How to Knit a Chunky Blanket with Needles?
Regardless of the season, it is undeniable that snuggling with a warm blanket will beat anything else. The key component of this dream scene will be perfect with a chunky blanket!
In this article, we will provide you step by step on how to knit a chunky blanket to make your dreams come true! Tips and hacks are also given along the steps, so keep reading.
How to Knit a Chunky Blanket with Needles – Step-by-Step Guide
Before starting with the knitting steps, three things are very significant to consider. This is to make the knitting process smooth and will give the amazing outcome you wish for. First, you need to consider on:
1. The size of your blanket and the pattern or design that you want to do
Decide how big your blanket will be and what types of patterns or designs you want to do for your chunky blanket. This is important as it will influence the amount of yarn needed, the size of the needles, the steps and skills required, and also the duration to finish it.
Besides, always choose an ideal measurement (not too big or small). Make sure you measure the blanket size according to your preference (body size, bed size, etc). So, the outcome will be tip-top and suit your taste very well.
2. Types of knitting needles suitable to use for chunky yarn
We suggest 32 inches long, 25 mm of circular needle US 50 as the ideal size. But, you can choose whatever types and sizes of needles you want to be more creative.
Tips!
Choosing what needles are suitable will depend on how you want your blanket to be. If you want to make a loose and stretchy fabric of a blanket, you should opt for a bigger size of needles. If you want a denser and stiffer fabric blanket, then opt for a smaller size.
You also can use the size of needles recommended and stated on the ball of yarn. But if you follow a certain pattern, do not follow the size stated at the ball’s yarn. Please follow what the pattern says for the nearest and closest result.
3. The type of yarn that is suitable and the amount of yarn needed
The common type of yarn used to knit chunky blankets is soft, bulky, and thick. Usually, the yarn will have a label “Jumbo” or “Bulky/Super bulky”.
Rolling merino wool is the most famous knitting yarn for a chunky blanket. But, for a more affordable choice, we suggest simple acrylic wool.
Besides, the amount of wool that you need for your blanket depends on the size of your DIY chunky blanket. We recommend you buy a little more wool than the amount suggested in our formula for people who like to knit densely.
So the short and easy formula to calculate the amount needed is 1 ft² – 0.5 lbs. This means that you need 0.5 lbs of wool per 1 ft² of a blanket.
Here we go into the easy pattern and step-by-step to knit a chunky blanket:
- Unwind the whole amount of wool you need and let it in pile form. The tip is, you need to have easy access to it.
- Start with two skeins and 25 mm of circular US 50 knitting needle. The reason why using circular needles is that the blankets have a larger number of stitches. Circular types of needles make it easier to accommodate.
- Take one strand of yarn from each skein. Keep going with a slip knot then tighten the knot to put it on the needle to start casting on.
- Start casting the stitches and remember, you are holding two strands of yarn together. You will always be inserting your needle into two strands or two loops on the knitting needle.
- Adding a couple more stitches until you reach the target, the number of stitches you want to do. Now, switch hands. Take the needle that you were using and put it into your opposite hands and vice versa.
- Now, you are working on this row, so insert a needle into two loops that make one stitch. Once you finish knitting all the stitches on the needles, you are going to push some stitches off of the wire onto the needle part.
- If you have reached this point, you are set and going to easily finish this chunky blanket.
- After finishing row one, start doing the next row. Flip your work over that’s exchange hands. Push your stitches to the tip and then the first stitch of row two to knit.
- You are going to insert your needle into two loops that are one stitch, knit it, and then bring your yarn forward. Purl till the last stitch where you want to bring your yarn back to work again and knit that final stitch. This will create a nice border around the blanket.
- At this point, you just need to repeat row one & row two over again and again and your blanket will start to build.
- You also can change the color of yarns to be more creative and colorful. Just add another row according to the pattern and add another color.
- Finally, cast off loosely and weave in stray yarn ends.
Take a look at these tips for the amazing result of a chunky blanket:
- Put each yarn’s skein in a different drawstring bag to minimize the chance of yarn balls getting twisted.
- To stay focused start counting for every row of your knit using by knitting row counter.
- Felt the two ends of two yarns together in case the yarn finished in the middle of knitting.
- Try to pull the working yarn through naturally so the blanket will have a nice shape. Don’t pull it too tight nor too loose!
Conclusion
By following the steps and tips, you will be able to make a perfect chunky blanket for your dearest one. Keep practicing if things do not go well with your expectations as practice will make it perfect!
