Valley Yarns Maia Baby Blanket Knitting Pattern

Valley Yarns Maia Baby Blanket

Project Overview

The Valley Yarns Maia Baby Blanket is a beginner-friendly knit blanket designed by Kirsten Hipsky. This seamless, striped baby blanket is worked from the center outward in the round, creating a square shape in three available finished sizes: 28 inches, 32 inches, or 36 inches square. The blanket features bright color-blocked stripes that coordinate with the Maia Baby Cardigan, allowing for creative customization and the ability to expand the blanket as a child grows.

What Is Being Made

The Maia Baby Blanket is a square blanket suitable for infants and young children. The construction method—worked from the center outward—creates a mathematically interesting project that teaches basic geometry through knitting. The blanket grows evenly from a small cast-on at the center, with increases placed at four points to form perfect right angles and a square shape. The finished blanket showcases bright color-blocked stripes in three coordinating hues that can be personalized based on individual preference.

Techniques Used

Seamless construction: The blanket is worked seamlessly from the center outward using circular needles, eliminating the need for seaming along the body of the blanket. This technique creates a continuous fabric with minimal interruptions.

Worked in the round: Although technically worked flat on circular needles rather than in a true circular method, the blanket expands concentrically from a central point, creating a geometric growth pattern.

Stripes: The blanket features color-blocked stripes created by changing yarn colors at specific intervals. The design uses three distinct colors—Winter Lake (color A), Seafoam (color B), and Lettuce (color C)—to create visual interest and coordinate with complementary Valley Yarns patterns.

Strategic increases: The pattern uses knit-front-and-back (kfb) increases placed at four marked points to create the square shape. These increases are worked on right-side rows, with plain knit rows on the wrong side, allowing the blanket to expand evenly in all directions.

Stitches Used

• Knit stitch (k): The primary stitch throughout the blanket, creating a garter stitch texture when worked flat on circular needles
• Knit front and back (kfb): An increase stitch that creates one new stitch from a single stitch by knitting into both the front and back loops, used strategically at increase points
• Garter stitch: Created by knitting every row, this textured stitch provides a reversible, squishy fabric ideal for baby blankets

Materials and Specifications

The Maia Baby Blanket is made from Valley Yarns Longmeadow, a soft blend of 60% cotton and 40% microfiber. This fiber content creates a durable, washable blanket suitable for frequent laundering. Yarn quantities vary by finished size: the 28-inch blanket requires 5 skeins of Winter Lake (color A), 1 skein of Seafoam (color B), and 1 skein of Lettuce (color C). The 32-inch size needs 7 skeins of Winter Lake, 2 skeins of Seafoam, and 1 skein of Lettuce. The largest 36-inch blanket requires 9 skeins of Winter Lake, 2 skeins of Seafoam, and 1 skein of Lettuce. Each skein of Valley Yarns Longmeadow contains 117 yards and weighs 50 grams.

Needles: The pattern calls for US size 5 (3.75mm) circular needles in either 32-inch or 40-inch length, depending on blanket size and personal preference. Circular needles are necessary to accommodate the increasing number of stitches as the blanket grows outward.

Additional materials: Three stitch markers are required to track the four increase points throughout the pattern. These markers help maintain accuracy when working increases at regular intervals.

Gauge and Fit

The pattern is worked to a gauge of 5.5 stitches and 11 rows per inch in garter stitch. Achieving proper gauge is essential for obtaining the correct finished dimensions. The blanket's square shape and size are determined by the number of rows worked before each color change, making gauge consistency important for accurate results.

Skill Level

Rated as a beginner project, the Maia Baby