I was looking for something for a baby blanket, and came across the knotted open work stitch, and thought it would pair nicely with the yarn I had, which is Hayfield Baby Blossom DK in “baby bouquet.”

This is a 70/30 acrylic/nylon yarn, which I normally wouldn’t buy since I started knitting more than crocheting and became sort of a yarn snob, not using anything that isn’t some combination of wool, silk, or cashmere. I adore hand-dyed yarn by some of my favorite artisans! But for a baby, I wanted something that could be washed and not be ruined in the first round of baby-barf.

This yarn produces a gorgeous faux-fair isle look, with gradients of pink leading into sections of white dappled with green and dark pink, mimicking little blossoms. The knotted open work creates a beautiful, delicate lattice-like fabric, and the knotted clusters work wonderfully with the blossoms created by the yarn.

I absolutely love how this is coming out, and wanted to share it with you. I’m still somewhat new to knitting, and this is only my third blanket, the previous work having been scarves and shawls. The last blanket I did started with four rows of garter stitch, and it’s curling and will need to be “killed,” so I did something different with this one, using seed stitch for the borders instead.

This is what I did…

Lori’s Knotted Open Work Baby Blanket

I used the Hayfield Baby Blossom DK yarn, and size 7 ChiaGoo circular needles. I don’t know how much yarn it will take yet. I bought 4 balls. When I get to the last one, if I want the blanket to be bigger, I’ll order more. 🙂

Cast on a multiple of 3, plus 8. I did either 125 or 131 (117+8 or 123+8), I forget now and am too lazy to count. (I wanted an ODD number, so did not use, for example 120+8=128 stitches) because I wanted the beginning seed stitch rows to start and end on a knit. The initial slip is done purl-wise, but I’m not sure that matters. Use whatever method you prefer to maintain a nice edge.

Seed stitch 5 rows. (I did slip, P, K, P, K, P, etc. across, which results in ending stitch being K.)

I wanted a four-stitch seed stitch edge, so the first and last 4 stitches of each row are the border.

Row 1: Slip, P, K, P (border) then purl all across to last 4 stitches, then P, K, P, K

Row 2: Slip, P, K, P (border) then K2, *YO, K3, slip the first of the 3 K stitches back over the other 2* Repeat between * to last 5 stitches, then K, P, K, P, K

Row 3: Slip, P, K, P (border) then purl all across to last 4 stitches, then P, K, P, K

Row 4: Slip, P, K, P (border) then K1, *K3, slip the first of the 3 K stitches back over the other 2, YO* Repeat between * to last 6 stitches, then K2, P, K, P, K

Repeat rows 1-4 until you’ve reached the desired length, then do 5 rows of seed stitch then cast off.

I love this kind of yarn so much, despite it being synthetic, and they do a chunky style also. Knitting is so slow and doing a full-size throw or afghan would take forever in DK, so I might get the blue colorway in chunky and make something for myself!

Note I have not yet completed this! It’s a WIP, but it’s so pretty and is making me so happy, I couldn’t wait to share. 🙂