Free Baby Blanket Knitting Patterns

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I’ve created a roundup of some beautiful free baby blanket knitting patterns. Of course, you can always browse the massive archive of free patterns on Ravelry to find more free baby blanket knitting patterns. Many of these patterns are by established designers, so they shouldn’t have errors and should be well written. However, I have not tested them, so always check for errata to prevent future headaches!

Trying out a designer’s free pattern is a good way to get to know how the designer writes, so if you like his or her instructions and methods, you might feel more comfortable purchasing another pattern of theirs. Also, it is really easy to buy patterns on Ravelry!

Having had a baby late last year, I was eager to knit a blanket! While looking for patterns and inspiration, I came across these lovely patterns that use different techniques and various colours.

From top to bottom, left to right:

Summer Strawberry Blanket with Picnic Bag (knit) by Nicola Valiji

The Summer Strawberry Blanket by Nicola Valiji is an adorable checked blanket with strawberry motifs. Although intended to be a picnic blanket, you can also use it as a baby blanket! The 100 cm x 100 cm blanket is generous enough for a stroller blanket or newborn swaddle. It uses about 3250 m of DK weight yarn for the blanket, plus an additional 1000 m if you knit the bag. Amazingly, this pattern is also available in crochet!

Good Morning Blanket by Purl Soho

Purl Soho publishes so many free blanket patterns, but this one especially caught my eye. The pattern comes in two sizes, crib and small throw, using 1102 – 1650 m (1205 – 1805 yards) of DK weight cotton yarn. I love the rainbow palette, but you could easily use scrap yarns from your stash. The log-cabin-esque design in garter stitch looks quick to knit, but the colour changes keep it interesting.

Spaced Out Blanket, Free Baby Blanket Knitting Patterns — Photo by Cascade Yarns

Spaced Out Blanket by Amy Bahrt for Cascade Yarns

The Spaced Out Blanket is perfect for kids (and babies)! Cascade Yarns publishes so many free patterns, so check out their catalogue! The pattern uses DK weight acrylic yarn, so it’ll be soft and endlessly washable. The blanket uses the intarsia method to create the design of the planets and rocket ship. A bit of embroidery adds the star and window embellishments. The finished blanket measures 76 cm x 91.5 cm (30″ x 36″) and uses about 2268 m (2480 yards) of various yarns. Once again, this pattern is a great way to use up colourful yarn from your stash. In order to make the planets even more dynamic, you could use those one-of-a-kind, variegated skeins.

Blanket for Martin, Free Baby Blanket Knitting Patterns — Photo by Palma Melisek

Blanket for Martin by Pálma Melisek

The Blanket for Martin by Pálma Melisek uses knit and purl stitches to create a lovely geometric pattern. This is a great pattern if you don’t want a blanket with lots of different colours. A monochrome blanket like this can be a timeless heirloom piece, outside of pattern and colour trends. The Blanket for Martin calls for 800 – 900 m (875 – 984 yards) of fingering weight cotton yarn. Although the pattern only includes one size of 70 cm x 70 cm, you could add pattern repeats or use a larger gauge yarn to knit a bigger blanket. The pattern is available in English and Hungarian.

Birk, Free Baby Blanket Knitting Patterns — Photo by Filocana

Birk by Mathilde Nørgaard and Mikkel Toft Hornung

The Birk blanket was developed as a gift for the designers’ roommates, who just had a baby. The wish was for a simple, geometric design with odd angles, and the ratio between stitches and rows in garter stitch made it easy to accommodate that wish. You knit the blanket modularly, first knitting a square and then picking up stitches along the sides of the square to knit triangles. The design has you continue picking up stitches to knit triangles until the square is doubled four more times. Although the pattern only uses garter stitch, the construction will keep the knitter entertained. This is also a great opportunity to play with colour, either keeping the colours true to the pattern, or choosing different colours for each section. The Birk blanket pattern is available in five languages, and uses 2450 m (2679 yards) of fingering weight yarn.

Domino Baby Blanket, Free Baby Blanket Knitting Patterns — Photo by Sylvia Roozeboom

Domino Baby Blanket by Sylvia Roozeboom

The Domino Baby Blanket is knit modularly using mitred squares in various colours. Having a consistent main colour helps keep the blanket from looking too busy while allowing the knitter to play with using variegated, speckled, or multicoloured contrast colours. The finished pattern is 80 cm x 80 cm (31.5″ x 31.5″), perfect for a baby. However, you could use thicker yarn at a larger gauge to make the blanket bigger. Or, you could just add more mitred squares if you like the fabric that a fingering weight yarn provdies. The pattern calls for 1450 – 1533 m (1586 – 1677 yards) of fingering weight yarn. The pattern is available in English and Dutch.

Ten Stitch Corner, Free Baby Blanket Knitting Patterns — Photo by Frankie Brown

Ten Stitch Corner by Frankie Brown

The Ten Stitch Corner blanket is knit one corner at a time, working from the outside in. The designer, Frankie Brown, has several other patterns in their Ten Stitch group of designs. The knitting is simple garter stitch; ten stitch wide strips are shaped with short rows and joined to the blanket as you knit. Sewing the four corners together is simple to do and gives a wonderful cross effect. This is a great blanket to use self-striping yarns, as the strips gradually shift in hue and can contrast between strips. The pattern calls for 2600 – 3000 m (2843 – 3281 yards) of fingering weight yarn. The finished blanket is 110 cm x 110 cm (43.5″ x 43.5″).

Bauhaus Blanket, Free Baby Blanket Knitting Patterns — Photo by Flo van Bouffe

Bauhaus Blanket by Flo van Bouffe

The clean lines of this blanket trick the eye with their interrupted diagonals and differently sized squares. Using only simple knitting techniques and two colours, the blanket is made up of 63 mitred squares in two sizes: 10 cm (4”) and 20 cm (8”). A deep border finishes the edges of the blanket. Garter stitch makes for a warm blanket. The pattern comes in four sizes, from baby blanket to bedspread. The pattern calls for 777 – 1463 m (850 – 1600 yards) of DK weight yarn. You could use two contrasting colours for the whole blanket, or you could use multiple colours. Check out the Ravelry project pages for colour inspiration!

Oh My Sheep!
Free Baby Blanket Knitting Patterns — Photo by Athena Forbes

Oh My Sheep by Athena Forbes

Oh My Sheep is an adorable intarsia blanket with sheep motifs on a background of stockinette. The blanket uses bulky weight yarn, so it’s sure to work up quickly. Since the sheep motifs are rather small, the grey yarn is stranded behind them, so you will only need bobbins for the white sheep wool. You will add the black sheep heads and leg later with duplicate stitch. The designer recommends sewing some beautiful fabric backing to the blanket to protect tiny fingers from getting entangled in long yarn floats. You can use white boucle yarn to add some fun, fuzzy texture to each sheep, which will also give the blankets a sensory aspect for the babies. The finished blanket will be about 90 cm x 90 cm (35″ x 35″). In total, Oh My Sheep uses about 366 – 411 m (400 – 450 yards) of super bulky weight yarn.

I have also knit the following blankets for my and Tomiko’s babies: