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This sand stitch baby blanket knitting pattern is easy to stitch in sand stitch, a four row repeat of knits and purls that looks good on both sides.
Materials
I used one ball of Bernat Sport Ombre Twist, which, according to the ball band, is 1,011 yards (924 meters) and a light/DK/yarn weight 3. This color is called Sorbet.
You’ll also need a size 6 US/4mm circular needle because the blanket is worked in one piece so you need a circular needle to hold all the stitches, even though it is worked flat.
I used single crochet for the border on my blanket. If you want to do the same you’ll need a similarly sized crochet hook. I couldn’t find a 4 mm so I used 4.5mm (that’s a size 7) and it turned out fine.
You’ll also need scissors and a yarn needle for finishing your project.
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Gauge
Gauge isn’t critical but I got 19 stitches and 24 rows per 4 inches/10 cm in sand stitch worked flat.
Size
Including the border, my sand stitch baby blanket came out to 36 inches/91.4 cm square. The border added about an inch/2.5 cm total to the length and width, so without a border it would be about 35 inches/89 cm square.
Sand Stitch Baby Blanket Knitting Pattern
Using a circular knitting needle but working back and forth in rows, cast on 166 stitches. Work in sand stitch as follows:
Row 1 and 3: knit all stitches.
Row 2: *knit 1, purl 1. Repeat from * across.
Row 4: *purl 1, knit 1. Repeat from * across.
Continue in pattern until your blanket is square. End on either row 2 or row 4 and bind off in knitting. I used a stretchy bind off because the bind off is so long.
You’ll notice that the two sides of the blanket look quite different, and there’s some debate as to which side is the right/front side. I consider the more pebbly (sandy?) side to be the front because that’s what Barbara G. Walker said, but you can consider the other side the front if you like it more.
Baby Blanket Border
Because I had a little yarn left over for my sand stitch baby blanket, I decided to add a border. Because I didn’t have a lot of yarn left, I crocheted it.
I ended up working two rounds of single crochet around the blanket, using the last stitch from binding off as the first loop for the first crochet stitch.
Whatever border you choose, work from the side you consider the right/front side.
I also worked two stitches in the first stitch and the last stitch of each side of the blanket to make more of a corner.
You could try working applied I cord or adding a different border in the same or contrasting yarn as you like. When you’re finished, cut any remaining yarn, leaving a tail, and weave in your ends.
Though this stitch pattern isn’t quite stockinette, I did find it had a bit of a tendency to curl, so both adding a border and washing your blanket and letting it lie flat to dry (pinning the edges if they still aren’t lying flat) will be helpful.
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