Knitting baby blanket - Knitting instructions in 6 steps

• material
• Step 1 - Mesh test
• Step 2 - Division of the stitches
• Step 3 - First pattern set
• Step 4 - Decap
• Step 5 - Crochet the edges
• Step 6 - Sew tension and threads
• Related Links

Hand knitted is in fashion. Baby and bed covers are especially gladly given away. They are not only an accessory that accompanies a newborn from the first day on and was usually knitted in a personal touch by friends or family members. They are individual works of art with their own character and are an indispensable part of babyhood.

Baby blankets provide security and protection. They are a constant companion through the first months of life and are therefore a perfect gift. Each expectant mother is happy about a self-made blanket, which is individually tailored in size and color to the offspring. It is the uniqueness and individuality that results in a simple woolen thread made of cashmere made to perfection or summer blankets in brightly colored colors that are not commercially available. In contrast to mass production always a small piece of love is given away.

material

For this baby blanket, a wool blend of cotton and acrylic was used. Cotton is the natural raw material in this team, while acrylic as an insensitive synthetic fiber ensures dimensional stability and high durability. The wool is made by the company "Rellana", is called "Cotton soft" and is available in many beautiful solid and multicolor colors.

With a barrel length of 140m to 50g wool, it is very productive. For a blanket with a size of 75x75cm you only need 200g (4 knots) of this wool. This creates a very light baby blanket (165g), which also works well on colder days.

Many children are sensitive to wool from animal fibers. As pure plant fiber, cotton has the advantage that nothing crawls or scratches. The knitted wool can also be machine washed - a big plus in infancy.

50 grams of wool cost between 1.70 euros and just under 3 euros, whereby it is worthwhile in this price range, to research the Internet.

Experienced knitters need for this baby blanket in hand knit two to three full days. If you can spare some time for knitting in the evening, you should plan about one week of production time.

You need:

• 200g of wool
• 1 circular needle size 4
• 1 crochet hook size 3
• 1 stuffing or double needle

Step 1 - Mesh test

Maybe you have already experienced the feeling that wool can cause when you see it. For many, it is like a positive intoxication and one would like to start knitting right away. Blankets, oversize jerseys or caps can usually be adjusted in size and shape during knitting - but in general it should be said that a stitch test is always necessary if it is to be accurate. In this case, knit a piece in the appropriate pattern that is larger than 10x10cm. Often it is advisable to wet the specimen, let it dry and then determine the dimensions. In many cases, the wool is much thicker and firmer before the first wash and then gives in suddenly by washing. With a stitch test, you do not risk completing your artwork two sizes larger than planned.

For the baby blanket, the color number 34 was used, in which now 142 stitches are struck on a circular needle. The manufacturer recommends for knitting a needle size between 3 and 4, the blanket was worked with needle size 4.

Each check of the pattern is 24 rows high and 20 stitches wide. Accordingly, you can add any number of boxes in height and width to enlarge the ceiling.

The stitch plot is easily traced in many videos on the internet. It does not take much understanding to understand and rework this winding technique, with the first stitches are formed from the thread. Count the stitches exactly after the attack, because it is annoying to notice in the next row that one or two stitches are missing. With a plain, right-hand knit, a missing stitch is not a problem, while pattern knitting requires every single stitch.

Step 2 - Division of the stitches

After striking the stitches, one of the two needles is pulled out of the stitches and patterning is started. The first stitch is called an edge stitch and is not added to the pattern. This stitch can either only be lifted or knitted as a right stitch. The difference lies in the look and the strength of the edge stitch. When lifted, it appears as a loose stitch that gives rise to a soft edge of the knit. Entangled on the right, there is a row of margins, which is characterized by a "nodule look" and is a little bit firmer. Since the edge of the baby blanket is finally crocheted, it does not matter which variant you choose.

