Madelinetosh Easy Peasy Blanket Knitting Pattern

Madelinetosh Easy Peasy Blanket

What is Being Made

The Easy Peasy Blanket is a simply striped baby blanket designed for swaddling and perfect for busy, on-the-go knitters. This knitting project produces a finished blanket measuring 35 inches in length by 33 inches in width after steam blocking. The design is intentionally straightforward, making it an ideal project for knitters who need something easy to pick up and set down throughout the day.

Craft and Project Type

This is a knitting project worked flat on needles, classified as an intermediate difficulty level. The blanket is available as a downloadable PDF pattern from Madelinetosh, making it accessible for digital pattern users.

Techniques Used

The Easy Peasy Blanket employs striped colorwork and shaping through increases and decreases to create its rectangular form. The blanket is constructed using a unique shaping method: it begins with a single cast-on stitch and expands through increases worked at the end of rows, continues in stockinette or garter stitch with color changes, and then decreases symmetrically to complete the rectangle. This approach creates a blanket that grows organically from a center point outward before being shaped back down.

Stitches and Stitch Techniques

The pattern utilizes fundamental knitting stitches and techniques:

• Knit stitch (k) – the primary stitch throughout the blanket
• Purl stitch (p) – used as needed in the pattern
• Knit front and back (kfb) – an increase technique worked to expand the blanket during the increase rows, creating one additional stitch from a single stitch
• Slip, slip, knit (ssk) – a left-leaning decrease technique used during the decrease rows to shape the blanket back to its final rectangular dimensions

Color and Striping

The blanket features a color repeat worked over 40 rows (or 20 ridges in garter stitch). Knitters change colors every 40 rows throughout the project, creating horizontal stripes. The pattern includes 6 color repeats during the main body, with additional color repeats during the decrease section. A 12-inch yarn tail is left when starting each new color, which is then woven into the blanket for a finished appearance.

Materials: Yarn and Needles

The Easy Peasy Blanket is knit in fingering weight yarn, which creates a light, delicate fabric ideal for a baby blanket. The pattern specifies Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light or any comparable fingering weight yarn. The supply list calls for (2) 420-yard skeins in Color A, shown in Antler (pale grey), and (2) 420-yard skeins in Color B, shown in Edison Bulb (bright yellow). The light weight of fingering yarn combined with the simple stitch pattern makes this project portable and manageable for knitters working in short sessions.

Pattern Structure and Customization

The pattern is divided into three main sections: increase rows, color repeat rows, and decrease rows. For a larger blanket, knitters can continue increasing at the end of each row to their desired size before beginning the decrease rows, making this a customizable project. The pattern includes a schematic for reference, and detailed notes on color repeats and weaving in ends ensure a polished finished product.