Floppy Ears

Floppy Ears Knitted Blanket by Irina Smith

Project Overview

Floppy Ears is a downloadable knitting pattern designed by Irina Smith for creating a charming car seat blanket featuring a primitive bunny silhouette with floppy ears in the centre. This intermediate-level knitting project is an inspired variation of the designer's Cable Hearts pattern, making it an ideal choice for crafters looking to combine decorative appeal with practical functionality for babies and young children.

What Is Being Made

This pattern creates a baby blanket with a playful bunny motif as the focal point. The design includes a central bunny figure with prominent floppy ears, a coordinating tail, and a decorative border. The blanket's versatile construction allows for extensive customization through colour choices, making it particularly suitable for using up yarn scraps and partial skeins from your stash.

Design Features and Customization

• Central bunny silhouette with floppy ears as the main design element
• Flexible colour options throughout the design—the border can match the main blanket body or contrast with a different colour
• Both ears can be worked in matching colours or in two completely different shades
• Tail can either coordinate with other design elements or be worked in an entirely different colour for creative expression
• Excellent stash-busting project utilizing oddments and half skeins of yarn

Knitting Techniques Used

This intermediate-level pattern employs several essential knitting techniques to create its textured and decorative effects. The design incorporates cable stitches as a structural element, adding visual interest and dimension to the blanket. The ears are attached using grafting methods, a technique that creates seamless joins and ensures the ears remain securely fastened without risk of detachment—an important safety consideration for baby items.

Stitches Used

• Knit – fundamental stitch forming the base fabric
• Purl – creates texture and pattern variation
• Yarn Over (YO) – produces decorative eyelet holes and lace elements
• Slip, Knit, Pass Slipped Stitch Over (SKPO) – a left-leaning decrease used in shaping and pattern work
• Knit Two Together (K2tog) – a right-leaning decrease for shaping
• Cable 2x2 – a two-over-two cable stitch creating twisted rope-like texture

Materials and Yarn Requirements

This pattern is worked in DK weight yarn, a versatile medium weight that provides good stitch definition for both the cable work and the chart-based bunny motif. The DK weight allows the design details to show clearly while maintaining a soft, drapeable fabric suitable for a baby blanket. Knitting needles appropriate for DK yarn weight are required, along with a tapestry needle for grafting the ears and finishing seams.

Safety Considerations

The pattern specifically emphasizes working the tail as shown in the chart rather than substituting a pompom, even though a pompom might appear cute. This safety-first approach is essential for baby blankets, as loose pompoms or their individual threads could potentially detach and pose a choking hazard. The grafting method used to attach the ears similarly ensures they remain permanently secure.

Difficulty Level

Rated as intermediate, this pattern assumes familiarity with basic knitting stitches and techniques. The inclusion of cable work, yarn overs, decreases, and grafting techniques makes it suitable for knitters who have moved beyond beginner projects but are still building their technical skills. The chart-based bunny motif requires comfort reading knitting charts and working from written instructions simultaneously.