In Orkney, the Robe of Glory was a crib or pram blanket given to the oldest child in a family.

In 1981, Good Housekeeping published a pattern under the title ‘A Blessing for a Baby’ which is very similar, but post dates examples in Orkney.

This version takes an Orkney blanket knitted in Stronsay in the 1960s as its inspiration, using a standard DK yarn which is both warm and very easy to wash and tumble dry.

Construction
The front of the blanket is worked in the round, with a 9 st steek. The crochet edging is then worked and the steek cut. The back is worked to and fro, and then the back sewn to the first row of the crochet edging.

The pattern gives photos of the various stages of construction, and has all the letters of the alphabet and numerals charted so that you can add the initials and date of birth of your baby if you wish.

Charts are given as both colours and symbols so they can be worked from a black and white pattern copy.