Squared Blanket
Materials:3.5mm straight needles OR 3.5mm circulars used as straight needles.
Aran Weight Yarn of your choice - I used two balls of Robin Bonny Babe Aran 400g in Candy Pink and had some left over.
You can find ideal substitutions at this website:
yarnsub.com
Pattern:
Cast on 197 stitches.
1st - 10th row: *Knit 1 Purl 1* until end of row. This will form a seed stitch border.
11th row: *Knit 1 Purl 1* for five stitches, followed by Knit 27, followed by *Knit 1 Purl 1* for five stitches - do this until the end of the row.
12th row: *Knit 1 Purl 1* for five stitches, followed by Purl 27, followed by *Knit 1 Purl 1* for five stitches - do this until the end of the row.
Repeat last 2 rows until you have finished row 46, and then start again from 1st row until you reach your desired length.
For the final border work 9 rows in seed stitch. Bind off in seed stitch.
The pattern should look like this: 5 27 5 27 5 27 5 27 5 27 5 27 5, with the fives being seed stitch and the twenty sevens being stockinette.
If you want a wider blanket, you can add 32 stitches for an extra square and border.
Likewise, for a smaller blanket, remove 32 stitches for one less square and border.
To work out desired length, measure your stockinette square and its two seed stitch borders. You will then know how many repetitions it needs. I opted for nine, which was enough to cover me up to my neck. (I am around 167cm tall, however your gauge and yarn will be different from mine so ymmv!)
I haven't decided if I want to duplicate stitch bears on the squares or knit them and sew them on....