Last summer, I designed a baby blanket for Fibre Space in Alexandria. When I showed the finished design here, many of you liked the pattern and wanted to knit it. I am happy to announce that it is now available for purchase.
Close up of the central castle panel:
Shown in cream:
Susan’s version:
The green blanket was knit out of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted; the cream blanket was made with Cascade’s 220 Superwash. Susan’s was knit out of Plymouth’s Worsted Merino Superwash.
Quick facts about the pattern:
Size: Approximately 32 by 40 inches after blocking.
Gauge: 18 stitches and 28 rows over four inches.
Yarn Requirements: You will need approximately 1100 yards of worsted weight yarn. (Each of my blankets used slightly less than that, but I prefer to give a quantity that allows for gauge differences as well as swatching.)
Instructions: Provided in both chart and row-by-row format. Two versions of the pattern are included; the bonus version omits the central castle panel.
Cost: $5.00
How to Purchase:
Sleeping Baby’s Castle is available through Ravelry . Whether or not you are a Ravelry member, you can purchase the pattern by clicking the link below. You will be taken directly to a purchase page; after purchase, you will receive a link to download the PDF of the pattern.
Edited to add: A couple of readers have asked about the difficulty level of this pattern. That’s hard for me to answer because perceived difficulty is so variable. On Ravelry, there are about 9 or 10 Castle Blankets that weren’t knitted by me or by Susan. (The design was initially available as a kit at a local yarn store, Fibre Space, and those projects were knit from the kits sold there.)
I can’t know what the level of expertise of each of those knitters was, but the average difficulty rating given by them was between easy and medium. I don’t know if that helps. The pattern has a lot of repetition, and is very pictorial, so my sense is that it looks more complicated than it is. But each knitter is different.
Yeah !!!!
Comment by Aggie — January 12, 2011 @ 1:42 pm
I love your patterns. They are so complete.
You might want to add an ‘x’ before the 19 times on page 14, row 10.
You are my very favorite site and the first thing I look at each and every day.
Comment by Ronna — January 12, 2011 @ 3:20 pm
What difficulty level would you say this is? Too much for an advanced beginner??
Comment by Cath Pete — January 12, 2011 @ 6:50 pm
So cute. I think everyone, even babies, love castles.
Comment by Kristen — January 12, 2011 @ 10:59 pm
Lovely pattern. I can see how the castle motif was inspired by Barbara Walker’s Gingerbread Castle in “A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns”.
Comment by Katie K — January 13, 2011 @ 12:50 am
I would be interested to know the difficulty level of this pattern also. I’m pretty new to knitting (but I love it! I’d rather knit that just about anything else!!).
This is really a beautiful baby blanket – Congratulations on an amazing job – beautifully done!
Comment by Barb — January 13, 2011 @ 10:15 am
Stunning! Great work.
Comment by Aline — January 13, 2011 @ 11:05 am
Thanks, Sally, for the additional information about difficulty. I know it is pretty hard to gauge that not knowing every person’s ability. I just may give it a try because I’m fairly certain I can get help from my LYS if I don’t understand some part. It really is a beautiful piece and I appreciate your added remarks.
Comment by Barb — January 13, 2011 @ 7:07 pm
I think this is the most charming baby blanket I’ve ever seen! No babies on my horizon right now, but I’m keeping it in mind for “someday!”
Comment by Kym — January 14, 2011 @ 1:07 pm
I was a member of the club that originally received the pattern. While I have yet to knit mine (no worthy baby on the horizon), I feel the pattern is very carefully written, with clear instructions for each step of the way. If anything Sally has offered more not less in the way of help/guidance.
Comment by KateL — January 14, 2011 @ 1:14 pm
That is so darling!
Comment by Carrie#K — January 14, 2011 @ 5:45 pm
beautiful!
Comment by turtle — January 15, 2011 @ 12:59 pm
This is stunning. I love your site and I, too, check it everyday! You are both such an inspiration!! Thank you.
Comment by p — January 15, 2011 @ 10:43 pm
Can you please advise the color of the green blanket made with Lorna’s Laces? It’s just beautiful.
Comment by p — January 16, 2011 @ 6:09 pm
Bravo ! Magnifique !
Comment by Soize — February 9, 2011 @ 4:05 pm
I finished this today, what a lovely pattern! http://www.flickr.com/photos/ontheborderland/5935589417/
Comment by OTB — July 14, 2011 @ 8:11 pm