I did a post a moon or two ago about my own baby blanket, that at over 40 years old, is still in my possession (Lovey is held together with years of love, dirt and willpower these days). It was knit in the feather and fan pattern and was my obsession as a kid. I now knit the baby blankets I gift (and sell) in the same pattern, and each time I post a picture, my Facebook followers go all nutty and lust for the pattern and the deets. So, I figured it was high time to reblog, and share this winning beauty (literally – I have fair ribbons to prove it) with the masses. Huzzah!
Feather and fan is actually a super easy pattern that only requires counting (up to 6!) every 4th row. Combined with these totally amazing yarn bobbins I stumbled across from Premier Yarns, these blankets are absolutely drool worthy. The bobbins come loaded with 3 skeins worth of anti-pill acrylic yarn – which is totally perfect for baby blankets, as I am told that babies tend to leak and/or spew various liquids and things, and need to be washed often. These require no special laundering and are just as cozy as they are gorge.
I use US 8 circular needles, 24″ long. I use circulars as often as possible as your project is literally contained within itself. This pattern works in multiples of 18 (Whoa. Math.) but I find a cast on of 154 stitches works perfectly into a tiny human sized blanket (8 pattern repeats with 10 for a border). The pattern below is for my blanket, but you can obviously tweak for a smaller boarder, etc. I also slip the first stitch of each row to the new needle (which counts as your first stitch), which in the end automatically creates a nice clean edge.
- Cast on 154 stitches and knit each row until you have a border approximately an inch wide
- Row 1: Knit
- Row 2: K5, purl entire row, K5
- Row 3: k5, * k2 tog 3 times, (k1, yo) 6 times, k2 tog 3 times * repeat from * to * until last 5 stitches, K5
- Row 4: Knit
Repeat these 4 rows until you have the desired width for your color band (or just go to town if you’re going the single color route) and knit the last inch to bind off your border. The Premier bobbins work nicely into 7 row bands, and give you 5 blocks of that gorgeous variegated hombre. 2 bobbins work into a single blanket with plenty left over for a crocheted border and a matching cowl or something similar of the middle block color.
My blankets knit into approx 30X40”, but since you have the magical key of the 18 stitch pattern repeat, you can make it as large or small as you want.
annie.crafty.pants 
Row 3 indicates border omitting K1 at beginning and end if row. kI was included when goldenrod was posted. Thanks. Which is correct?
This is for my specific blanket which utilizes a 5 stitch border. You choose how wide you want your border – 1, 5, whatever you would like. Keeping in mind the pattern repeat is in multiples of 18. So, both are correct as long as you are consistent and choose how wide you want your border to be.
I’m sorry that you misunderstood. My question has nothing to do with the border. One pattern posted (after the border) K1.At the end K1. The second post didn’t mention any K1. I guess… I’ll try both to discover which is correct. Thank you for posting the variegated bobbin blanket… I ordered my yarn!
Hi Sheri. I very much understand your question. You are asking about the difference in the two feather and fan baby blanket patterns I have posted. The first one, the one with the K1 you are referencing, is to indicate a single knit stitch (on the older pattern) for the *side* border. The newest one, with the yarn bobbins, indicates 5 knit stitches on either end for the *side* border. So, once again, they are both correct. It is up to you how wide you would like your *side* border to be. I choose 5 stitches in the variegated blankets to match the one inch border at the top and bottom so it is a uniform look. I do believe we should now be on the same now. Good luck!