Ric Rac Blanket

​When I want to knit a “baby project” there are so many cute outfits that are tempting to knit but I realize that they are quickly outgrown. This time I decided on a blanket, it is never outgrown and if colours are chosen carefully it can grow up with the child and not only provide colour stimulation in the crib (I believe in bright colours for babies) but maybe go off to college some day as a reminder of home and be thrown over the end of the bed or a chair and wrapped around the shoulders for some home comfort.
To this end, I came up with an easy pattern to knit that used soft yet washable yarns (hand dyed sock yarn namely). It can easily be adapted to be knit from heavier yarns (see pattern for info on making changes) and also can be adapted to make a rectangular stole or a scarf. It has the ease and interest of the feather and fan pattern; a traditional favourite for baby blankets but without the holes which I think of as little traps for baby fingers. I hope that anyone who tries it out will enjoy knitting it as much as I did and even consider sending a photo of the finished project.

Materials used:
4 colours of fingering weight yarn – basically sock yarn in any colours that you chose or you may use only 2 colours or many more, what ever combination you fancy, even use up left over sock yarn! If you are purchasing yarn, you will use approx 50 gr of each colour if you have 4 colours; so a total of 200 gr.
Approx. finished measurements 25” x 42”
3.5 mm circular needles, about 32” long to allow you to fit all the stitches comfortably.
Stitch markers, 13 for the exact pattern written below.
Pattern notes: What this consists of is a 13 st repeat pattern sandwiched between 2 garter stitch borders of 5 sts ea. To make the blanket (shawl/scarf) wider or narrower simply increase or decrease the # of stitches cast on by increments of 13. You may also use other weights of yarn, the project will knit up much quicker with a heavier gauge of yarn, just do a swatch first to determine how many repeats you will need to give you the desired size and you will have to increase needle size too. (Quick reference for this project -you can go approx 1 size larger at least so for dk a 4.5mm, worsted 5 or 5.5mm and so on)
Abbreviations: kfb = knit in front and back of stitch (increases one)
K2tog = knit 2 together (decreases one)
For the blanket pictured in our Stitch of the Month:
On 3.5 mm needles cast on 179 sts. Work 4 rows of garter stitch. On the next row set up for pattern –
Knit 5, place marker,* knit 13 pm* repeat from * to * 12 more times, knit 5. Next row as row 2 below.
Pattern
Row 1: (right side) knit 5, slip marker *kfb, knit 4, slip 1, k2tog, pass slipped st over the 2 stitches that were knit together, k4, kfb slip marker* repeat from * to * until last marker, slip marker, knit 5.
Row 2: (wrong side) knit 5, slip marker, purl to last marker slipping markers as you come to them.
Repeat rows 1 and 2 two more times and then start new colour at the beginning of the next row.
Repeat the above 6 rows with next colour and so on until the blanket is desired length. Finish by knitting 6 rows and cast off loosely. Sew in ends and block.
--Heather Tunnah