A Pinwheel Blanket Pattern to Knit

In a recent blog post of a blog I follow, Soulemama, she showed pictures of a blanket she made for her new baby, using Genia Planck's pattern here.  It looks pretty uncomplicated, like the sort of thing that I could knit on while I work (another "perk" of working from home). Occurs to me that in addition to a gorgeous baby blanket, if folded in half, it would make a nice wrap come winter for those in colder climes.   Hopefully, the pattern will continue to be available at that location, but just in case:

Round or Pinwheel Baby Blanket*

 
Materials:
Yarn: It can be either a bulky weight, worsted weight, or double knit weight.
Needles: Size to work with your yarn. Both double points and a circular. Pattern:
Cast on 5 stitches, knit around. Place a marker to mark the beginning of the round.
Next round, make 1 stitch in each stitch (10 stitches).
Round 5: *k1, yo* around to marker. (20 stitches).
Round 6: knit
Round 7: *k2, yo* around to marker.
Round 8: knit
Round 9: *k3, yo* around to marker.
Round 10: knit
Continue this pattern of adding a stitch in each section- there are 10 sections, 10 more stitches.  When needed, switch from using the double points to a circular needle.
When the blanket has reached the desired diameter, cast/bind off.  Now your blanket is complete, unless you want to embellish it with an edging.
Now for your edging: You can add fringes or tassels or even pom-poms.  Or, for those handy with a crochet hook, you can crochet a bit of a lace edge around.  (I knit my first one with Lion Brand Jiffy yarn- it's a bit "fluffy"- and crocheted an edging of mercerized cotton, for a more finished look.) You can also knit in stripes, and on the even rows, throw in some purl stitches for a bit of texture. It also works well with a variegated yarn.

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*Pattern © January 2001 Genia Planck. E-mail: Knitgenia@aol.com