Snuggly Baby Blanket

This is a really simple baby blanket I knitted while I was pregnant with my son. At the time I started knitting it, I didn't yet know if he was going to be a boy or a girl, so I went with a multicoloured wool in soft baby colours. 

The pattern was a free one that I found online, but I can't for the life of me remember the site where I got it. It starts out with casting on 5 knit stitches and then you use a yarn over increase every row so you gain one stitch each row. You keep going until the blanket is as wide as you want, and then start to decrease. The yarn-overs on each row make a border around  the blanket, and when you decrease each row, you actually decrease two stitches and still do a yarn over, so your row ends up being one stitch shorter.

The pattern showed a blanket that was blue and white, knitted using two balls of wool at the same time. The wool weight was Double Knitting. As I said, I ended up using two balls of multicoloured wool, which I think gave a nice graduated stripe effect, and the colours would be suitable for either a boy or a girl.

I made this blanket to be moses basket/pram size, which was about 160 stitches by 160 rows or thereabouts. In total I used four balls of wool to make it. Basically, I knitted increasing until I got to the end of the first two balls, then I started the decreasing. The number of wool balls you need will vary depending on the meterage of the wool. The link at the bottom shows the wool I used. I also used 4mm x 150cm circular needles. 

I think overall it took me about a three weeks to knit this, however I was working full time so could only knit for an hour or so in the evenings and then longer on weekends. It's definitely a nice straightforward project, and the best part about it is that the size of the piece is completely up to you. The pattern can be used for anything from a dish scrubbie to a king size bedspread!

The pattern goes like this:

(k = knit, yo = yarn over, k2tog = knit two together)

Cast on 5 stitches

1st row: k3, yo, k2

2nd row: k3, yo, k3

3rd row: k3, yo, k4..... 

4th row: k3, yo, k to end of row. Continue until desired width is achieved.

To decrease: k2, k2tog, yo, k2tog, k to end of row. Continue until there are 5 stitches left on your needle.

Cast off

Wool from: Go Woolly - Cygnet Kiddies Couture Prints DK

Needles from: Amazon