How to Knit the Levi Baby Blanket [Free Written Pattern & Video Tutorial]

***You can purchase an INEXPENSIVE AD-FREE PDF of this pattern HERE***

Levi has been the sort of knit I love the most. The simple 12 row repeat makes this a project thats easy to pick up and put down.

Perfect for those of us with busy lives who just don’t have the time to sit for ages working out where in the pattern you were when you stopped knitting.

I absolutely love baby blankets with texture that does the talking. I have nothing against more complex designs like colourwork, but, for me, there is nothing better than the simplicity of combining knit and purl stitches and letting them do their thing in a simple textured panel.

I like to knit blankets that look fabulous in a solid coloured yarn, from a soft classic pastel shade, to a bold bright colour like the Teal shade I chose to use for my sample blanket.

The experienced knitters amongst you will notice that the main illusion panel in the blanket is knitted using Garter Block Stitch. This stitch pattern is a timeless classic, and I’ve been wanting to incorporate it into a blanket for quite a while.

When designing this pattern, I decided that instead of just framing a panel of Garter Block Stitch with a Garter Stitch Border, I wanted to add a Stockinette Stitch “frame” in between the two sections to really help that texture stand out as much as possible.

I like to hope you will all love this blanket pattern as much as I do. Like so many of my blanket patterns, it has a soft, unfussy design making it a great choice for everyday use in either a nursery or a pram.

Is this pattern reversible?

I get a lot of people asking if my blankets are reversible, so I thought it might be useful to include a little snapshot of what the back looks like.

As with a lot of my blankets, Levi is not a reversible design, the back is a lot plainer than the front. That being said, the reverse isn’t ugly or messy in any way, it just doesn’t match the texture of the front.

Right Side

wrong side

yarn and sizing tips & tricks

The Levi baby blanket pattern is knitted all in one piece, from bottom to top. In order to accommodate all your stitches, I recommend using a set of circular needles (at least 100cm long) as straight needles just won’t be long enough to fit your stitches on comfortably.

I’ve chosen DK (aka Double Knitting, Light Worsted, 3 Weight) yarn for this project, but don’t let that stop you from knitting it in your own preferred weight of yarn.

My instructions produce a baby blanket approximately 60cm x 80cm, perfect for using as a cot, pram or travel blanket. But don’t let that stop you from knitting this blanket in any size you want! I think it would look great scaled up as a Sofa Throw, Quilt or Bedspread.

I’ve deliberately designed this knitting pattern to be super easy for you to adjust the size of your blanket to whatever size you want/need.

To make the blanket longer, you’ll need to work more repeats of the Middle Section (the top and bottom border are worked the same regardless of the size of blanket you knit).

To adjust the width of your blanket you’ll need to cast on more (or indeed less) stitches, it can easily be done using the pattern multiple of 10+5 for the middle textured panel, and an additional 18 stitches (9 for each side) for the garter stitch edging.

Pin for later

Not ready to knit the Levi baby blanket just yet? Why not pin this image to your Pinterest so you can find it easily when you’re ready to sit down and cast on!

Materials Needed

• 4mm (Size 6) Circular Needles (to recreate this blanket 100cm is a perfect length)
• 400g of DK Yarn (800-1000m approx) – I used Stylecraft Belissima in Totally Teal.
• Scissors & Tapestry Needle for sewing in ends
• 2 Stitch Markers

written pattern

Bottom Garter Stitch Border:

Foundation Row: Cast on 133 Stitches. (I use the Long Tail Cast on)

Knit 15 rows as follows: K until final stitch, sl1pwyf.

setup rows:

Row 1 (RS): k9, pm, k until 9 stitches remain, pm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 2 (WS): k9, sm, p until 9 stitches remain, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 3: k9, sm, k until 9 stitches remain, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 4: k9, sm, p until 9 stitches remain, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 5: k9, sm, k until 9 stitches remain, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 6: k9, sm, p until 9 stitches remain, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Main Pattern Repeat:

Row 1 (RS): k9, sm, k until 9 stitches remain, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 2 (WS): k9, sm, p5, *k5, p5* repeat from *to* until 2nd marker, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 3: k9, sm, k until 9 stitches remain, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 4: k9, sm, p5, *k5, p5* repeat from *to* until 2nd marker, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 5: k9, sm, k until 9 stitches remain, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 6: k9, sm, p5, *k5, p5* repeat from *to* until 2nd marker, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 7: k9, sm, k until 9 stitches remain, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 8: k9, sm, p10, *k5, p5* repeat from *to* until 5 stitches before 2nd marker, p5, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 9: k9, sm, k until 9 stitches remain, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 10: k9, sm, p10, *k5, p5* repeat from *to* until 5 stitches before 2nd marker, p5, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 11: k9, sm, k until 9 stitches remain, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 12: k9, sm, p10, *k5, p5* repeat from *to* until 5 stitches before 2nd marker, p5, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Repeat rows 1-12 a total of 20 times and then repeat rows 1-6 once more before moving onto finishing rows.

Finishing Rows:

Row 1 (RS): k9, sm, k until 9 stitches remain, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 2: k9, sm, p until 9 stitches remain, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 3: k9, sm, k until 9 stitches remain, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 4: k9, sm, p until 9 stitches remain, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 5: k9, sm, k until 9 stitches remain, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Row 6: k9, sm, p until 9 stitches remain, sm, k8, sl1pwyf.

Top Garter Border:

Knit 16 rows as follows: K until final stitch, sl1pwyf. (Remove stitch markers when knitting first row).

Final row (Row 17): Cast off knit wise with right side facing.

I hope you love Levi just as much as I do! If you’re looking for more knitted baby blanket inspiration then why not take a look at Harvey, Taylor or Noah.

video tutorial