After the edge stitch is knitted, the check pattern is started. The first twenty stitches are knitted on the left, the next 20 stitches on the right. 20 stitches left, another 20 stitches right. The alternating, until only one stitch on the needle is, which forms the edge and is knitted as Randmasche quite normal right.

The knitting pattern consists only of right and left stitches. The plastic pattern comes about through the change of left and right stitches within a row. The knit stitches are knitted by stitching the needle into the stitch from the front and catching the thread behind the knit and pulling it through the stitch. Optically, right-hand stitches are very easy to recognize because the thread forms a smooth loop into which the next loop is worked.

Left stitches look "uneven". They form a "hilly" stitch pattern. The thread is taken before the work, then pierce in the first stitch coming from the right, remain at work when pricking, capture the thread with the needle and pull it through the stitch. The "transverse" threads create a plastic image of the left stitches. Both types of knitting are very easy to knit and are also very fast in the beginner's stage of the hand.

You have made the first row and the pattern is divided.

Step 3 - First pattern set

They do the work and knit all the stitches in the second row as they appear. That means: since the first row was finished with twenty left stitches, you now have twenty right stitches to knit after working. A smooth right pattern shows the right side of the stitch on the front of the fabric and the left side of the stitch on the back. If you knit right stitches in the back row, they appear on the back as so-called left stitches. If, on the other hand, left-hand stitches are in the back row, they appear as right-hand stitches in the back row.

Knit 24 rows of each stitch in the same way as it appears. This creates the right and left boxes. After twenty-four rows, the pattern set is changed. So far, the first box was knitted with left stitches. Now, after the edge stitch, knit twenty-four right stitches. At the next box, instead of previously right stitches, knit left stitches. Continue in the same way until the end of the series. In the back row, knit the stitches again as they appear. This creates a box with left stitches over a box with previously right stitches.

In this rhythm, the entire baby blanket is knitted. After every twenty-four rows, the mesh is changed, so that alternating knitted boxes are created one above the other on the right and left.

For a length of 75cm a total of 8 rows of blocks are needed. By stretching the ceiling, this length is reached.

Step 4 - Decap

After eight rows of boxes must be bound off to finish the piece of knitting. For this purpose, the edge stitch is now knitted normal, the second stitch is also knitted and then pulled the edge stitch on the second stitch. Again knit one stitch on the right so that two stitches are on the right needle, then pull the first stitch over the last knitted stitch. In this way, there are always on the right knitting needle one or after the knitting of a new stitch two stitches. At the same time creates the chained edge. Knit off the last stitch on the right, slip over the next to last stitch and pull the thread through the one stitch that is still on the needle. Thus, the knitted piece is chained and done.

Step 5 - Crochet the edges

To give the baby blanket the finishing touch, the edges are crocheted. This step is not only a beautiful look - knitting pieces with smooth right pattern curl up at the edges after knitting. To prevent this tendency, either during knitting, an edge is incorporated in the rib pattern or the edges are crocheted after completion of the blanket. This counteracts curling.

With the crochet hook size 3 you prick on one of the two narrow sides in the first stitch of the knitted fabric. Hold the thread behind the blanket, pull through the knitted stitches, leave this loop lying on the crochet hook, drive from front to back through the second stitch, pick up the thread again and pull it through. Now there are two slings on the crochet hook. They now get the thread and pull it through both loops. This completes the first crochet stitch.

A loop remains on the hook, you pierce into the next stitch of the blanket, pull the thread through from back to front, again lie two loops on the crochet hook, fetch thread again and pull through both loops - the second crochet mesh is created. In this way, the entire narrow edge of the blanket is crocheted until you come to the corner. Divide the crochet stitches so that the last crochet stitch is made from the last knit stitch. Then pierce again in the same stitch of the blanket and crochet from this another stitch, which forms the first stitch on the vertical edge. This gives the last knit stitch, which is also the first knit stitch of the vertical edge, two crochet stitches. In this way, corners are crocheted. With these so-called fixed stitches, the entire blanket is wrapped once.

