649 First Violet Baby Blanket - Knitting Pattern for Babies in Valley Yarns Valley Superwash DK Hand-Dyed

649 First Violet Baby Blanket – Knitting Pattern Summary

The 649 First Violet Baby Blanket is an original knitting pattern designed by Kirsten Hipsky and published under the Valley Yarns brand. It produces a soft, vibrant, square baby blanket available in three finished sizes: 28, 32, or 36 inches square, with the medium 32-inch size shown in the sample. The pattern is a downloadable PDF suitable for beginner knitters who are ready to explore a few satisfying structural techniques.

What Is Being Made

This pattern creates a square baby blanket built from the center outward using a combination of architectural knitting methods. It is specifically designed to coordinate with the First Violet Pullover, making it an ideal gift set for a new baby. The finished blanket is constructed in distinct zones — a central mitered square, surrounding bands of striped fabric, and a final log cabin garter stitch outer frame — giving it a graphic, modern look despite its beginner-friendly construction.

Construction and Techniques

The blanket is worked flat in its early stages and then transitions into working in the round as the piece grows, using a clever jogless stripe method to keep color changes clean and seamless-looking. The key structural techniques include:

• Garter stitch mitered square at the center, formed by casting on just 2 stitches and increasing outward with a kfb (knit front and back) increase on every row
• Log cabin garter stitch borders built outward from the central square, picking up stitches along the edges of completed sections and working back and forth in garter stitch
• Single-row jogless stripes in the middle bands, which allow two colors to alternate in the round without the visible jog that typically appears at the round join
• Stripes alternating between color A (Cobalt) and color B (First Violet) throughout the banded sections
• Circular needle construction that transitions from worked flat to working in the round as the outer frame is added

The jogless stripe technique is a particularly useful skill for beginners to learn. By picking up a stitch from the row below at the color join, the knitter effectively hides the step that occurs when working stripes in the round, resulting in a polished, professional finish without any seaming or duplicate stitch correction afterward.

The log cabin construction method — a classic technique in both knitting and quilting — involves picking up stitches along the live edge of a completed section and knitting outward, rotating the work and repeating on each side. This builds the blanket in a series of rectangular or square frames, each one surrounding the last.

Stitches Used

• Garter stitch — the primary stitch texture throughout the blanket, created by knitting every row when working flat
• Stockinette stitch — referenced in the gauge swatch (5.5 stitches and 8 rows = 1 inch in stockinette)
• kfb (knit front and back) — used to increase stitches in the central mitered square
• m1L and m1R (make one left and make one right) — used in the outer frame rounds to increase symmetrically at each corner marker
• Pick up and knit — used to begin each new log cabin border section along the edges of completed bands

Materials

The pattern calls for Valley Yarns Valley Superwash DK Hand-Dyed, a 100% Merino Superwash yarn sold in 100g / 274-yard skeins. Two colors are used:

• Cobalt (color A): 2 skeins for the small size, 3 for medium, 4 for large
• First Violet (color B): 2 skeins for all three sizes

The DK weight of this yarn makes it lightweight and drapey — ideal for a baby blanket that needs to be soft against delicate skin. The Superwash