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 times 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.
First grandbaby is on the way! So excited! Making this adorable blanket for him/her! Thank you for the pattern!
I would like to make this pattern for an adult. What would the starting chain be ? Say for a queen size bed.
Many Thank You’s Rebecca for sharing your gift of patterning for this lovely blanket…..just finished & it is so sweet, beautiful and waiting for a baby…joy to make…great instructions & I do luv your simple border…was a perfect finishing touch…God Bless you & keep creating…PS Call The Midwife is my fav too! xo Judy
I’ve made this blanket and would like to give it to my neighbor to sell at a church bazaar. Can I do that? What notations or acknowledgements should go with it?
None needed 🙂
Just letting you know the picture (red stripes and hearts) and link to here came from http://www.beautifulskills.com/2015/08/the-midwife-inspired-baby-blanket-free.html?m=1
it may be worth contacting them and redressing this error.
Thank you for the inspiration, the patterns and the work you do,
regards
kate
Im doing your blanket, 118 chain and iv frogged it 4 times and my counting is not off, i check that, what am i doing
and do you have a toruial video
It’s difficult to know without seeing it. I do not have a video tutorial.
Someone else may have one on You Tube, check to see!!
Please foward this midwife blanket pattern to me.
I am unable to do so but the pattern is written out in full in the blog post above.
Beautiful blanket
Thank you keen to give it a go what is a g hook in Australia please
I was wondering how to do the heart rows that were shown in the picture labeled” midwife inspired blanket”.Thanks-the link only shows how to do the cloverleaf part,not the hearts.Thanks
Hello, I addressed this at the very beginning of the blog post. That adaptation of the pattern isn’t mine. 🙂
Hi,
Oh my goodness, thanks you so much for writing this pattern. Just like you I have crocheted and cried over all the episodes of Call the Midwife while my husband worked and my children slept. I recently paused the telly so I could take a photo of the blanket and some day figure out how to crochet it. Now I won’t have to! Can’t wait to get started. I will think of you when I make it. Thanks again, Deb
I, too, saw a picture of the afghan and no instructions. So I created my own, but I didn’t put it in writing. Have almost finished it. [I’ve been thinking of changing it up some to get a more square “square.” Will have to try and see how it goes…] I also used a G hook and baby yarn, used white yarn because I had it in hand.
Meanwhile I have saved the pin for future reference. Thank you.
I’ve been crocheting for a long time!
Thanks for pattern, it was easy to follow. I made one in evenings, while watching TV, and it turned out beautiful!
I Want to start watching the show.
This article was shared in a community I run to connect globetrotting parents and everyone LOVED it. You should join us! We all relate to your experience. Many of us, including me, are in the same boat. I travel with my 2 year old all the time to visit family from the US to Europe and my co-founders travel to Turkey and from Mozambique to Sweden, France and the US – just to give an idea. I’ve always LOVED to travel, but when I had my son, I never had the choice to stop traveling, it was always going to be a part of life so it never occurred to me to stop traveling like some parents have chosen to do. Hope you can join us and thanks for writing this.
I started making this and realized there is not a pattern for the picture that has the hearts? Do you have the rest of the pattern?
That is not my pattern; please see the beginning of this blog post for details.
Very well written pattern. It’s rare that I get a pattern right the first go around without having to figure out what was supposed to be done.
If I I could offer one suggestion as I had to frog my work after the first set of rectangles- you might suggest working the initial chain with an H hook to keep it from curling, especially if the crocheter knows they crochet tightly. I usually do this but totally forgot this time around.
Thank you for the pattern
PS the first time around I crocheted into the stitches like you suggested. I need to work this blanket up quickly, so the second time around I worked into the spaces. Much much quicker that way and I don’t notice much of a difference… in case anyone as wondering.
HI! Would it be ok for me to print out a few copies to share with my charity group? They are seniors and most don’t use the computer. This is one of my favorite baby blanket patterns. Thanks!