Do you knit, do you purl? That is all you need! Okay, well not all..you still need yarn, pattern, and needles. GIANT needles.
Easy afghan blanket – modern twist on an old classic
Giant needles obtained (US50), yarn purchased, patternin hand, and get comfy. Oh yeah, free patterns are all over the place. This is one from the Lion Brand site. They have a whole listing of free patterns. You can find this one under 6-hour afghans, and there is also a pattern for crochet (though it uses different yarn).
Favorite yarn for an easy afghan
I personally love Lion Brand’s Homespun for this, although you can use other brands if you have a personal favorite. I recommend against mixing brands as they will have different lengths or thickness and can be an issue later. If using homespun, you will need 8 skeins of your favorite color mix. You will be knitting with 4 strands at a time, and though this may seem daunting, really it is a snap. To avoid tangles or over-twisting, just pull from the center; if you cannot find the center of your yarn, only unroll about 3 feet at a time.
If you are a regular knitter, then you may have used larger needles before — be ready for the upper body workout. I had never tried them and quickly learned that I would be “arm” knitting. When you knit smaller projects, you use your hands, wrists, and fingers. When working with this size, you will be holding and manipulating with your arms (I’m a righty, so in my case my knitting with my right bracing on my left).
See the end of the needle braced against my inner arm?
You carry on until the blanket is as long as you want, for me 8 skeins covered from over the toes to my neck. I opted not to do fringe because of how homespun will poof out, it is just not a look I was going for on this blanket. Tassels are entirely up to you — just use a large crochet hook (P or Q) and loop strands, then pull though.
Easy Afghan Pattern
With 4 strands, cast on 34
Row 1 (all odd rows) KNIT
Row 2 (all even even) PURL
Continue to desired length and bind off.
Oh yeah, it’s that simple. Roughly 5 hours when you have a good rhythm and no cats!
Okay, so that’s my husband’s cat claiming my blanket, but he also provides an excellent contrast to show of the colors. If you are lucky enough to spin your own fiber, this project is done with Bulky (5), and each skein runs 60z and 185 yards. I don’t spin yarn, but that may help for your conversions.
