Tag: knitting pattern

A Shiny Baby Blanket

I finally finished this special project, which is a blanket for my friend Mandi’s upcoming surprise baby. It took a long time, because I used small needles and only have about an hour of knitting time per day. I recommend the size called for by the yarn, a 5 US.

Knitted ripples

Mandi asked for a ripple afghan, which is easy to crochet, but it hurts my hands too much. So, I looked for knitted ones. I didn’t like any of the ones I found, so I just did it the way I wanted to.

Note the sequins!

I used another version of Lion Brand Mandala yarn, the one that has slow color changes. This one has sequins in it. Just enough. Not too many. It was easy to work with and is machine washable. I also like the size it came out. Perfect for a newborn or a “lovey” blanket. I had one of those I slept with until college. Its name was “Lovin’ Blanket,” or LB. It once was a satin receiving blanket, but after many years, all that was left was its edges. I digress.

How to Make Your Own

So, here is the extra easy pattern, at least if you know the abbreviations.

Mine took 3 balls of Mandala Sequins plus about a quarter of another ball, to make both ends blue. You can make the blanket as wide or long as you want. It could be adult size, if desired!

Cast on a multiple of 12 stitches + 8. I did 12 repeats. 142 stitches.

Row 1 slip 1, knit to end

Row 2 slip 1, *SSK, K4, YO, K2, YO, K4, K2tog* repeat between ** until the last stitch, K1

Repeat these two rows until you reach the length you want, then bind off loosely. Slipping the first stitch on each row makes a nice edge, especially if you knit the last stitch through the back loop.

The next blanket I make will be mitered squares in another colorway of the same yarn, with a centered decrease accent.

Hexagonal Rainbow Stripy Glory

Hooray! My mistaken “invention” is finished! It’s perky, trippy, stripy, and glorious. If I were a baby, I’d want it for my floor mat, and I’d want to gum those wormy fringes.

It’s different, all right.

I had so much fun watching the stripes develop. And the fringe cracked me up. It makes the blanket a little feminine but won’t hurt babies.

It’s easy, too.

How to Make It

Intermediate and above knitters will want to know how to make one of these, so here we go, informally. Beginners, make the actual pattern! It’s easy.

Lion Brand Mandala in Gnome and Sprite with a little Honeycake.
from the Lion Brand site.

The basic pattern is NOT by me. It is an adaptation of Meadowland Baby Blanket by  Irina Poludnenko. (It’ a free download.) The pattern is supposed to create a square blanket, and if you follow the instructions correctly and pay attention to the diagram of how to make the triangles link up, you will, indeed, get a square blanket, just like the one on the pattern front page. Lots of people have made it, and it comes out quite cute.

However, I made a mistake after finishing the first triangle and picked up the stitches for the second triangle along the edge with the decreases, not the straight edge. If you look at the close-up above, you can see that I picked up the 96 stitches along the edge with a little jog in it (where the decreases that create the triangles are). So, you do this, too.

Other than that, follow the Meadowland pattern, but don’t stop after four triangular wedges (because it will NOT be a square). Keep going and make one more.

It really adds that pop of color to one’s bland timeshare condo.

For the sixth section of the blanket, you’ll attach the new triangular wedge to the first one as you go. To do this, end each right-side row with K2tog, knit next stitch together with the next cast-on bump from the first triangle. There will be 96 of them, and since there are 96 garter ridges in the triangle, you’ll end up having invisibly seamed the blanket. (In the close-up photo, the blue stripe was where I cast on, and the pink stripes are the last triangle.

You could also just knit the last wedge the same as the others and use mattress stitch to sew the edges together.

When you’re done, work the same edge as the Meadowland pattern calls for, or any other edging you’d like, such as single crochet.

Note that the two extra wedges meant I needed to start a third ball of yarn. If Sprite had been available, I’d have used it, but I used another color instead.

There you go, how to make a hexagonal blanket from a square pattern. If you read this and know a better way to describe the way I finished the last wedge of the blanket, let me know.