charcoal gray that I think would make a lovely blanket!
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
I would love to knit this for my expected grand child this summer. I see you recommended Blue Sky cotton as an option. Can you tell me which colors you would use and how many skeins of each? Thank you
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for reaching out! I would use Drift as the main color, and Pickle, Tomato, Dandelion, and Indigo for the contrast colors. You will need 8 skeins of Drift and one of each of the contrast colors.
Best,
Julianna
Hi!
Would the cotton pure make a nice fabric for this blanket? Baby will be living in Florida-so must be cotton. Do I need to make any changes to the pattern?
thanks for the help!
Hi Mar,
Thanks for writing in! Cotton Pure does make a lovely blanket, but it is somewhat thinner than For Better or Worsted so you will need to knit a gauge swatch to see if you need to adjust the cast on. Once you know how many stitches you are getting per inch, you can multiply that number by 34 inches and cast on! Unfortunately Cotton Pure does not come in a palette similar to the original Hudson’s Bay Blanket, but I think you could create quite a few different beautiful color combinations! You will still need 6 skeins of your main color and one for each contrast stripe color.
Best of luck and happy knitting!
Julianna
Hi Julianna, I see your advice above to knit a gauge swatch, if someone wanted to knit this using the Cotton Pure. If using that yarn, would you still use a #7 circular needle or should you use the size recommended for the Cotton Pure yarn? Thank you for your help!
Hi Rachel,
Thanks for writing in! I would suggest using a needle size that we recommend for Cotton Pure, so between sizes US 3 and 5. Your gauge will end up being different from the gauge of For Better or Worsted on size US 7 needles, which is why Julianna is recommending to adjust the cast-on number as well! Hope this clarifies things.
All the best,
Lili
WIll you be getting more of the au naturel in stock soon?
Hello Nicole,
Thanks for writing in! We will hopefully be getting more Au Naturel in For Better or Worsted back in stock soon! In the mean time, you can sign up to be notified when we get it back in stock. To do so, go to the product page, select the color that you are interested in and enter your email address. When we get it back in stock, we will email you!
Warmly,
Marilla
What would be a similar less expensive yarn that would have the same pallet available?
Hello Gabriel,
Thank you for your interest in this lovely blanket! I would recommend exploring the colors of Manos Del Uruguay’s Maxima. It is 100% Merino and beautifully hand dyed.
I hope this helps and happy knitting!
-Marilla
I love the look and idea for the Hudson Bay crib blanket.
I would like to make a queen size one and would like to know how many skeins of the au natural yarn I would need as well as how many skeins of each of the contrast colors. Can you tell me how many stitches I should cast on and how many rows of each stripe?
Thank you!
Hi Karen,
What a great idea! A queen size throw is roughly 86 x 88 inches which is about 6 times the size of the throw that we made here! With that in mind, you would need roughly 6 times the amount of each yarn. You would need to use 3 skeins of each of the colors per stripe. The number of rows will depend on your personal gauge! Additionally, your cast on will also depend on the gauge that you are getting! If you are getting the same gauge that we are here, you would multiply 4.75 stitches per inch by 86 inches and cast on 408 stitches!
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
Thank you!
How many rows of each stripe do I knit for the queen size
blanket?
Thanks,
Karen
Hi Karen,
Good question! Unfortunately, I do not have a solid answer! We have not scaled this blanket up ourselves and thus have not knit it at the larger size. Additionally, personal gauge can change this pretty dramatically! With a little bit of back of the napkin math, I think that with 3 skeins per stripe, you would get 16 ridges or 32 rows per color. Again this may differ based on your personal gauge so a good option would be to use almost all of the 3 skeins per stripe being sure that you knit a full ridge before switching to the next color.
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
Thank you so much!
Karen
I just love the ease and look of this timeless crib blanket. I’ve made the super easy baby blanket countless times. I’d really love to use a sport weight cotton yarn (like Debbie Bloss Eco Cotton), or maybe a bamboo, for a blanket like this. Do you have suggestions for yarn and conversions?? Thanks ahead of time!