The edge is ended with a second crochet row. This series is crocheted with cancer stitches that make the edge visually appealing.

The Krebsstich is a Häkelmasche, which is worked backwards. It is not stabbed in the following stitch, but in the previous stitch. This does not work counterclockwise but with it. When the last crochet line is finished, use the crochet hook to put the crocheted hook back into the first crocheted loop to connect the beginning to the end. Then cut into the first crochet stitch from the front to the back, pull the thread through, but do not let it slide as a stitch on the crochet hook, but pull it through the other crochet loop. This is a so-called Kettmasche . Now there is a stitch on the crochet hook. Now work a mesh through this stitch by pulling the thread through the loop once. Then, use the crochet hook to prick back two crochet stitches. That is, you skip the penultimate set of stitches and stab from front to back in the tight stitch. Get the thread with the hook and pull it forwards through the tight loop. Now there are two loops on the crochet hook again. You pick the thread again and pull it through both loops. Pull the thread a little longer, because you have to reset two fixed stitches. In doing so, skip a sturdy stitch from the previous row, insert the stitch into the previous stitch from front to back, fetch the thread, pull it through, pull the thread again and pull it through the two loops on the crochet hook. Crochet the entire edge in this way. You can also find very good crochet demonstrations on the internet for cancer engraving, which will make it easy for you to master this border ornament quickly.

At the corners of the baby blanket, insert into the last stitch of one edge and into the first loop of the other edge. When the second round is over, plunge back into the first stitch of the second row, pick up the thread and pull through both loops as a chain stitch to create a stable connection.

Step 6 - Sew tension and threads

It does not look like a baby blanket yet. For the wool thread to remain in the given mesh shape, it must be "fixed". For this, the baby blanket must be stretched when wet. Wash the blanket in the hand basin with a wool detergent or baby shampoo. Rinse well and let the water drip off until only a residual moisture is present. Now the blanket is pinned so that it can dry when stretched. These mattresses or carpets are suitable. Place a towel under the blanket, pull the blanket to the dimensions of 75cm x 75cm and pin the edges with pins. Use many needles to prevent the tensioned fabric at the edges from pulling inward. In this case, the edge then gets bows, but they can be corrected by rewetting the edge, pulling the bows straight and allowing everything to dry again.

While the fabric did not really look like a baby blanket before you started, you can see the difference now. The blanket has become quite smooth, especially at the transitions of the boxes, the knit is now in a flat shape. The yarn ends of the ball must still be sewn clean. You either use a thick darning needle or a so-called double needle, as it is used for knitting machines. Both needles have a rounded tip so that the stitches are not pierced. Insert the needle into the crochet border at the point where the neck threads are located. Slide the needle through the individual threads of the crochet edge so that the two threads are inconspicuously interposed and thus invisibly sewn. Cut off remaining threads and your unique piece is completed.

Tip: Since you are entangling several balls, you have to start several times with a new thread end. Please only do this on the edges of the ceiling, never in the middle of a row. The beginning and end threads can not be sewn invisibly within a row. It can happen that the thread within a ball was wholly or partly knotted by the manufacturer. In this case, separate the row to the beginning and continue to knit the thread after the knot. Even if this is inconspicuous within the knit - by subsequent washing, these attachment points can then solve and create a hole.

Related Links

If you would like to knit a baby hat or baby socks for the baby blanket, we have two other knitting instructions for you:

• Knit baby hat - //www.zhonyingli.com/babymuetze-stricken/
• Knitting baby socks - //www.zhonyingli.com/babysocken-stricken/

Tips for quick readers:

• Mesh stop over 142 stitches
• knit alternating pieces of left and right stitches over 20 stitches each
• after 24 rows of stitch types change
• Total height over 8 pattern boxes
• Crochet border made of a series of solid meshes and a series of cancer meshes
• Stretch to 75cm x 75cm and sew on threads