Truck Pocket Blanket in Caron One Pound - Downloadable PDF

Truck Pocket Blanket in Caron One Pound – Knitting Pattern by Lorna Miser

This Truck Pocket Blanket is a charming, beginner-friendly knitting pattern designed by Lorna Miser and worked in Caron One Pound yarn. The finished blanket measures approximately 40 inches by 40 inches (101.5 cm x 101.5 cm), making it a generous lap or baby blanket size. Its standout feature is an adorable appliquéd dump truck motif sewn directly onto the blanket surface, complete with a functional pocket formed by the truck's open-top bucket — perfect for tucking in a small toy or keepsake. This pattern is available as a free downloadable PDF.

What Is Being Made

The project consists of two main components worked separately and then assembled:

• The main blanket: A large square afghan with a seed stitch border on all four sides and a stockinette stitch body in the center.
• The truck appliqué: A dimensional truck built from four individually knitted pieces — a truck body, a bucket, a window, and two circular wheels — that are sewn onto the finished blanket. The bucket is intentionally left open at the top to create a working pocket.

Techniques Used

• Flat knitting on a circular needle: The blanket is worked back and forth in rows rather than in the round. The circular needle is used purely to accommodate the large stitch count of 157 stitches.
• Seed stitch border: An 8-row seed stitch edging is worked at the cast-on and bind-off edges, and a continuous 8-stitch seed stitch border runs up both sides of the blanket simultaneously as the body is knitted. This technique eliminates the need for separate border pick-up later.
• Stockinette stitch body: The main field of the blanket alternates knit rows on the right side and purl rows on the wrong side, creating the classic smooth fabric surface.
• Garter stitch appliqué pieces: All four truck components — body, bucket, window, and wheels — are worked entirely in garter stitch (knit every row), which produces a sturdy, non-curling fabric well suited to flat appliqué work.
• I-cord: The two truck wheels are each knitted as a 7-inch I-cord using double-pointed needles, then joined end to end to form a circle. I-cord is a simple tubular cord technique where stitches are slid back to the right end of the needle and knitted across without turning, pulling the working yarn behind to close the tube.
• Shaping by bind-off: The truck body is shaped with a partial bind-off mid-piece to create the stepped profile of a dump truck cab versus the truck bed.
• Appliqué assembly: All truck pieces are positioned and sewn onto the blanket using a yarn needle, with the bucket's top edge left open to form the pocket.

Stitches Used

• Knit (K)
• Purl (P)
• Seed stitch – alternating knit and purl stitches, offset each row
• Stockinette stitch – knit on right side, purl on wrong side
• Garter stitch – knit every row on both sides
• I-cord – worked on double-pointed needles to create a round cord

Materials

The pattern calls for Caron One Pound yarn, an aran weight yarn, in four colors:

• Contrast A – Sky Blue (0508): 1 skein — used for the main blanket body and borders
• Contrast B – Jonquil (0586): 1 skein — used for the truck body
• Contrast C – Pale Green (0587): 1 skein — used for