Find Exquisite Patterns for Knitting Baby Blankets for Newborns and Preemies, Plus Cocoon and Crochet Edging Patterns, Too!
Would you be interested in owning a collection of 51 patterns you can use for knitting baby blankets and sleep sacks, otherwise known as “cuddle bags”?
If so, there’s a lovely knitting book you need to know about. It’s called Knitted Baby Blankets and Cuddle Bags.
All the Details You Need to Know About This Book:
Author: Marta Skadsheim Torkildsen
Publisher: Trafalgar Square Books
Copyright Date: I’m reviewing the English language edition of this book, which has a copyright date of 2025. This book was originally published in the Norwegian language with the title Babytepper, and the original had a copyright date of 2019.
ISBN 13: 9781646010356
ISBN 10: 1646010353
Book Format: This is a hardcover book without a dust jacket.
Number of Pages: 144
Cover Price: $23.95 US dollars
Topics Covered in This Book:
- Lace baby blanket patterns to knit
- Cable knit baby blanket patterns
- Textured baby blanket patterns
- Chevron / ripple knitted baby blanket patterns
- Striped baby blanket patterns
- Crochet edging patterns
- Baby cocoon patterns / sleep sack patterns / cuddle bag patterns
- Preemie blanket knitting patterns
- Knitting stitches and knitting stitch patterns
- Knitting tips
- Yarn substitutions
- Inspiration
- Blanket care
- Knitting charts
Recommended Knitting Skill Level: I think knitters of all skill levels will find this book useful. There are patterns ranging from easy to expert.
The Focus of This Book:
This book’s main topics are baby blanket knitting and baby blanket patterns.
Leafing through this book, I counted 48 patterns for knitting baby blankets and 3 patterns for making cuddle bags (otherwise known as “cocoons” or “sleep sacks.”)
WOW. That’s a lot of baby blanket patterns!
Examples of Knitting Projects Included in This Book:
3 Knitted Cuddle Bag Patterns (Also Known as “Cocoons” or “Sleep Sacks”)
My favorite patterns in this book are the cuddle bag patterns.
The pattern designer recommends these designs for newborns ages 0-3 months.
Personally, after having experienced motherhood firsthand, I have a strong preference for cuddle bags / sleep sacks / cocoons over baby blankets — because it’s really easy for babies to wiggle out from under their blankets, or for little limbs to escape their blankets.
This isn’t such an issue at times when baby is nestled in a cozy crib or bassinette inside a heated home.
Where it gets to be a problem is if baby has to spend time outdoors — or if baby has to spend time indoors in a situation where the heater isn’t functioning, and there’s no option to light a fire.
Where I grew up, the power would usually go out every winter when it would snow. If that ever happens where you live, you’re sure to appreciate having cuddle bags available to ensure your baby stays warm.
And if you ever have to take your baby outside in the cold, it is infinitely easier to do that when you plop the baby into a cuddle bag, rather than hassling with wrapping a blanket around the baby. Ask me how I know this!
So if you agree with me that cuddle bags beat baby blankets in situations where your HVAC system can’t be relied on, perhaps you’ll want to invest in this book just so you can enjoy knitting and using (or gifting) the 3 cuddle bag patterns it includes.
Do be aware that the cuddle bags you can make from these patterns don’t have sleeves or arm holes; the babies shown in the photos all have their hands and arms outside the cuddle bags.
6 Preemie Blanket Patterns to Knit
Six of the patterns in this book are specifically intended for preemies.
Lace Baby Blanket Patterns
Aside from the cuddle bags, my favorite pattern in this book is a striped lace baby blanket called “Kaja.” The pattern incorporates repeating rows of garter stitch stripes that interrupt the stripes of lace. The overall effect is dainty, and so pretty!
Cable Knit Baby Blanket Patterns
This book includes multiple baby blanket designs that incorporate cables and texture.
Easy Baby Blanket Patterns to Knit
Some of these blankets are very easy to knit, incorporating only simple stitches like seed stitch. The seed stitch blanket pattern, called “Ami,” has a crocheted edging that is easy for someone with crochet skills.
Chevron / Ripple Knit Baby Blanket Patterns
I counted 4 chevron patterns in this collection. I found it interesting that 2 of these designs have crocheted edgings that are specifically intended to accent the chevron edge. I think these edgings are quite lovely.
The Best Things About This Book
The book includes baby blanket patterns that would complement any style of nursery decor:
- ALL of them fit the “quiet luxury” aesthetic.
- Many of them would fit well in a cottagecore style nursery.
- Many of them would be workable in a rustic style home or a log cabin home.
- Whether the recipient’s nursery is decorated in a traditional, transitional, modern or contemporary style, you will find suitable patterns for knitting baby blankets that will harmonize with it.
The colors used in the sample blankets are all beautiful and appealing.
The photos in this book are simple, attractive and beautifully styled.
Preemie Blanket Patterns — This book includes patterns for knitting blankets intended to fit premature babies (also known as “Preemies”). This makes it an ideal purchase for charity knitters who focus on making projects to donate to their local NICU.
The baby blanket designs presented in this book are sophisticated and lovely. The textures are exquisite! And the blankets pictured look like just the right weights for wrapping and swaddling babies — drapey, flowing and not too hefty.
If you’re willing to invest the effort in making baby blankets that will become cherished heirlooms, I think this is exactly the book you’d want to consider buying.
The suggested yarns for these projects are all natural fiber yarns. I think this is ideal, because acrylics and synthetic fibers are toxic. (Sorry to be the bearer of this bad news.)
So with that in mind, I think it is definitely worth buying lovely natural fiber yarns for knitting babies’ projects — but perhaps you don’t agree with my opinion on that.
