Baby Blanket Knitting Pattern - Scallop

Free Knitting Pattern: Baby Blanket in Scallop Pattern

I fell in love with the scallop pattern, while making a baby hat that included it.  It has such a lovely cable appearance, and the 4 round repetition is so easy.  I don't have to pay close attention to my knitting.  I try to keep a repetitive pattern going all the time, because most often, I just want to knit and NOT THINK!  (I am a mother to 4 kids ranging 15 to 3!  Sometimes I just need quiet, uninterrupted rhythm for goodness sakes!)

The baby blanket is the perfect solution.  The first one I made for my son (which was blue and did not include a border).  I loved the scallop in blanket form so much, I decided to make it a pattern.  I chose to make the pattern blanket larger than my son's - it is about twice as big and can grow into a lap blanket or a spread for a toddler bed.

I am so happy with the end result, I plan to keep this project on repeat for awhile.  I don't even have to know who I am knitting the blanket for.  It will be given with love to someone!  The point is...it keeps me knitting, and if I am knitting this kind of knitting, I am relaxing.  ENJOY!



Yarn:  I used a vintage yarn I bought at an estate sale.  It was an old Red Heart Baby Sport Yarn, which is a 3-ply sport weight.  I had 2 skeins in pink, and 1 each in yellow and blue, so I made my blanket a 3 color stripe with a pink border.


Needles/Gauge:  The recommended gauge on the yarn is listed as 22s x 30r = 4 x 4 inches on a size 6 needle.  Gauge is not as dire on the blanket, since size variance is acceptable.  I tend to knit a loose gauge, so I used US size 5 needles (smaller needle makes my loose stitches tighter).


Finished Measurements: (with border) 40 in x 46.5 in

Instructions

1. Cast on 222 stitches.

2. Knit in scallop pattern for 43 inches (approximately 62 scallop repeats).  I knit 20.5 scallops in each color.  The middle blue started with finishing a half scallop, so it actually came out with 20 and 2 halves  - one at the top and one at the bottom of the section.

Bind off



Scallop Pattern: 4 row repeat

1. P2, *s1, k2 psso, p2*

2. K2, *p1, yo, p1, k2*

3. P2, *k3, p2*

4. P2, *p3, k2*

Finishing

1. Tuck in loose ends.  
2. Add border as desired.  I prefer to not count exact stitches while adding a border on this size of a project.  Just keep a consistent method for picking up stitches.  I picked up 4 stitches going the width of each scallop pattern and 4 stitches going the length of each scallop pattern.  I am also careful to pick up the same amount on each border edge.  I usually knit the width end first and then pick up that border on the length sides.  I made the border 8 rows wide.
3. Tuck in remaining loose ends.

Abbreviations

k- knit

p- purl

s1 - slip one stitch, purlwise

k2 psso - slip one stitch, knit two stitches, slip first stitch over the 2 knit stitches.