I made this blanket for my nephew's fifth birthday. The general pattern is free at the Lionbrand Company website. This version is 5 by 6 squares. Each square is 8 by 8 inches and so the end result is a blanket 40 by 48 inches.

Each square is knit from the bottom up. It is important to determine the gauge. I chose Bernat Softee Chunky because it was thick enough that it wouldn't take forever to finish the blanket, but also offered the best selection of colors (Ben really likes green). The colors are off in the photo, but the green is actually a nice forest green and the red isn't neon as you might infer from the picture. It's a good blanket for a kid. The assembly took me just as long as knitting all of the squares.

For each square: Cast on 26 stitches of main color.
Knit 32 rows in main color.
Knit 18 rows in accent color (black, in our case).
Cast off loosely.
Use yarn needle to weave in tails.

Knit 30 squares in total - 10 of each color. Stitch squares together with remaining yarn of corresponding color after the pattern. Weave in tails. When assembly is complete, use a crochet hook and crochet a single loop border in the contrasting color (black) around the entire blanket twice (that is all the yarn I had left) making sure to crochet extra stitches around the corners. Weave in tail.