Hi Megan,
Thanks for reaching out! Unfortunately, we are all out of our favorite sport weight cotton – our own Cotton Pure – but we should be receiving the new version soon, and it would be just perfect for a crib blanket! If you can’t wait, Cascade Ultra Pima would also be a good option, or if you are open to non-cotton yarns, Anzula Cricket is washable and perfectly soft for babies. Whatever you choose, since you will be changing the gauge of the balnket, I would recommend knitting a gauge swatch on US 5 needles or whatever size is recommended on the label. You can then multiply your stitches per inch by 34 to determine your cast on number. You can then knit the pattern as written!
Best,
Julianna
Bought the yarn from you, made this blanket. It’s become my grandson’s go-to blanket at bedtime. The yarn is washable, but would you advise drying it or drip-dry?
Thanks.
Hi Kaye,
Thanks for writing in! It’s always wonderful when a hand knit present is so well received! Anzula For Better Or Worsted can be machine washed in cold water on a gentle cycle, but Anzula does not recommend machine drying their yarns. For best results, the blanket should be laid flat to dry.
Best,
Julianna
Do you end up having extra of the colored yarn? I want to make a 100% Cotton version and the yardage for the yarn I am looking at is 175 a skein.
Hi Haley,
Thanks for writing in! Unfortunately, we don’t have information on exactly how much yardage was used for the stripes in this blanket, but you should probably get two skeins of each contrast color to be on the safe side! Based on the yardage required for the main color of the blanket, we probably used most or all of each skein of For Better or Worsted, which has 200 yards, for each contrast color.
I hope that helps!
Julianna
Hi there
I would like to knit this blanket but I am looking for a cheaper alternative that isn’t cotton. Can you suggest some more alternatives to the Manos Maxima? I’d like to use merino or a merino blend. Just wondering if I have a few yarn sub options!?
Many thanks
Charlotte
Hi Charlotte,
Thanks for reaching out! For the most part all of our worsted weight yarns are within a similar price range, the ANZULA For Better or Worsted that we used for this pattern is on the more expensive side (merino and merino blends are typically a bit more expensive.) So if you are looking for merino I would suggest our Worsted Twist ($22 a skein) or MANOS DEL URUGUAY Maxima. This is an excellent merino option (especially being only $18 a skein.)
If you are open to other wool fibers besides merino (these will be less expensive) I would recommend our Linen Quill Worsted, HARRISVILLE DESIGNS Highland or BROOKLYN TWEED Shelter!
I hope this helps and feel free to reach out with any more questions!
Warmly,
Gianna
Hi Gianna
Thanks so much for this . Yes you’re right about the Maxima, it is good value, I will take another look. However I hadn’t even thought about the Harrisville and Brooklyn tweed options! They have such lovely earthy colours I think I could get the same effect as the Anzula.
Thanks so much for always trying to find alternatives for your customers. This is so important and really appreciated.
I love the look of this blanket! Do you think it would be just as attractive with a seed stitch border that maintains the colored stripes? Looking for an honest opinion before I start.
Hi Kelly,
Thanks for reaching out! Are you thinking of using seed stitch for the entire blanket or just along the border? I think this blanket could be very cool either way! However seed stitch would change the gauge quite a bit! I recommend working a gauge swatch first because you will likely want to adjust the cast on to maintain the dimensions.
Warmly,
Gianna
Hi Gianna, I was thinking of seed stitch only around the edge so the initial 6neutral garter ridges would become 6 rows of seed stitch and the first and last six stitches of each row would be worked in seed stitch. The center would remain garter. Do you think that would work? I’m a relatively new knitter so would appreciate your honest answer. Thanks!
Hi Kelly,
Thanks for your response! I do think that would work! I would try this out on a little swatch first, but you should be good to go!
Please let me know if you have any more questions!
Warmly,
Gianna
Hi, I have made 2 of the Hudson Bay crib blankets and now my friend has asked me to make one in twin size. Since it will be used in their cabin I’ll be making it in super saver acrylic, doubled. Can you help with the adjustments to approximately 63 x 87. I would appreciate any help. Thank you in advance. Barbara.
Hi Barabara,
Thanks for reaching out! What a fun project! If your gauge is consistent with the pattern with the new yarn, then I would suggest casting on 300 stitches for 63″ and then following the pattern as written changing colors when you would like until you have reached 87″ or your desired length!
I hope this helps, happy knitting!
Gianna