Elephant Parade

Elephant Parade Baby Blanket by Vikki Bird

What Is Being Made

Elephant Parade is an intarsia baby blanket designed by Vikki Bird, inspired by a cherished childhood book featuring a mother elephant and two baby elephants. This practical and decorative blanket measures 90 x 70 cm (35 ½ × 27 ½ inches), making it perfectly sized for prams, strollers, Moses baskets, and cribs. The blanket is versatile enough to serve as a playmat when laid out on the floor, combining functionality with charming visual storytelling through its elephant design.

Techniques Used

This intermediate-level knitting project employs multiple advanced techniques to bring the elephant design to life. Intarsia knitting forms the foundation of the design, allowing the main elephant bodies to be created with distinct colors while maintaining the integrity of the knitted fabric. Embroidered chain stitch is worked into the finished blanket to add definition and detail to the elephant legs, creating dimension and visual interest. Swiss darning (also called duplicate stitch) is used to embroider the pupils of the elephants, adding expressive detail to the design. The ears are knitted separately in the round, a technique that creates double-sided, three-dimensional ears that lie flat against the blanket and can be securely stitched in place. The ear flaps add textural variety and are designed to be safe and suitable for babies to chew on during teething.

Stitches and Border Details

The blanket features a 2.5 cm (1 inch) moss stitch border that runs around the entire piece. Moss stitch, a textured stitch pattern created by alternating knit and purl stitches, serves both aesthetic and practical purposes: it prevents the blanket edges from curling and adds a finished, professional appearance. The border is knitted simultaneously with the main blanket, a technique that minimizes finishing work and creates a seamlessly integrated edge rather than a sewn-on border.

Materials and Yarn

Elephant Parade is worked in aran weight yarn, a medium-weight yarn that creates a fabric with good drape and durability suitable for a baby blanket. The aran weight provides enough substance to create a cozy, substantial blanket while remaining soft and gentle for delicate skin. The intarsia technique requires multiple colors of yarn to be used simultaneously, allowing for the creation of the detailed elephant motif. Standard knitting needles appropriate for aran weight yarn are used throughout the project, with additional needles required for knitting the ears in the round.

Project Difficulty and Finishing

Rated as an intermediate difficulty project, Elephant Parade is suitable for knitters with solid foundational skills who are ready to tackle more complex colorwork and embellishment techniques. While the intarsia technique and multiple finishing methods require attention to detail and some experience, the design is structured to minimize finishing work through the simultaneous knitting of the border. The combination of knitting, embroidery, and Swiss darning creates a richly detailed finished piece that showcases a range of traditional textile techniques.