No I would not give no false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away
—Paul Simon, “Mother and Child Reunion”

Originally designed and knit as a gift for my daughter as a graduation present to wrap her up in my love, recent news compelled me to become one of the helpers by publishing the pattern and using the proceeds to help other families stay together and/or reunite. Many thanks to my quick testers, as well as my technical editor, who donated her services for this pattern. All proceeds from this pattern will be donated to Together Rising on an ongoing basis. For more on what Together Rising is doing, click here.

Mother & Child Reunion is worked as individual squares then joined to form a square blanket or a long rectangular wrap. Until the very end, when you have a large, lovely pile of knitting on your lap, this is a perfect portable project.

The Big Blanket size makes a generous 50-inch throw using Berocco’s Vintage Chunky (an excellent, half wool, low maintenance yarn in lots of colors) using less than one skein per square, while the 30-inch Baby Blanket and 20x70-inch Wrap call for two or three skeins, respectively, of Backyard Fiberworks Sock (or your favorite sock yarn) using one skein for five squares.

Each square is worked in the round from the center out, then stitches from the final round are placed on waste yarn. Squares are joined together with a Three-needle Bindoff (Kitchener Stitch for the wrap). All remaining live stitches around the edge are finished with an I-cord Bindoff, which gives a lovely, clean edge (and a new skill, if you haven’t tried that bindoff before). Fern Lace is provided in both charted and written forms, so you’ve just run out of excuses to wrap someone up in your knitted love.

Finished Sizes
Big Blanket Baby Blanket: 50 inches/127 cm 30 inches/76.25 cm square
Wrap: 20 inches/50 cm width, 70 inches/178 cm length

Materials

• Big Blanket Yarn: Berroco Vintage Chunky, Bulky yarn: 50% acrylic, 40% wool, 10% nylon; 136 yds/124 m per 100 g/3.53 oz.; color: Misty #6113, 10 skeins or approx. 1300 yds/1189 m
• Wrap Baby Blanket Yarn: Backyard Fiberworks Sock, fingering yarn: 100% Superwash Merino wool; 400 yds/366 m per 100 g/3.53 oz.; color: Blackberry, 3 2 skeins or approx. 1100 yds/1006 m 800 yds/732 m
• Big Blanket Needle: US10/6.0 mm 40-inch/100-cm circular needle + set of DPNs (long needle is used for Magic Loop and to accommodate a large number of stitches), or size needed to achieve gauge
• Wrap Baby Blanket Needle: US3/3.25 mm 40-inch/100-cm circular needle + set of DPNs (long needle is used for Magic Loop and to accommodate a large number of stitches), or size needed to achieve gauge
• Stitch markers, waste yarn, tapestry needle

Gauge
Big Blanket: one square = 16 inches/40 cm in Fern Lace after blocking
Wrap Baby Blanket: one square = 10 inches/25.5 cm in Fern Lace after blocking

Thanks!
Thank YOU for purchasing this pattern. All proceeds will go to Together Rising on a monthly basis to help Together Rising support carefully vetted organizations across the country working tirelessly to reunify children with their families.
Test knitting: bananarota, dianedlouw, d4obrien, Jbenedict, MarMarHay, minimoebius, missychick, Northbrooke, Sabograd, SarahinHouston, scrappygal
Technical editing: Laura Cameron

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This pattern would also work beautifully for a Welcome Blanket if knit in DK or worsted weight yarn, though I have not yet worked a blanket in that size. Choose a needle size as specified on your yarn’s ball band, work one square and block it. If your square is approximately 13 inches, you are all set to make a 40-inch Welcome Blanket.