I created this blanket for friends who were decorating their baby boy’s nursery with a pirate theme. This is a very easy blanket that only requires knit and purl stitches. Size 9 needles produced a lightweight blanket, but if you wanted a heavier blanket you could use size 8 needles (which would make a slightly smaller blanket) or a heavier yarn with the size 9 needles (which would make a slightly larger blanket).

CORRECTION:
A few people have kindly mentioned (thank you!) that I made an error in the pattern on rows 1&2, which should have 120 stitches across (in addition to the border), not 116. It should read:
Row 1: (k1 p1) 3 times, k120, (k1 p1) 3 times
Row 2: (p1 k1) 3 times, p120, (p1 k1) 3 times