Sunday, September 1, 2013

Bias Striped Knit Baby Blanket - Free Pattern



BIAS STRIPED KNIT BABY BLANKET
Super easy, fast, and fully customizable!

Recently, I was asked to knit a baby blanket for an upcoming baby shower. Naturally, I started scouring Ravelry and Pinterest and the Internet in general for ideas. I came across a lovely blanket at Rust & Sunshine and fell in love with the overall look. I thought I'd hit the jackpot when I saw a link to a pattern, but, as luck would have it, the pattern had been removed. "Oh, well," I thought, "I'll just write my own." And, because I like to share, the pattern below is for free. However, I ask that this only be used for *personal* use and not commercial use. This pattern is fully customizable to whatever yarn & size you desire. I used a bulky weight yarn and changed color every 4 rows - it knit up quite quickly! Gauge is unimportant, except for the binding - instructions for figuring out how to adjust the binding for your project are included. Enjoy!

Bias Striped Knit Baby Blanket

*PERSONAL USE ONLY*

Yarn: Knit Picks Biggo Yarn. I used 3 hanks each of Wonderland & Bare and 2 hanks of Dove, with plenty left over for a matching hat or two!
 
Needles: Size 11 circular needles (40 inches) & size 10.5 circular needles (32 inch)
 
Gauge: Unimportant
 
Finished Size: approx. 30x30, but you can make your as large as you'd like.
 
Abbreviations:
kfb - knit into the front and back of the stitch
k2tog - knit 2 stitches together
 

Instructions:

With size 11 circular needles, cast on 4 sts.
Rows 1-4: kfb of 1st st, k to end
Row 5: change color, kfb of 1st st, k to end
Rows 6-8: kfb, k to end
Repeat rows 5-8 until side measures your desired length, changing colors every 4 rows. Carry your alternate color yarn up the side of every odd row by twisting the two colors each time you begin an odd row.
 
Begin decreases:
Row 1: On next color change row, k2tog, k to end
Rows 2-4: k2tog, k to end
Repeat decrease rows 1-4 until you are back down to 4 sts, continuing to carry your alternate color yarn up the side.
Bind off purl-wise.
"Right" side without binding. You could stop here, but the sides where you carried the yarn look a little less than finished, so keep that in mind.

"Wrong" side, which I actually completely and totally love!
 
 
Binding:
Here is where you need to worry about gauge, but only to figure out how many stitches you'll need for the length of your blanket and your unique gauge.
 
Here's how: Knit a swatch in k2, p2 ribbing, using 10.5 circular needles.
Measure your gauge by counting how many stitches across = 4 inches. Its best to measure in 4 inch increments because gauge can vary a little depending on where you measure, so taking a 4 inch area helps average out the differences and will increase the likelihood you'll have an accurate measurement.
In my case, my gauge was 18 sts = 4 inches.
Now, divide that by 4 to find out how many sts per inch (4.5 sts per inch for me).
Now measure the length of the side of your blanket and multiply it by your gauge.
So, my blanket is 27" (it should be a square). 27x4.5 for my ribbing gauge per inch = 121.5 sts. Obviously, I can't knit 1/2 a stitch and because I'm doing a k2, p2 pattern, I want an even number so I'm going to round up to 122.
 
So, for the binding, I'm going to pick up 122 sts across one side of the blanket. (You pick up however many stitches you figured out above!). The best way to evenly space these picked up stitches is to put a marker at the 1/2 waypoint (I like to also put them at the 1/4 waypoints too) and then keep track of how many stitches should fill that space.
 
After you've picked up your necessary number of stitches:
Work 5 rows of k2, p2 ribbing.
Bind off in pattern (k the knit stitches and p the purl stitches)
 
Repeat on the opposite side.
Here it is with binding added to 2 opposite side.
Now, you'll have to do a teeny bit more math as your measurements for the remaining sides have changed with the addition of the binding. In my case, the binding added 3" onto the measurement. So, 30" x 4.5 gauge = 135 sts. Because I need an even number for the ribbing pattern, I picked up 136 sts evenly spaced across.

Just as before, work 5 rows of k2, p2 ribbing
Bind off in pattern
Repeat on opposite side.

Weave in all ends. Enjoy!
All finished. I absolutely love the way this yarn knit up. Its soft as a cloud, yet sturdy and "clean" looking!

Here's how the edges of the binding come together.


