Baby Blankie in Plymouth Heaven - F158

Baby Blankie with Trim in Plymouth Yarn Heaven – Pattern F158

This free downloadable knitting pattern from Plymouth Yarn, designated F158 and available free with yarn purchase, guides knitters through creating an adorable Baby Blankie with optional I-cord Trim. Designed by JoAnne Turcotte for Plymouth Yarn Co., this project is specifically sized to be the perfect fit for a car seat, making it as practical as it is charming. The finished blanket measures approximately 24 x 24 inches — a cozy, manageable square that works up beautifully in chunky yarn on large needles.

What Is Being Made

The pattern produces a diagonal baby blanket — knitted on the bias, meaning it is worked from one corner to the opposite corner rather than from edge to edge. This construction method creates a natural, attractive drape and a distinctive angled texture across the fabric. The blanket is finished with an optional I-cord trim worked in a contrasting color, threaded through the eyelets created along the edges of the blanket for a polished, decorative border. The result is a soft, lightweight baby blanket suitable as a gift, a car seat cover, or an everyday comfort item for infants.

Techniques Used

• Diagonal (bias) knitting: The blanket begins with just 4 cast-on stitches at a corner and is shaped entirely through increases and decreases, growing to a peak of 62 stitches before tapering back down to the final corner. This technique gives the finished fabric its characteristic diagonal grain.
• Yarn-over increases: The increase rows use a yarn-over (yo) technique, which simultaneously adds a stitch and creates a small decorative eyelet. These eyelets serve a dual purpose — they shape the blanket and later provide the holes through which the optional I-cord trim is threaded.
• Yarn-over decreases: Decrease rows combine a k2tog with a yo, maintaining the eyelet column along the edge as the stitch count reduces, keeping the decorative detail consistent throughout.
• I-cord construction: The optional trim is worked as a classic 3-stitch I-cord using double pointed needles. I-cord is a simple but elegant technique in which a tiny tube of knitting is formed by sliding stitches back to the beginning of the needle after each row rather than turning the work, causing the working yarn to wrap around the back and create a seamless, rounded cord.
• I-cord application: Once knitted, the I-cord is threaded through the eyelet border of the blanket rather than sewn on top, creating a neat, integrated trim. The cord is tacked at each corner for security and joined invisibly on the reverse side.

Stitches Used

• Knit (K): The primary stitch throughout the entire blanket body.
• Yarn over (yo): Used on every increase and decrease row to form the eyelet border detail.
• K2tog (knit two together): The decrease stitch used to shape the second half of the blanket and maintain the eyelet column.
• I-cord stitch sequence: A repetitive K3, slide, wrap, repeat process worked on double pointed needles to form the trim cord.

Materials Required

• Yarn: 4 balls of Plymouth Yarn Heaven in a main color, plus 1 ball of Plymouth Yarn Heaven in a contrasting color for the optional I-cord trim. Plymouth Yarn Heaven is a chunky, ultra-soft yarn well suited to baby projects, providing the plush, cozy texture ideal for infant blankets.
• Needles: US size 15 straight or circular needles for the main blanket body. US size 13 double pointed needles (DPNs) — two needles — are required for working the optional 3-stitch I-cord trim.
• Gauge: 8 stitches = 4 inches in pattern using US size 15 needles, or size necessary to obtain gauge. Achieving gauge is important to ensure the blanket reaches the intended 24 x 24 inch dimensions.