How to Knit the “Stanley” Baby Blanket [Free Video Tutorial & Written Pattern!]

***You can purchase an INEXPENSIVE AD-FREE PDF of this pattern on Ravelry HERE or Etsy HERE***

Beautiful blankets don’t have to be complicated to achieve a beautiful pattern. Stanley is just a 2 row repeat, making it the perfect quick knit blanket for those last minute baby gifts.

Clean lines of stockinette sandwiched in-between garter stitch give a beautiful and texture and interest to an otherwise classically simple blanket. It’s blankets like Stanley that bring knitted items firmly into the 21st Century. 

Is this pattern reversible?

I get a lot of people asking if my blankets are reversible, so I thought it might be useful to include a little snapshot of what the back looks like.

As with a lot of my blankets, Stanley is not a reversible design, the back is a lot plainer than the front. That being said, the reverse isn’t ugly or messy in any way, it just doesn’t match the texture of the front.

Right Side

wrong side

Yarn and Sizing Tips & Tricks

The Stanley baby blanket pattern is knitted all in one piece, from bottom to top. In order to accommodate all your stitches, I recommend using a set of circular needles (at least 100cm long) as straight needles just won’t be long enough to fit your stitches on comfortably.

I’ve chosen DK (aka Double Knitting, Light Worsted, 3 Weight) yarn for this project, but don’t let that stop you from knitting it in your own preferred weight of yarn.

My instructions produce a baby blanket approximately 60cm x 80cm, perfect for using as a cot, pram or travel blanket. But don’t let that stop you from knitting this blanket in any size you want! I think it would look great scaled up as a Sofa Throw, Quilt or Bedspread!

I’ve deliberately designed this knitting pattern to be super easy for you to adjust the size of your blanket to whatever size you want/need.

To make the blanket longer, you’ll need to work more repeats of the Middle Section (the top and bottom border are worked the same regardless of the size of blanket you knit).

To adjust the width of your blanket you’ll need to cast on more (or indeed less) stitches, it can easily be done using the pattern multiple of 5+2 for the middle textured panel, and an additional 18 stitches (9 for each side) for the garter stitch edging.

I’ve chosen to knit this blanket in mustard shade instead of the pastel shades you often see baby blankets knitted in, but I think this pattern will work in any colour you like.

Pin for later

Not ready to knit the Stanley baby blanket just yet? Why not pin this image to your Pinterest so you can find it easily when you’re ready to sit down and cast on!

Materials Needed:

• 4mm Circular Needles (to recreate this blanket 80cm is a perfect length)
• 400g of DK Yarn – I used Stylecraft Bambino in Mustard
• Scissors & Tapestry Needle for sewing in ends
• 2 Stitch Markers

Written Pattern:

Stitches Used

• k – knit
• p – purl
• sl1pwyf – slip one purlwise with yarn in front.
• Pm – place marker
• Sm – slip marker

Bottom Edge

Foundation Row: Cast on 135 stitches.

Knit 16 rows as follows: K until final stitch, sl1pwyf

Main Pattern Repeat

Row 1 (Setup Row): k9, pm, p2,*k3, p2* repeat from *to* until 9 stitches remain, pm, k8, sl1pwyf. 

Row 2: k until 1 stitch remains (sm as you come across them), sl1pwyf

Row 3: k9, sm, p2,*k3, p2* repeat from *to* until marker, sm, k8, sl1pwyf. 

Repeat Rows 2 & 3 until project is slightly shorter than desired length (to allow for garter edging. Start Edging after completing a “Row 3”

Top Edge

Knit 16 rows as follows: K until final stitch, sl1pwyf.

Final row (Row 17): Cast off knit wise with right side facing.

video tutorial