 
 
 

26 comments:

  1. sooo cute ~ can't wait to make this!

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    1. Ceilithe,
      I'm so glad you like it! Let me know if you have any questions while you're making it :)

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  2. i love the blanket. i would like to know if i could knit it in a retangle?

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    1. Yes, there is a way! I am preparing a blog post using a bias technique for a skinny scarf (rectangle!) I'll link it here once I get it up. If the sun would cooperate I could actually get some pics!

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  3. Hi, looks like a lovely project! As a relative newbie, can I ask if it has to be knit on circular needles? I'm not sure how that is needed for this. Pardon my inexperience!

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    1. Excellent question! A lot of new knitters think of circular needles as only being useful for knitting in the round, but they do so much more! Circular needles are also used for knitting flat (as regular needles) and are excellent for pieces that are simply too large to fit on straight needles, trust me, you'll need the length of the circular needles once the blanket gets going - it's just entirely too big for straight needles. If you've never used circular needles before, this is an excellent way to get comfortable with them. In fact, I use circulars more than my straights! They're super handy for top down sweaters. Feel free to ask any other questions you may have! Happy knitting :)

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  4. I am going to start on this blanket this weekend, but it is the first time I will be trying stripes, I am not sure how to "carry"my yarn. Any tips?

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    1. Hi S! Its very easy, actually. You just want to twist the two strands together each time you get to the side that's carrying the color. You'll be able to see that the spare yarn strand is effectively set on top of the active yarn so that when you go to knit the first stitch of the new row, it gently pulls it up too. Below is a very clear video if you're more of a visual person. She recommends only carrying up if you're knitting more than 4 rows, but personally, I think it's neater and easier to carrying it every 2 rows (every other row):

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeJfbIFWZlI

      I hope that helps! If you have any other questions, I am more than happy to answer them!

      (Sorry about the hyperlink issue - I'm not sure why its not hyperlinking for easy access to the video)

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    2. This was helpful. Thank you for taking the time to respond.

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  5. Do you think it's feasible to do this via knit + purl instead of garter?

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    1. I don't see why not! I would do the increasing on the knit rows, personally. You will have a more prominent right/wrong side going this route and blocking will be more important since the sides may curl on you, but I'd just block before adding the border to make it easier to work with. The only other thing I can think of is that the increases & decreases will be more obvious, but once the border is on, I doubt an untrained eye would notice them. I say go for it and I'd love to see pics when you're done!

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    2. Oops. I didn't refresh the page to see your response! I'm doing a swatch now and it's working out with the PFB. Will definitely show you pictures. I'm megmarmor on ravelry.

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    3. Love it! I added you as a friend on Ravelry so I can keep an eye out for the finished product :)

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  6. I answered my own question. On the WS I PFB and it is working great.

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  7. Thank you so much for the pattern! I am in the process of making a baby blanket using your basic pattern, but I needed some umph! around the edges. Your rib pattern will provide extra color and style! Thanks again!

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    1. Susie,
      YAY!! I'm so happy I could help! I absolutely love being a part of the collaborative world of crafters!

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  8. Parabéns pelo blog, coisas lindas, adorei grata, bjus téka

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    1. Muchas gracias, Teka! A mi me gusta compartir mis ideas con otras! (Lo siento que no hablo portugese - espero que usted puede leer y entender el espanol)

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  9. You mentioned in your post that you would prefer this pattern be for personal use - I was wondering if you would be upset if I used it as a donation for a silent auction? I would "link" the pattern back to you of course. :)

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    1. Hailey! Yes! Please, please do use this pattern to create something for a silent auction! So long as it's not being used for commercial gain, I'm good with it - and thank you for asking first!!! Feel free to comment with a plug for the auction :)

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  10. I'm working on this now but I think I'll do an attached I-cord edging instead of the ribbing. It makes such a nice lofty and airy baby blanket. Thank you for the pattern!

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  11. Hello. Could you crochet using front and back post stitches to achieve
    Ribbing on the border without the math ?

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  12. Hi, I can ask if you want to do the corners with ribbing not overlapped how to do? I do not know if I made you understand. Thank you

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  13. Hi I'm just using your boarder pattern and was stuck on what I do on the 2nd row, the back of the knit, 1st row (front row) k2,p2 what do I do for the next row? Thank you

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  14. Did you come up with a pattern to make this rectangular? I never saw a post. Thank you.

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