Book Review: Knitted Baby Blankets and Cuddle Bags

April 20, 2021 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

Baby blankets are my favorite baby gift to knit. I love that they don’t have to be a particular size, you can play with stitch patterns and colors, and they are always useful (and tend to be useful longer than garments that may be quickly outgrown).

Marta Skadsheim Torkildsen shares more than 50 snuggly projects for baby in her book Knitted Baby Blankets & Cuddle Bags.

As you’d imagine from the title, this book is chock-full of baby blanket knitting patterns, most of which are pretty classic, solid color with an allover pattern or pattern blocks, or two or three color stripes. Six of the blankets are sized for preemies. In addition to the blankets there are three patterns for cuddle bags.

The patterns have a skill rating of one to three balls of yarn. Among the blankets, 18 are level one, 27 are level two and three are level three. The cuddle bags are one at each level.

The patterns aren’t listed on Ravelry but you can get a sneak peek on the publisher’s website. (Click on see inside this book.)

There are lots of cute options, such as Målfird, which has lacy heart blocks; Hilde, with blocks of reverse Stockinette stars; Torunn, covered in a lacy zig-zag; and Anne, with a textured diamond pattern.

This book is a great reference if you knit a lot of baby blankets for friends or for charity. The patterns are pretty and straightforward and should keep you happily knitting for a long time.

About the book: 144 pages, 51 patterns, hardcover. Published by Trafalgar Square Books, suggested retail $23.95.

Looking for more Baby Knitting patterns? Check these out on Etsy.

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Celebrate Color with the Minas Sweater

One of the hardest things about winter for me is the lack of color. It’s like the whole world ran out of toner, and often our clothes reflect the muted landscape outside, which just makes everything more drab.

This year I’m trying to use and wear all the fun colors of yarn I have in my stash, and I think the Minas Sweater from Cecilia Lalanne & Gabriella Calderini for Manos del Uruguay would be a great way to use a lot of colorful yarn on a sweet sweater.

This cropped sweater uses 1×1 stranded colorwork where the colors change as you work the pattern, which makes it look more complex than it is. The project calls for five colors of worsted weight yarn, but you could probably even use more (or use a multicolored yarn as one or some of your options) to bring even more color to the party.

It’s a simple drop shoulder crewneck with straight sleeves, so pretty much all you have to focus on is changing your colors when you need to.

There are seven size options in the pattern, ranging from a bust circumference (on the sweater, not the wearer) from 42.75 to 69.25 inches, or 108.5 to 176 cm. It’s intended to be worn with around 8 inches or 20 cm of positive ease for a casual, oversized look.

You can go bold with the color choices like the sample shown here, or pick a couple of more neutral colors to combine with some brighter shades if that’s more your style. Either way this project should be as easy to knit as it is fun to wear. And of course those bright colors make me think a teenager in your life might love it, but of course there’s no rule that says you have to stop wearing fun colors at a certain age. Thank goodness.

The pattern is free to download from Ravelry and is available in both English and Spanish.

[Photo: Cecilia Lalanne & Gabriella Calderini]

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