My New Favorite Easy to Knit Baby Blanket Pattern!

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If you’re looking for a super easy to knit baby blanket pattern, I’ve got the goods for you right here! I had to knit this one in a hurry so I was looking for a simple pattern that I could work on large needles and Jessica Gore’s Easy Knit Baby Blanket fit the bill. Not only was this a free pattern, but I had lots of yarn leftover from the Bounce baby blanket I knitted last year so this was a super low-cost project! I just had to buy two more skeins of yarn and then I tipped the designer for the pattern.

The pattern called for Aran yarn on US size 10 needles, but I love to use Knit Picks Comfy Worsted for my baby blankets because it is SO soft and easy to wash so I used size 9 needles instead.  The size ten needles would have made the fabric a little too loose, but the nines were perfect – they made a super drapey fabric that is going to be delightful for my pal to wrap her baby in!

I mentioned above that I tipped the designer for this pattern. I did that because I appreciated the free pattern and I wanted to compensate her for her work, but I also did it because the video instructions suggested a cast on trick that I have never heard of before and it is gonna be LIFE CHANGING for me! It’s just a long tail cast on, but instead of trying to estimate how long the tail needs to be, you use yarn from the other end of the ball as the tail. It leaves one more end to weave in but it saves you the heartache of trying to calculate (i.e. guess…) how long your tail needs to be when you’re casting on a ton of stitches like this. Best tip ever!

Here’s a picture of the finished blanket.  I struggled with the white balance on this photo so the blue yarn looks a lot bluer than it is in reality, especially the Seafoam colorway (that’s the color that I used for each alternating stripe).

yarn details

Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in Planetarium, Marlin, and Seafoam
Worsted Weight
75% Pima Cotton, 25% Acrylic
Machine Wash Gentle/Tumble Dry Low
$4.49 per 50g /100yd ball

project details

pattern: “Easy Knit Baby or Lap Blanket” by Jessica Gore (free written instructions and video on the Sweater Collective website)
needles: US size 9 (5.5 mm) circular needles from my Sunstruck interchangeable circular needle set – I love using the wooden needles for this yarn because it can be a bit slippery and also the tips on Sunstruck needles are super pointy since you are working so many make-ones in this pattern – the wood is laminated birch and the tips are much pointier than you’d find on bamboo needles…. I have a whole post on whether you should use wood or metal knitting needles if you are interested!
yarn used: 1.3 balls of Marlin (two stripes), 3.8 balls of Seafoam (four stripes), and 2.1 balls of Planetarium (three stripes) – total: about 790 yards
finished size: 38” x 29.5” after blocking – it was a lot skinnier before blocking, so much so that I almost added a border to it! But when I blocked it I was able to stretch it out.
duration: December 28, 2022 – January 28, 2023