Vroom vroom, beep beep is a baby blanket featuring a repeated intarsia car motif in an array of bright colours and is perfect for any car-loving baby boy (or girl). The pattern is knitted in four vertical strips that are then stitched together using mattress stitch; this approach makes the knitting more portable and means you don’t have to keep track of too many bobbins. A garter stitch border is picked up along each of the four edges, then the corners are stitched.

Sized at 91 × 67.5 cm (36 × 26.5 in), this blanket is ideal for a pram, crib, cot or Moses basket.

The sample is knitted in Hayfield Bonus DK (100% acrylic, 280 m/306 yds per 100 g ball) in White (961, MC), Neon (884, A), Bright Lemon (819, B and F), Signal Red (977, C), Grass (825, D), Turquoise (998, E), and Black (965, G).

Tools: 4 mm (US 6) straight needles; 3.5 mm (US 5) circular needles at least 60 cm (24 in) in length (while I suggest using a circular needle for the edging, straight needles can be used if you prefer, although you should note that the blanket will be quite heavy by this point); Stitch markers x 32; Tapestry needle; Bobbins for holding the different yarn colours during colourwork; Chart row marker (optional)

Materials: DK weight yarn in each of the following colours and amounts: MC (white): 560 m/610 yds; A (purple): 80 m/90 yds; B (yellow): 80 m/90 yds; C (red): 80 m/90 yds; D (green): 80 m/90 yds; E (blue): 95 m/105 yds; F (yellow): 25 m/30 yds; G (black): 75 m/85 yds

If you wish to make each of the twenty cars on the blanket in a different colour, you will need 35 m/35 yds in MC, 20 m/20yds in CC, 5 m/5 yds in black and yellow per motif. To knit the border in a single colour, you will require 165 m/190 yds of your desired yarn.

Difficulty: Experienced (knit, purl, kfb, intricate intarsia)

Pattern Style: Blanket instructions are written out, while the colourwork sections are charted