Baby Afghan Pattern

I've had a number of requests for the pattern that I'm using to make baby afghan squares. It is really more a method than a pattern, and can be found many places on the web and in books and magazines. The one I'm using is based on the one Kay at Mason-Dixon Knitting posted and the one at knitting-and.com (here's the stockinette version and the garter stitch version). Read Kay's post about sewing them together and see these other squares you can make to go with the simple mitered ones for variety.

Now that I've given credit where credit is due, I will tell you how I'm making the squares for my baby afghan, because you know every knitter changes things to suit her own requirements.

First of all, I am using yarns of 2 different weights. That is because I am trying to use up some yarns in my stash. This works because I make each square the same way. I knit the worsted and DK yarns in the same rows in every square. I change the colors but not the weight from square to square.



Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton (Kitchen Cotton), Lily Sugar n'Cream or other worsted weight cotton or cotton blend yarn; Plymouth Wildflower DK, Tahki Cotton Classic or other DK weight cotton or cotton blend yarn.

Needles: I'm using size 6 US/4.25mm

Gauge: Not very important as long as all the squares are the same. Mine is about 18 stitches to 4"/10cm for worsted, 20 stitches to 4"/10cm for Dk as measured from the afghan square. My squares measure about 5 1/4 inches or 13.4 cm

If you need any help with techniques, visit KnittingHelp.com for great how-to videos.

Begin: With worsted weight yarn cast on 48 stitches.

Row 1: Knit 22, K2tog, K2tog, Knit 22; 46 stitches.
Row 2: Knit across row.
Row 3: Knit 21, K2tog, K2tog, Knit 21; 44 stitches.
Row 4: Knit across row.
Row 5: Change to DK weight yarn, Knit 20, K2tog, K2tog, Knit20; 42 stitches.
Row 6: Knit across row.
Row 7: Twist yarns at edge of work, Knit 19, K2tog, K2tog, Knit 19; 40 stitches.
Row 8: Knit across row.

Continue working decreases on odd numbered rows and knitting even on even numbered rows, changing yarns every 4 rows.

Row 41: Change to worsted weight yarn and cut DK weight yarn about 4-6 inches long; Knit 2, K2tog, K2tog, Knit 2; 6 stitches.
Row 42: Knit across row.
Row 43: Knit 1, K2tog, K2tog, Knit 1; 4 stitches.
Row 44: Knit across row.
Row 45: K2tog, K2tog; 2 stitches.
Row 46: Slip stitch purl-wise, Knit second stitch, pass slipped stitch over stitch just knit; 1 stitch. Cut yarn, leaving a tail about 12 inches long for sewing up later, pull end through stitch loop.

Make 60 squares to make a rectangle about 31.5 inches x 52.5 inches without borders. (you'll want to add borders)
Or make 36 squares to make a blanket 31.5 inches square that would be perfect for preemies or small newborns.
Or you can get really ambitious and make 192 squares for a twin-to-full sized blanket about 63"x84".

Weave in the ends of the DK weight yarn and the short cast-on end of the worsted weight yarn. Use the remaining long end of the worsted weight yarn to sew the squares together into larger blocks using matress stitch. Sew the larger blocks together using kitchener stitch.

Borders: I'll get into this in a later post.