The chunky blanket is one of the obsessions of the internet and they are right to do so. It is very comfy and warm to use. It looks good and can even be a great gift. There is nothing better than using a comfy chunky blanket on a winter afternoon and drinking a hot cup of coffee.
But these blankets being so demandable, are very pricy. But fortunately, there is an alternate way to get it than buying it from a shop and making it yourself. It is significantly more inexpensive to make it yourself. So here we will discuss how you can make a chunky blanket all by yourself.
Ways of Making a Chunky Blanket
There are two ways to make a chunky blanket. You can make it by just using your hands and no other tools or you can make it using giant needles made for crocheting these blankets.
But if you do not have any experience in knitting or crocheting, then using the no-tool or hand knitting will be the best for you. Using needles can become a bit complicated at times if you do not have any prior experience.
Is One Better Than the Other?
In terms of look, using needles doesn’t mean it looks better than hand-knit ones. Both of them look really good. And if you don’t have any experience then hand knitting will also be faster.
Quality for both types depends on the materials, not on the technique. Some people like to use needles rather than the hand. It comes down to personal preference and experience when it comes to choosing the technique.
Materials: What to Use and How Much?
Wool or acrylic yarns are the best for a chunky blanket. Acrylic looks cleaner than wool and is easier to keep clean than wool. But you may like the texture of wool more than acrylic and go for the wool.
Sometimes people don’t want to use acrylic out of concern for the environment, so if this is the case wool is the best choice for you. But if you are considering the price, then acrylic is more reasonable than wool.
How Much Yarn Do I Need?
For a standard-size blanket, five skeins of yarn are enough to finish the whole blanket. You can also choose different colors of yarn to change the color of the blanket midway to make patterns on it.
How to Hand Knit a Blanket With Chunky Yarn?
First, take one skein of the yarn that you bought and roll some of it off from the roll and get ready to start knitting.
Making the First Loop
Now keep some extra as a tail then make a circular loop with the yarn and take the working side of the yarn and put it through the loop. Now tighten it to make a knot. Make sure there is a good-sized circle after the knot.
Making the First Row
Now that you have the first loop in place, making the first row is very easy from here. From now on, keep the tail on the side and only keep working with the side that is still within the main skein.
Place the loop on the table or the floor. Now take some yarn from the working side and put it through the loop and keep repeating it. As for how many loops you should make, it depends on the size of the blanket you want to make.
20 loops are a pretty good length for a standard blanket. But the loop number can differ from 15 to 25. Make sure each loop is roughly the same size. This will make sure your blanket looks even better.
Making the Second Row
To do the second row, after finishing the first row, move the skein to the other side and make an extra loop. So, if you are making a 20-loop blanket then you need to make 21 loops. The 21st loop is for changing the side and making the next row.
After making the side-changing loop, pull your yarn through each of the first row’s loops to make the 2nd row’s loop. Start going down following the first row repeating these loops.
Keep It Up
Now that you have done the 2nd row the rest of it is pretty much the same. After completing the 2nd row, make an extra loop again and repeat the same technique to make the next row. Keep doing this until you run out of all 5 skeins of yarn.
Adding New Yarn
After you run out of one skein, you need to add another one. In hand knitting, if you are using wool then you can just use a standard double knot and continue your loop after that. It will get lost in the knitting and won’t cause any problem either while knitting or wearing.
Acrylic can be done in the same way. But if it makes too much of a bold in the blanket, then you have to thin out both of the heads (the finishing one and starting one of the new skeins) of the acrylic then fold and bend them together.
This will create enough friction to keep them together and they will get locked up inside the knitting.
Last Row
On the last row, you have to make it so that there’s no loop sticking out of the blanket. To do that you need to make some changes in the looping technique.
Creating the Bend
Use the extra loop at the start of the finishing row and pull it through the 2nd loop of the last made row. That way it will create a nice bend in the blanket which indicates the end of the blanket.
Finishing Up the Row
Now take the working yarn and make a loop with the 3rd loop of the last row. Now use this new loop with the before the loop to make bend again. Keep repeating this until you reach the end of the row.
At the end of the row, use a shoelace knot to keep everything in place. You can cut off the starting tail or weave it inside the blanket to hide it. As for the finishing tail, you should hide it by weaving it inside the blanket. Now your blanket is ready for use.
Adding Color or Pattern
Your blanket doesn’t need to be in the same color. You can buy five different colors of skeins and add them together if you want. But you have to look out for the amount of yarn you have left while knitting.
If you add another color from the middle of a row, it would not look good. So, when adding new skeins on your blanket make sure you are starting a new row with a new color.
Patterns are a little difficult. There are plenty of videos to showcase then to add what color to make a certain pattern. Those can be a great help if you want to make any certain pattern on your blanket.
FAQ
Q. How long does it take to make a blanket?
Ans: It depends on your speed. But a 5 feet chunky blanket only needs 45 minutes to make on average.
Q. How much does it cost to make a chunky blanket at home?
Ans: It depends on the type of materials you are using and how long is the blanket. But a 5 skeins blanket would cost anywhere within 11 to 35 dollars depending on the materials.
Conclusion
Making a chunky blanket is not that hard. You can make it by spending fifteen to thirty-five dollars. But if you want to buy a chunky blanket like that it will cost more than a hundred dollars. So with a bit of your time, you can make your own blanket at a very low cost and effort.
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