Something about a knit baby blanket is so delicate and pretty to me. Especially when you pair it with soft pastel colors and creams that make the colors stand out. This week, I’m excited to share the pattern for the Insiya Baby Blanket, a soft and girly blanket that’s perfect for knitting traditionally or on a knitting machine! This post will be all about the traditional free knit baby blanket pattern, but I’ll have the machine instructions up soon too. For now, let’s get right into it!
This is the second design I’ve come up with using my Addi Express Kingsize machine and I adore how quickly something like a blanket works up.
I made this baby blanket for a quick gift and although I didn’t have as much time I usually take for my knit blankets, using the machine made it super easy to get my design done. I’m not sure if there’s a name for the pattern I chose, but I love the windowpane look it has with the different colored blocks and the white lines that divide them. And it’s a lot easier to do than it seems!
To finish this baby blanket, I lined it with fleece as I usually do, which helps to add extra softness and weight to the blanket. It also covers up the wrong side of the blanket; I’m not a huge fan of the reverse stockinette look so the fleece helps me make sure both sides look the way I want. I also embroidered the baby’s name Insiya, to the fleece side in Arabic as a little personal touch that the mom really appreciated. I’m still quite new to embroidery but I love taking any chance to incorporate it into something!
The full free pattern is written out below. For those who’d prefer to print the pattern and take it with you for on-the-go and to markup as you go, you can buy the inexpensive printable PDF from my Etsy and Ravelry shops. The PDF is formatted without ads or comments, so it’s easy to read.
Materials:
- #4 worsted weight yarn – I used Caron Simply Soft in Blackberry (2) and White (2), and I Love This Yarn in Pastels (3)
- US 9 (5.50mm) knitting needles on a 60″ cable
- Stitch markers
- tapestry needle
- Sewing machine (optional)
- Fleece (optional)
- embroidery floss (optional)
Abbreviations:
- k – knit
- p – purl
- BO – bind off
- stockinette – alternating rows of knit and purl
Pattern Notes:
- Skill level: Beginner
- Sizing: 42 x 52 inches
- Gauge: 3S x 5R per inch
Insiya Baby Blanket: Free Knit Baby Blanket Pattern
With pink yarn, cast on 172 stitches using a knitted or long-tail cast on.
Rows 1-5: Knit for 5 rows.
From here, we’ll call the pink Color A and the multi yarn Color B. You’ll need to divide your yarn into 2 balls of each color so it’s easier to work and you won’t need to carry the yarn across sections.
Row 6: Knit 43 in Color A, knit 43 in B, k43 in A and k43 in B.
Row 7: Purl all, changing colors every 43 stitches starting with B and twisting the yarn together at the place where they meet so there’s no gap.
Rows 8-41: Continue to repeat rows 6-7 until you have 36 rows total. Leave a couple of inches of tail and trim all the ends.
Rows 42-49: Switch to white yarn and continue in stockinette for 8 rows. Trim the end, leaving a few inches of tail.
Row 50: Knit 43 in Color B, knit 43 in A, k43 in B and k43 in A. These colors are now in the opposite placement as they were for the first row of blocks.
Row 51: Purl all, changing colors every 43 stitches.
The chart above should help you with the color placements. Unfortunately, I can’t remove the grid lines so please don’t mind those.
Rows 52-85: Continue until you have 36 rows total for these blocks. Leave a couple of inches of tail and trim all the ends.
Rows 86-93: Switch to white yarn and continue in stockinette for 8 rows.
Row 94: Knit 43 in Color A, knit 43 in B, k43 in A and k43 in B. These colors are now in the opposite placement as they were for the last row of blocks.
Row 95: Purl all, changing colors every 43 stitches.
Rows 96-129: Continue until you have 36 rows total for these blocks. Leave a couple of inches of tail and trim all the ends.
Rows 130-137: Switch to white yarn and continue in stockinette for 8 rows.
Row 138: Knit 43 in Color B, knit 43 in A, k43 in B and k43 in A. These colors are now in the opposite placement as they were for the first row of blocks.
Row 139: Purl all, changing colors every 43 stitches.
Rows 140-173: Continue until you have 36 rows total for these blocks. Leave a couple of inches of tail and trim all the ends.
Rows 174-178: Knit for 5 rows in color A. Then bind off.
Border
The top and bottom edges of this free knit baby blanket pattern already include the border, but we still need to finish the two sides. To do that, pick up and knit 140 stitches along one edge with the right side facing. Work in stockinette for 5 rows and bind off. Repeat on the other side.
Finally, weave in all the loose ends and trim the excess yarn.
Attaching the Fleece
To finish off this free knit baby blanket pattern, I added a fleece lining to make it heavy and extra warm. You can skip this if you like, but I also like how it hides the wrong side of the blanket. I used fleece, but you can also use a lighter fabric like cotton to keep the blanket a little lighter.
Add the embroidery first if you want to add it. I showed a more thorough look at how I did that in my Oasis Baby Blanket Pattern here.
First, lay your fleece out flat on the ground, with the wrong side up if there is one. Then lay the finished blanket over it with the right side up. Try to place the blanket so there’s an even amount of the fleece on all sides. Starting on a flat side, fold the excess fleece inwards and pin the fleece and blanket together. Work your way around the blanket, pinning as you go, until the fleece is even with the blanket’s size and lays flat and smooth. You may need to trim the fleece in the corners or anywhere it’s long to prevent bulk.
Add a few more pins around the center to keep the fleece and blanket together are you move it for the next step.
Take the whole blanket over to a sewing machine set up with a pink thread on top and a thread matching the fleece in the bobbin. Set the machine to a zigzag stitch and a medium stitch length and just sew around the edge of the blanket in the space of the black border. The zigzag stitch keeps the blanket and fleece stretchy so they can move together, without a tight line of stitches holding them stiff.
Once you’ve worked around the blanket, remove any pins and trim the excess thread to finish it off.
And you’re done! I love how this blanket turned out and the colors look just so pretty together! The yarn didn’t seem as if it would work before I started but once it came together, I was really excited to photograph it. These instructions are for traditionally knitting this, but this blanket was made on the Addi Express Kingsize machine. I’ll have a post sharing the recipe for that soon. I’ve had a lot of fun using my Addi and I’ll be sharing video tutorials of it on my Youtube as soon as I can. Be sure to subscribe to my channel here so you don’t miss it!
Related: Ammara Throw Knitting Pattern
Related: Chevron Knit Baby Blanket Pattern
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Ashley Black
Wednesday 12th of May 2021
Simple instructions with great design. Great article.