1144 Kent - Blanket Knitting Pattern for Babies and Home in Valley Yarns Superwash Bulky

Pattern 1144 Kent: Baby Playmat and Throw Blanket Knitting Pattern by Valley Yarns

Pattern 1144 Kent, designed by Julie Turjoman and published by Valley Yarns, is a versatile knitted blanket pattern offering two sizes: a Baby Playmat measuring approximately 36½" x 39" and a larger Adult Throw Blanket measuring approximately 50¼" x 72". The pattern is rated Advanced Beginner, making it an ideal next step for knitters who have mastered basic knitting skills and are ready to explore simple textured stitch patterns and colorwork through striping.

What Is Being Made

The Kent blanket is a plush, durable, and visually striking knitted blanket designed for both practical and gifting purposes. In the smaller Baby Playmat size, it serves as a soft and washable surface for infants during play or tummy time, and makes a stunning gift for a new arrival. In the larger Adult Throw size, it functions beautifully as a lap blanket, picnic blanket, or tailgating throw. The finished piece features a rich combination of a linear twist stitch pattern and bold color striping in three colors, framed by a tidy knitted-on I-Cord border along the side edges.

Techniques Used

• Bottom-up construction: The blanket is worked from the cast-on edge upward, back and forth in rows, allowing the knitter to build the piece in a straightforward, linear fashion.
• Worked flat: Despite being worked on a circular needle, all rows are worked back and forth rather than in the round, which is a common and practical approach for large blanket projects.
• Stripes: Three colors are alternated in a structured sequence, with each color worked for exactly 8 rows before switching. This creates clean, even horizontal stripes throughout the field of the blanket.
• Seamless I-Cord border: Once the main field is complete, a knitted-on I-Cord border is worked around the side edges during finishing. This technique creates a polished, rounded edging without the need for sewing or seaming, giving the blanket a professional and tidy finish.
• Long-Tail Cast-On: The pattern specifies the Long-Tail method for casting on stitches, a popular technique that produces a firm, elastic, and neat cast-on edge well suited to blankets.

Stitches Used

• Twist Stitch pattern: The primary stitch pattern used throughout the field of the blanket is a Twist Stitch, worked over an 8-stitch repeat across 8-row pattern sequences. Twist stitches involve crossing stitches over one another — typically without a cable needle, though a cable needle is listed as a required accessory — to create a linear, textured, rope-like effect across the fabric. This adds visual depth and dimension to what might otherwise be a simple striped blanket.
• I-Cord: A small, tubular cord knitted on a small number of stitches using double-pointed needles, applied directly to the edges of the blanket as a border. I-Cord borders are a classic finishing technique in knitting that neatly enclose raw edges.
• Bind-off in pattern: Stitches are bound off in pattern at the end of the field, maintaining the integrity of the twist stitch texture through to the final row.

Materials and Yarn

The pattern is written specifically for Valley Yarns Valley Superwash Bulky, a 100% Extrafine Superwash Merino Wool yarn sold in 100g / 109-yard balls. This yarn is an excellent choice for a baby or home blanket because Superwash Merino is both machine washable and exceptionally soft against delicate skin. The chunky weight of the yarn means the blanket works up relatively quickly and produces a thick, plush fabric with satisfying stitch definition.

Three colorways are used in the pattern:

• Color A — Blue Mist (colorway 7): 4 balls for the Playmat /