Sleeping Beauty Baby Blanket
Heads up! This post contains affiliate links which means I get may get a commission if you purchase something based on my recommendations here.
I knitted this beautiful baby blanket for the first granddaughter of my dear friend, Jill. This is absolutely my favorite baby blanket yarn – Knit Picks Comfy Worsted – it is so soft and it holds up really well. I’ve knitted several baby blankets out of this yarn and it’s amazing! (If you’re into jewel tones, you’ll also love this yellow Baby Avery blanket that’s also knitted with Comfy Worsted.)
This heirloom baby blanket is a free knitting pattern called the Sleeping Beauty Baby Blanket. The majority of it was simple to knit, but I struggled slightly with the corners and had to make some modifications. A few other knitters also struggled so the designer published a rewritten version of the pattern that helps so much!
This is my favorite photo of my Sleeping Beauty and it captures the gorgeous jewel-tone yarn – the colorway is aptly named “Fairy Tale.”
And here is a close-up of the blanket’s border – but I couldn’t get the color adjusted quite right in this photo – the photo above shows the true color of the yarn. The border is what truly qualified this as an heirloom – it is a gorgeous layering of seed stitch, eyelets, cables, and lace – oh my!
yarn details
Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in Fairy Tale (buy here)
Worsted Weight
Dye Lot 7B5858
75% Pima Cotton, 25% Acrylic
Machine wash/Tumble dry low
50 g /109 yds ball (purchased in May 2017)
project details
pattern: “Sleeping Beauty Baby Blanket” by Diana Matthews – I had an old copy of this pattern and then it became unavailable for a while but there is now a re-written version of this free baby blanket knitting pattern available on Ravelry
needles: size 6 (4.00 mm) 40” nickel-plated circs
gauge: 18 st and 27 rows = 4” in stockinette
yarn used: 800 yards – 7.4 balls
finished size: 34” wide (center panel is 23” wide); my blanket is not quite a perfect square — it is 32” tall.
duration: May 13, 2017 – July 8, 2017
Related Posts
Sleeping Beauty Baby Blanket: Put Your Knitting Skills to the Test!
I just wrapped up knitting my second Sleeping Beauty Baby Blanket by Diana Matthews, and…
February 24, 2024
My New Favorite Easy to Knit Baby Blanket Pattern!
If you’re looking for a super easy to knit baby blanket pattern, I…
February 26, 2023
Anonymous | 28th Dec 17
This is absolutely beautiful. I am working on this pattern right now, too, and wonder if you may be able to help answer a couple of questions for me…
–How many rows do I need until the stockinette center is “an exact square?” Is this based on measurement? Or number of rows?
–Then, if the number of rows is based on measurement, how do I pick up 120 stitches on the side when the number of rows is not the same??
Thank you for helping me… an intermediately skilled knitter! 🙂
Pepper | 1st Jan 18
Hi! If you want the stockinette center to be an exact square, you need to know your row gauge. Mine was about 6.13 rows per inch. The width of my stockinette panel was 23", so I estimated I'd need to knit 142 rows of stockinette to square it off. As it turns out, when I got there, I was about 1" off, so I knit 7 more rows and got it to be a square. If you don't get it to be an exact perfect square, I wouldn't sweat it too much, just get it as close as you can.
To pick up 120 stitches on the side, take however many rows you have in the panel and divide by 120. Mine had 177 rows total (including the border plus the stockinette center). So, I took 177/120 and got 1.47, which means for every row and a half, I'll pick up one stitch. This rounded out to picking up two stitches every 3 rows, so you'll pick up two then skip a row… the best way to do it all evenly is to divide up the edge of your blanket into 8 sections & use pins to mark off the segments: you will pick up 15 stitches in each segment (120 divided by 8). Now, proceed to pick up your stitches in the 2 stitches per 3 rows ratio. When you get to the end of your sectioned off panel, you should have picked up 15 stitches. If you don't have 15, go ahead and add or subtract a stitch here and proceed to the next segment. This way, you are sure you are spacing out any errors over the length of the blanket and not saving them all till the end.
I hope that makes sense! If you get stuck, feel free to reach out to me again and I'll try to help!
Anonymous | 2nd Jan 18
Thank you so much for explaining! I am going to work on it and will hopefully let you know of my success! Happy New Year!
Amanda Symchych | 17th Jun 21
Are you sharing the pattern for this baby blanket? I love the detailed border and blanket. Would love to look at the pattern and try it out.
Pepper | 19th Jun 21
The pattern was unavailable for a while but I just noticed that the designer re-released it and and its available as a free download in her Ravelry shop. I’ll update the post now to include the link!