Knit a Baby Blanket
If you want to make something for a new mother but don't have a lot of time, a hand-knit baby blanket may be the perfect gift. You can choose from a variety of simple to ornate baby blanket patterns, or create your own using your favorite decorative stitch.
Steps
- Select what kind of stitch or stitch pattern you'd like to use. Ways of finding stitch patterns include:
- Consult a stitch dictionary (a collection of instructions for how to knit decorative stitch patterns).
- Search for complete blanket patterns online.
- Use garter stitch (knit all stitches on both sides of the fabric). The result is bumpy on both sides. You can also use stockinette stitch (alternate rows of knit and purl stitches) to knit a baby blanket that's bumpy on one side and smooth on the other.
- Choose your yarn. You can knit a baby blanket out of almost any yarn, but a few general rules apply:
- The thicker or chunkier the yarn, the faster the blanket will knit up.
- The softer the better.
- Some parents may prefer that you use only natural fibers like cotton or wool. However, many will appreciate the ease of care featured with artificial fibers such as polyester.
- Select your needles. Most yarn wrappers will recommend the appropriate-size needle for working that sort of yarn.
- Knit a test swatch, also called a gauge swatch, with the yarn and needles you select. The typical gauge swatch is 4 inches by 4 inches (10 cm by 10 cm).
- If you're using an already-established knitting pattern, it will tell you how many stitches and rows it should take you to make a swatch of a certain size. Adjust the needle size up or down until you reach the appropriate number of stitches and rows.
- If you're making up your own pattern as you go, you can adjust needle size as necessary until you like how the stitches look. Then count how many stitches and rows are in a 1-inch-by-1-inch (2.5-cm-by-2.5-cm) piece of the swatch. Multiply these by how many inches wide and long you want the baby blanket to be. (If you're using metric measurements, multiply by how many centimeters wide you want the blanket to be, then divide by 2.5.) This tells you how many stitches to cast on and how many rows to knit to make the baby blanket the correct size.
- If you're using a decorative pattern, it may require multiples of a certain number of stitches (for example, multiples of 4 or multiples of 5) to come out correctly. You might also want to add a few stitches of garter or stockinette stitch on either side of the blanket as edging. Round your target number of stitches up or down to reach the appropriate stitch multiple, then add any edging stitches to the count.
- Cast on the number of stitches called for in the pattern, or if you're creating your own pattern, the number you calculated based on the gauge swatch.
- Knit all the way across the row, following either the decorative stitch pattern you chose or the complete baby blanket pattern.
- Turn your work and continue knitting until the blanket is the desired length.
- Bind off (this is also called casting off) loosely.
- If you're not sure how to cast off, try this: knit two stitches, then use your left-hand needle to gently pry the bottom stitch on the right-hand needle up and off the needle, so it drapes over the other stitch (which remains on the right-hand needle). Knit another stitch, so you have 2 stitches on the right-hand needle again, then pry the bottom stitch up and over the top stitch, off the needle. Repeat, and then pull the tail end of the yarn through the last stitch.
- Thread any loose ends of yarn through a tapestry needle and weave them into the knit blanket, then clip off any extra yarn.
Things You'll Need
- Yarn
- Knitting needles
- Measuring tape
- Scissors
- Tapestry needle
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