Please note: There is a version of this blanket floating around that has red stripes with added heart-shaped sections. I’m getting a lot of questions about where that pattern is (I’ve even seen pattern roundups that show that blanket but link directly here). It’s not my blanket, and I do not have the pattern variation for you here. Sorry!
A Little Background
This pattern has quite a story behind it – more so than I realized when I first published it!
Back in 2014 (when I was blogging under the name “Little Monkeys Crochet”) I was watching one of my favorite tv shows, Call the Midwife, and spotted the most beautiful single-colored baby blanket.
After an online search yielded no results, I immediately set out to figure out the pattern on my own. It gave me a run for my money but I finally finished it, published it on my blog, and the crochet world went a little crazy for it!
Quite some time later, I started to get an occasional comment here and there from someone who was so excited to discover my pattern because their mom (or grandma or aunt) had crocheted them this blanket decades ago and now they had a pattern for it! It wasn’t too much longer before the origins of this show prop were discovered: an old, out-of-print Patons & Baldwins Limited (UK) Booklet from years ago!
It was a fun discovery, but also a bit of a sad one, as I realized (perhaps later than I should have) that I had deconstructed someone else’s pattern, rewritten it, and published it on my own blog. I’m not sure why I didn’t realize this sooner – perhaps it was partly because I was a new blogger and hadn’t really thought through the legal or ethical issues of doing so, or perhaps it was because I saw the blanket on a TV show, in a pretend world, and it didn’t even cross my mind that there would be an actual real-life pattern out there for it. It’s probably a little of both.
This story does have a happy ending, though! Once it was clear where the pattern had originated, I sat down to write to the publisher who owned the rights. I explained the entire situation and timeline, apologized profusely, and offered to remove the pattern from my blog. Much to my surprise and delight, they responded with the utmost kindness and gave me permission to leave it be, enabling thousands of people to continue using it!
And so, this pattern remains on my blog with the permission of Yarnspirations, who now owns Patons. That’s a happy ending, I’d say!
THE MIDWIFE BLANKET
Hook: G (4.25mm)
Yarn: Light (DK). I used approximately 1,000 yards of Bernat Softee Baby Yarn in Antique White.
Difficulty: Easy
Crochet Language: American Standard Terms (I would have written it in UK, in honor of the fact that the show is from there, but I don’t know how…) 🙂
Finished Size: Approx. 30″ x 35″ (You can easily increase or decrease the size by adding to your starting Ch; just make sure you start with a multiple of 16, plus 6)
Notes:
(1) Because of the design, which is created by the use of skipped stitches, you’ll be crocheting into those stitches often. It’s up to you whether you crochet into the Ch, or the space created by it. I chose to crochet into the Ch itself because I felt it would give my rows a steadier look. Just note going into it that each of those skipped stitches still counts as a stitch for the row that follows it. So if it tells you to “DC in next 6 sts”, and there are only 4 DCs from the previous row followed by a space that was created by chains, you’ll need to put the last 2 DC into those chains (or the chain space, if you prefer).
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To Begin: Ch 118.
Row 1: DC in 6th Ch from hook. (Ch 1, Sk 1 St, DC in next St) across. Ch 4; turn.
Row 2: Sk first 2 Sts, DC in next 15 Sts, including Ch 1s from previous row. (Ch 1; Sk 1 St. DC in next 15 Sts) 6 more times. Ch 1, Sk 1 St, DC in next St (which is part of the Ch 4 from previous row). Ch 4; turn.
Row 3: Sk first 2 Sts, DC in next 6 Sts, Ch 3, Sk 3 Sts, DC in next 6 Sts. (Ch 1; Sk 1 St. DC in next 6 Sts. Ch 3, Sk 3 Sts. DC in next 6 Sts) 6 more times. Ch 1; DC in next St (which is part of the Ch 4 from previous row). Ch 4; turn.
Row 4: Sk first 2 Sts, DC in next 4 Sts, Ch 3, Sk 3 Sts, SLIP STITCH into next St, Ch 3, Sk 3 Sts, DC in next 4 Sts. (Ch 1; Sk 1 St. DC in next 4 Sts, Ch 3, Sk 3 Sts, SLIP STITCH into next St, Ch 3, Sk 3 Sts, DC in next 4 Sts) 6 more times. Ch 1; DC in next St (which is part of the Ch 4 from previous row). Ch 4; turn.
Row 5: Sk first 2 Sts, DC in next 6 Sts (don’t forget to include the Chs from the previous row in your count!), Ch 3, Sk 3 Sts, DC in next 6 Sts. (Ch 1; Sk 1 St. DC in next 6 Sts. Ch 3, Sk 3 Sts. DC in next 6 Sts) 6 more times. Ch 1; DC in next St (which is part of the Ch 4 from previous row). Ch 4; turn.
Row 6: Sk first 2 Sts, DC in next 15 Sts. (Ch 1; Sk 1 St. DC in next 15 Sts) 6 more times. Ch 1; DC in next St (which is part of the Ch 4 from previous row). Ch 4; turn.
Row 7: Sk first 2 Sts. DC in next. (Ch 1, Sk 1 St, DC in next St) across. Ch 4; turn.
You’ve completed one row of rectangles. To continue your blanket, repeat rows 2-7 10 more times for a stroller blanket, or as many anavar for sale as you want to achieve desired length. At the end of your final row, do not Ch 4, but continue to “Edging”.
Edging You will be working along the little boxes that line the perimeter of your blanket, using two of them together to create a scalloped edge. Ch 1. SC + DC into first space. DC into the stitch that divides the two spaces. DC + SC into second space. This completes 1 scallop. (Sk next dividing st. SC + DC into next space. DC into the stitch that divides the two spaces. DC + SC into second space.) Repeat () all the way around the blanket (I added an extra DC when working in the corners).
Depending on how many rows of rectangles you chose to do, you may end up with a leftover box at the end, like I did. I simply improvised and made a 3-box scallop at the end. There’s probably a better way to figure that out, but I’m not above a little improvisation to get a job done. 😉 Fasten off; weave in ends.