Valley Yarns Aprilis Baby Blanket Knitting Pattern

Valley Yarns Aprilis Baby Blanket

Project Overview

The Aprilis Baby Blanket is a knitted square blanket designed by Kirsten Hipsky, featuring a graceful and botanically-inspired eyelet stitch pattern with subtle texture. This intermediate-level project is worked flat on circular needles and finished seamlessly, making it an excellent choice for knitters looking to develop their lace skills while creating a practical and beautiful heirloom piece for a nursery.

Finished Dimensions

This blanket is available in three sizes to suit different preferences and yarn quantities:

• 28 inches square (shown in photographs)
• 32 inches square
• 36 inches square

Yarn and Materials

The Aprilis Baby Blanket is crafted using Valley Yarns Valley Superwash DK, a premium yarn composed of 100% Extrafine Merino Superwash. This fiber choice provides softness, breathability, and easy care—essential qualities for baby blankets that require frequent washing. The project requires 6 skeins for the 28-inch size, 8 skeins for the 32-inch size, and 10 skeins for the 36-inch size. Each skein contains 50 grams and yields 137 yards, allowing crafters to calculate yardage requirements based on their chosen finished size. The blanket shown in the pattern is worked in the color Wild Rose, a warm and gentle hue suitable for any nursery aesthetic.

US size 4 (3.50mm) circular needles measuring 32 inches in length are required to accommodate the cast-on stitches and provide comfortable working space. Circular needles are used here for their ability to hold a large number of stitches while working flat, even though the blanket is not worked in the round.

Gauge and Tension

The pattern is worked to a gauge of 6 stitches and 8 rows per 1 inch in stockinette stitch. Achieving proper gauge is essential for obtaining the correct finished dimensions, and knitters are advised to adjust needle size as needed to match this gauge specification.

Knitting Techniques

Lace Knitting: The Aprilis Baby Blanket showcases lace techniques through the use of yarn overs and corresponding decreases that create an open, airy eyelet pattern. Yarn overs (abbreviated as yo) add stitches and form the decorative holes characteristic of lace, while paired decreases—slip, slip, knit (ssk) and knit 2 together (k2tog)—maintain stitch count and shape the motifs. This balanced approach ensures the blanket maintains its structural integrity while displaying delicate openwork.

Seamless Construction: The blanket is worked as a single piece from cast-on to bind-off, eliminating the need for seaming. This method produces a cohesive fabric without visible seams and reduces finishing work, allowing the lace pattern to flow uninterrupted across the entire blanket surface.

Flat Knitting: Although circular needles are used, the blanket is worked flat in rows rather than in the round. Each row is worked back and forth, with right-side and wrong-side rows creating the dimensional fabric. This approach is common in blanket construction and allows for easier pattern management and stitch counting.

Stitch Pattern and Construction

The Aprilis Baby Blanket features a 28-row repeating pattern that combines knit, purl, yarn over, and decrease stitches to create its signature eyelet design. The pattern begins with a cast-on of 171 stitches for the smallest size, increasing to 195 stitches for the medium size and 219 stitches for the largest size, accommodating the expanded finished dimensions.

The stitch pattern is organized into distinct sections:

• Rows 1-7: Feature a series of decreases and yarn overs that create diagonal eyelet lines, with purl stitches providing textural definition and helping to frame the openwork elements.
• Rows 9-13: Repeat the pattern established in Rows 1-7, reinforcing the lace motif.
• Rows 15-21: Present a reversed or mirrored version of the eyelet pattern, creating visual interest and balance within the 28-row repeat.
• Rows 23-27: Return to the pattern of Rows 15-21, and Row 28 completes the repeat by working all knit stitches as knit and all purl stitches as purl on the wrong side.