Easy Knit Baby Blanket for Beginners Tutorial

Do you want to learn how to knit a baby blanket? Then this simple beginners baby blanket pattern is for you! It’s super simple for a beginner knitter and can be made just in time for a baby shower, christening or Christmas Gift.

There’s something special about knitting a baby blanket for a newborn baby. Knowing that your handiwork will keep a baby warm is beyond heartwarming.

It seems like everyone on my personal facebook is busy having kids, every time I log on or catch up with an old friend someone new is recently expecting.

I made this baby blanket for both of my boys while pregnant with them. It was such an easy past time that I also made one for 6 other babies being born into my greater friends and family circle. There’s something sweet knowing all the 2017 and 2018 babies I love have a baby blanket that I made for them.

Knitting is also a great busy job when nesting. I had in fact made two blankets for each of them not knowing if I was having a boy or girl. Knitting baby blankets is fun and still helps you feel productive with the beautiful results!

Yes, knitting is a lovely past time especially when you’re knitting for a baby. During difficult times knitting is also a great way to deal with stress and unwind at the end of the day.

My hope is that with this pattern, you not only keep a little baby warm but you find some peace while knitting.

This pattern is actually easy enough to complete with a sleeping baby on your chest.

HOW TO KNIT A BABY BLANKET FOR BEGINNERS WITH CIRCULAR NEEDLES

Knitting this baby blanket requires a basic stitch pattern that consists of knits and purls making it the perfect pattern for beginners.

In order to complete this pattern you’ll need to know the very basic knit stitch and the purl stitch.

The basic knit stitch is also known as the garter stitch. Wether you are a right handed knitter or a lefty like me your working needle will go behind your non working needle. ( Right handed knitters, your right needle will go through the working stitch and behind the left needle.)

The second stitch you’ll need to know is the purl stitch. If you can do the knit stitch, then you can EASILY do the purl stitch. For a purl stitch your working needle will go in front of your non working needle. ( Right handed knitters, your right needle will go through the working stitch and in front of the left needle.)

I am a left handed knitter and often refer to YouTube to learn new stitches before jumping into a project as a visual.

I suggest checking out this more in depth post for beginner knitting stitches.

Remember, you learn to knit BEFORE you learn to make a baby blanket.

DO YOU NEED TO USE CIRCULAR NEEDLES?

Honestly, I’ve only ever used circular needles to make my baby blankets with and I find it much easier- plus, you don’t have to worry about losing the other needle between working on your project.

LEARN MORE ABOUT KNITTING WITH CIRCULAR NEEDLES

WHAT IS THE BABY BLANKET SIZE

The standard baby blanket size is 40 inches by 60 inches. This size is smaller than the size of a crib.

Even though that’s the standard there are up to nine different sizes for baby blankets. Depending on the purpose of the blanket like a lovey, preemie, receiving blanket, a swaddle, crib blanket or for the stroller.

I liked this standard size best for my boy’s baby blankets. It fit perfectly well in the stroller and in their crib or carseat. It was a bit big for the carseat as it needed to be folded in half. So, at the bottom of this post you’ll find the same pattern but in a carseat sized version.

Any combination of knit and purl stitches resulting in this size will give you a knit baby blanket with allowance for different tension and gauges.

BEGINNERS BABY BLANKET PATTERN

This pattern is one of the easy patterns that that anyone can do! With a basic stitch pattern of knits and purls this knit baby blanket is done on circular needles making the weight of the project much easier to manage and work with.

What makes this knit baby blanket fun and exciting is the mixed strands of yarn interwoven within the ball ( called variegated yarn) creating a beautiful array of colours and textures.

A fun stash busting hack is to use a variety of your favourite yarns to create your own variegated yarn! Or colour block like this baby blanket below

Plus, it’s a simple knit/purl pattern with no adding, dropping or complicated stitches. Once you’ve done the first few rows, you’ll get the hang of it and be off to the races!

In this post I share with you how to make a simple baby blanket and offer the pattern in a simple straight forward way.

I also give you tips to keep it uniform when putting two balls of yarn together. Something I learned the hard way after making this mistake the first time round!

Plus if you’re super short on time, I offer a modification for a quickie car seat blanket

I use a variety of colour patterns and combinations from the Bernat Baby Bundle line. The variety of soft baby colours offered are simply beautiful together, and the final project appears to be an intermediate pattern, when it fact it’s super simple! So be prepared for compliments when gift giving your baby blanket!

NOTE: This line is now currently discontinued, a great substitution is the Bernat Mix Home Yarn line. It still uses a variety of shades and textures and offers the same effect. Either way, each line works fabulously in making a beautiful knit baby blanket.

You’ll need a size 8mm or US 11 set of circular knitting needles.

You’ll need two balls of yarn for the baby blanket pattern.

For the quickie car seat pattern you’ll only need one ball of yarn. That’s $10 for a beautiful handmade gift that receives alot of compliments!

STITCH GAUGE

A stitch gauge is a very important part of a knitting pattern. The gauge is a way of measuring and checking for the size of your work compared to what it should be in the pattern so that your knit baby blanket is the exact size!

The tension of your knitting will determine your stitch gauge. If your work is too tightly knit, then it will measure smaller than the stitch gauge. If your knitting is done to loosely then your gauge will measure larger.

When knitting as a beginner it’s important to note that you want your stitches to be workable, not to tight and not to loose!

STITCH GAUGE FOR BABY BLANKET PATTERN

8.5 sts= 20 rows=4″ in Garter Stitch

PATTERN:

Cast on 75 stitches

Rows 1-5: Knit

Alternate between rows 6 & 7

Row 6: K 5, Purl to last 5 stitches, K 5

Row 7: Knit

Last 5 rows straight Knit

Bind Off

Tip:

When adding in the next ball of yarn it’s best to determine what follows suit in the yarn patterning.

I highly suggestI had matching the variegated yarns skiens when you reach halfway with the colour the followed.

Your final blankets size may be shorter, but it’s worth keeping the blanket yarn pattern consistent.

Simply unravel the second ball of yarn enough to find the following colour and go from there.

STASH BUSTING CARSEAT BABY BLANKET PATTERN:

I found with my boys that it was hard to find the ideal blanket that fit on them in their car seat.

With a bucket style seat, it’s nice to have a cozy knit baby blanket that fits on their lap without hanging and falling off. Most crib size blankets need to be folded and are bulky and fall off.

So I modified this simple knit baby blanket pattern to fix this frustrating issue.

Plus it’s a great frugal, time saving alternative. It only costs $10 for the one ball of yarn required.

PATTERN

Cast on 50 stitches

Row 1-5: Knit

Alternate 6 and 7 rows:

Row 6: Knit 5 purl until last 5 stitches and knit

Row 7: Knit full row

Knit last 5 rows

Bind off

Enjoy knitting your simple knit baby blanket, may that baby be wrapped in love always. – DIANA

THE PERFECT MONTHLY PATTERNS JUST FOR YOU

MORE BEGINNER BABY BLANKET PATTERNS HERE

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