If you disagree, no worries, because the instructions in this book include all the information you’ll need for substituting yarns.
Most of these patterns in this book are solid-colored designs. So, this is an excellent book for knitters who are not confident when it comes to selecting harmonious color combinations, because you can skip that step entirely.
In the relatively few striped and multicolored designs presented, the pattern designer selected appealing, usable color combinations that you can feel confident in copying.
This book includes skill level ratings for each pattern — a feature which I appreciate. The rating system DOES NOT correspond with the one used by the Craft Yarn Council. There are only 3 skill level ratings — one yarn ball for the easiest, three balls for the hardest, and two balls for the patterns in between.
This Book’s Cons:
I didn’t see any gauge information included in these patterns. For some knitters, this is a deal breaker. If that’s you, this is not a book you’ll want to invest in.
But for many knitters, this isn’t a deal breaker, because a lot of people don’t bother with checking gauge anyway.
However, be warned that if your gauge happens to be a little looser than the pattern designer’s, you risk running out of yarn, and you won’t have any easy way to figure that out. So for that reason, if you decide to make any of these projects, I would recommend buying more yarn than what’s specified in the pattern.
I’d also recommend measuring your project early on and making a judgement call about whether it seems like it’ll be usable for your needs.
Things to Think About Before You Buy This Book
There are NO Fair Isle or stranded colorwork patterns included — so if that’s what you’re looking for, this book is not what you want.
24 out of the 51 projects in this book have crocheted edgings; that’s a little less than half the patterns in this book. So, to work a substantial number of these patterns, be aware that you will need to have appropriate crochet hooks in addition to your yarn, knitting needles and other supplies.
If you need help shopping for ccrochet hooks, see this page.
If you need help learning how to crochet, check out this page on crochet for beginners.
All 3 of the knitted cuddle bag patterns in this book include crocheted edgings, and 2 of the 6 preemie patterns include crocheted edgings.
If you are shopping for yarn at big box stores and specifically looking for projects to use with Red Heart Super Saver or similar medium-weight acrylics, this is not the book for you. That’s because the suggested yarns for these projects all range from #1 – #3 on the Craft Yarn Council’s yarn weights chart.
Many of these projects will be time-consuming to knit. Quite a few of them are knitted using small needles and fingering weight yarn.
So, if you are an impatient knitter, or you’re considering this book because you need to produce a baby shower gift within the next week, this is probably not going to be the best book for your needs.
I counted 38 patterns in this book that are written using knitting charts. So if you enjoy knitting baby projects from charts, you just hit the jackpot with this book!
But if you don’t enjoy knitting from charts, this book might not be what you’re looking for. That really just depends on what your needs are.
As I write this review, I’m sitting here pondering: Does anyone outside of Scandinavia really need 51 baby blanket patterns?
Hmmm. Maybe knitters in the mountains of Utah would need this many patterns. In Utah, the birth rate is high and winters are cold.
But in the years I have left to live, could I even knit that many baby blankets, if I sat down and dedicated the rest of my life to doing it?
Here’s where I’m going with this line of thinking: This book includes 13 patterns which do not make use of charts, and these 13 patterns are all lovely ones.
I don’t honestly think I could use all 51 patterns even if I tried. But I could likely manage to knit 13 baby blankets in the free time I have left in my remaining years.
So, if you think about it in those terms, the question becomes: How many patterns would you need to knit from this book in order to justify buying it?
Only you can answer that question for yourself. But I’m thinking that you’d be justified in buying the book if you knit multiple projects from it, and you wouldn’t even need to knit 13 of them to get your money’s worth out of the book. Even if you only knit 2 or 3 of them, I’m thinking you’d get your money’s worth.
The beauty of having 51 patterns is that you have the luxury of choosing those 2 or 3 or however many patterns that would be the perfect projects for the baby you have in mind.
So, depending on your needs, this book still might be useful to you, even if you don’t knit from charts.
That said, if charted knitting isn’t your idea of fun, there might be other books that would be more useful to you than this one.
Conclusion
I’m delighted to recommend this book to other knitting enthusiasts, particularly to patient knitters who enjoy knitting using charts and lightweight natural-fiber yarns. I think this is an especially good purchase for charity knitters who enjoy knitting for preemies.
Where to Buy Knitted Baby Blankets and Cuddle Bags:
- Click here to shop for new and used copies of this book at Biblio.
- Click here to shop for this book at Amazon.
Thanks for checking out this book review of Knitted Baby Blankets & Cuddle Bags. I appreciate your interest!
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About the Author:
Amy Solovay is a real, live, human content creator and educator who holds an Associate of Arts degree in Textile Design from FIDM LA (The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Los Angeles) and a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from Sweet Briar College. She is NOT a robot and does not use artificial intelligence (AI) to write book reviews or articles for this website.
Amy learned to crochet as a small child, and she still enjoys crocheting all these years later.
As an educator, Amy Solovay used to teach in-person college courses in trend forecasting, marketing and surface design at California Design College in Los Angeles. Nowadays she uses online platforms for sharing her knowledge about textiles, crafts, current color trends and current design trends.
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Posted By: Amy Solovay
About Your Book Reviewer: Amy Solovay is a real person who has a background in textile design. She has been crocheting and crafting since childhood, and knitting since she was a teenager. She holds a degree in textile design from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising and is a former instructor at California Design College, where she taught surface design and trend forecasting classes to fashion design majors. Amy worked in the textile industry for about a decade; during that time, she held various job titles ranging from circular knit designer to director of design. She then transitioned to a career in freelance writing.
This page was last updated on 12-18-2025.