My son has a new puppy, so I wanted to make a blanket for the new arrival with some leftover Lion Suede yarn from the hand knit nap blanket project from this past fall.

It is basically four squares, two are stockinette stitch and two are seed stitch, and I knitted them in a checkerboard pattern.

This same pattern could be repeated to make a larger nap blanket, throw blanket, or even a good sized afghan. Though in the materials I am calling for two skeins of the primary color and one of the accent color (for the border) I only used one and a half skeins of the sage yarn and a half a skein of the accent yarn.

The border is kind of cool, because it started out as a stockinette stitch, mitered border. But then you roll it in and tack it in place, then twist the ends and tack them in place and it creates a nice little standing border. The corner accents look a little bit like the ends of bones, thus the name of the blanket.

Materials

• 2 skeins Lion Suede yarn in Sage or other bulky weight yarn
• 1 skein Lion Suede yarn in Ecru or other bulky weight yarn
• Size U.S. 10 16" circular needles
• One Stitch Marker
• Large tapestry needle

Directions

With primary color, cast on 64 stitches.

Knit one row.

1. Block A, Right Side Row: *K1, P1*. Repeat 16 times, for a total of 32 stitches. Place stitch marker.

2. Block B, Right Side Row:

Knit remaining 32 stitches. Turn.

3. Block B, Wrong Side Row: Purl first 32 stitches.

4. Block A, Wrong Side Row: *P1, K1*. Repeat 16 times to end of row. Turn.

Continue steps 1 through 4 until the two blocks are as long as they are wide (approximately 10 1/4" each).

5. Block C, Right Side Row: Knit first 32 stitches.

6. Block D, Right Side Row:

.*K1, P1*. Repeat 16 times to end of row. Turn.

7. Block D, Wrong Side Row: *P1, K1*. Repeat 16 times for a total of 32 stitches.

8. Block C, Wrong Side Row: Purl first 32 stitches to end of row. Turn.

Continue steps 5 through 8 until the two upper blocks are as long as they are wide (approximately 10 1/4" each).

Knit one row.

Cast off.

Edging

Edge Row 1: With accent color, pick 64 stitches along one edge of blanket, on right side. Knit across, being sure you are knitting on the right side of the blanket. Turn.

Edge Row 2: Purl. Turn.

Edge Row 3: Knit first stitch, but do not remove from needle; knit a second stitch in the back of first stitch and remove; one increase made. Knit across to last stitch. Make another increase as at beginning of row. Turn.

Edge Row 4: Purl. Turn.

Repeat Edge Rows 3 and 4 once.

Repeat Edge Row 3.

Cast off on wrong side, using purl stitch as you go.

Repeat the above steps on all four sides of the blanket.

Finishing

Using large tapestry needle, roll and tack edges in place using a whip stitch on the right side of the blanket. The wrong side, or purl stitches, should be showing on the rolled edge.

Tack the pointed ends in place, one on top of the others (see detail photo) at each corner.

Weave yarn tails into back of blanket and secure in place.

Present the sweet puppy blanket to a deserving pooch, smiling as you do so.