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Free Pattern + Giveaway Winner

Today we have a guest post from blogger and knitwear designer Mari Chiba from Mari Knits. You may recognize her from our last blog post or from her recent pattern in The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits, Ginny's Cardigan.

I’ve been intrigued by giant knitting needles in the past, but never got around to trying some out until recently. A good friend of mine asked me for a hand-knit wedding gift a couple of months ago. I knew that I didn’t have a lot of time, and I also knew that I wanted to give a gift that would be practical. I thought about matching hats, but I’m close friends with the groom and don’t know the bride as well - any sort of clothing item would be a big risk!


I scoured Ravelry and Pinterest for days trying to come up with the perfect hand-knit wedding gift. On Pinterest, I kept seeing beautiful big knit blankets, and then Craftsy had a sale on yarn, and it was meant to be! I made this blanket by holding four strands of bulky weight yarn together while using my giant Knitter’s Pride Basix US 50 needles.

The needles are beautiful! You can see the grain of the wood, they are extremely smooth and shiny, the join to the cable is flawless, and if there’s a vampire attack they could double as stakes! Really, what’s not to love?

This simple blanket is worked completely in garter stitch. I didn’t have a good idea of how big the actual blanket would be, so after knitting the entire blanket I went and picked up stitches along either side and worked a few more rows in garter stitch. I actually really like how this looks, but you could also just cast on more stitches!


I would recommend a machine washable yarn for this project, because I don’t know about you, but my sink isn’t big enough for me to block this!

Free Pattern: Chunky Garter Blanket


4 sts x 4 rows = 4” in garter stitch, though gauge is not essential for this pattern


Materials
20 skeins Schachenmayr Silenzio; 50% Acrylic, 25% superwash wool, 25% Alpaca; 50g/60m. Shown in Color 92.
US 50 40” Knitter's Pride Basix Circular Knitting Needles


Note:
I held four strands of yarn together. I used 16 skeins for the body of the blanket, then used the remaining four skeins for the garter edgings.  


Blanket
Cast on 26 stitches
Knit every row until work measures approximately 52”, or you have used nearly all of the 16 skeins of yarn. Bind off all stitches


Edging
Pick up and knit every other stitch along the side of the blanket, working into the garter bump so that holes don’t appear.
Knit 3 rows.
Bind off all stitches.
Repeat edging for the other side of the blanket


Finishing
Weave in ends and trim. Machine wash and either air dry or tumble dry low depending on your yarn. Enjoy!
Giveaway Winner
Thanks to everyone who entered our giveaway this month! Raveler Jenonymous is our lucky winner; we will contact our winner to arrange for the delivery of the prize, a Bamboo DPN Set and a PDF copy of the KaPOM hat by Mari Chiba.

4 comments:

  1. You can always hand wash it in your bathtub for what it's worth.

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  2. I have, in fact, sent you a reply via Ravelry, and am awaiting your reply. Thank you so much for giving away cool knitting gear that I can't otherwise afford! Jenonymous

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  3. My prize arrived last week, and I am thrilled! I haven't started a project on them yet, because real life doesn't leave me much time to sit in one spot for long, but I am looking forward to the end of birthday season next week, and then I'm starting an earflap hat for absolute sure! Thank you again! And again!

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  4. can you use a bulky yarn and use less skeins

    ReplyDelete