Back to school again. I've been teaching at the same school since 1980, so I'm getting a lot of "how many more years" questions. My answer? I'm only 51 (52 in December). It's too soon for me to think of retiring, even if it's not too late to start planning.

FREE KNITTING PATTERN - Garter and Rib Basketweave Baby Blanket

This is not a precise pattern. It's an idea-generator.

Start with the yarn(s) you like and a needle size that works well with that fiber.

Cast on an uneven multiple of 8. With doubled worsted weight yarn, I cast on 120 stitches (8 x 15... I'm a little superstitious; 13 repetitions would have been wide enough, but...)

Rows 1 through 12: K8 *k1p1 four times, k8* repeat across.

Rows 13 through 24: K1p1 four times, *k8, k1p1 four times* repeat across.

Continue these 24 rows until your blankie is almost long enough, then repeat rows 1 through 12 one more time and bind off loosely.

You get a blanket with nicely scalloped edges, taking advantage of the natural tendancies of ribbing to suck in sideways and garter stitch to pull in top to bottom. When I did this with doubled yarn, the resulting blanket was nice and "cushy", but even the other single stranded ones were quite nice as well.

Enjoy!

Copyright 8/16/2007 by Lisa Davis