in my search for big needle blankets, I found a blanket titled "6-Hour Afghan." I wanted to make a big needle blanket of my own, using left over Lion Brand Wool Ease yarn from my sampler afghan and various other projects. Is it possible to create a blanket like this in 6 hours? See my time log to see how the project goes.This is more of a 9 hour 32 min blanket. See my time log to understand the real time progress of this project.
Materials
- Size 50 knitting needles
(Lion Brand 'Speed Stix;' 25 mm)
- Remnant Lion Brand Wool-Ease yarn. Since I had a lot of the fisherman color left over, I hand-dyed some with koolaid . The project will take 32 balls of Wool ease yarn (6304 yards; 197 yards/ball*32 balls).
- Finished Dimensions: 60"x60" (Measured on wood floor so stretching wouldn't become part of the measurments)
- Gauge over seed stitch: 5 sts/3 inch, 16 rows/10 inches.
About 15 balls of Wool-ease yarn from my stash. I found another 11 equivalents around my apartment, and had to order 6 others to complete the project. See more details about yardage in the Time Log.
The Pattern
- Cast on 33 stitches using 8 strands of yarn on size 50 knitting needles.
- All rows: K1, *P1, K1* repeat from * across. (Seed Stitch)
- Work in the seed stitch pattern for 100 rows and bind off. This is the first rectangle.
- Repeat to make a second rectangle.
- Stitch the two panels together using 4 strands of yarn. Make sure to stitch loosely so you do not lose the give and stretch of this afghan.
- Weave in loose ends. If you choose to make a remnant afghan like I did, there will be many loose ends where you switch colors. The weave is so loose that a end woven in will stick out in some place, so you may need to play with it a bit to find something that you're happy with.
- Enjoy!
The two rectangles before stitching them together.
The Final Skein, 19.6 grams, or 1/5 of a ball remaining. Now this 1 ball is representatative of the 4th set of 8 balls. But the 32 ball estimation of the project is very reasonable. You could add a fringe with the leftover yarn! (I am out of fun colors so I will not be doing that.)
An illustration of the stretchiness of this afghan. I think you would need more than 8 strands of worsted-weight wool to make a knit that isn't so loose!
A closer look at the seam
Here I've folded the blanket so you can see the amount of color variation I have within this one blanket. You could plan one out to be uniform, or use this as an excuse to clean out your stash.
This pattern was created by ChemKnits for your personal or charity use. This pattern is not to be re-published in any other way without the permission of the author. Please send a picture of your project to chemknitsblog@gmail.com when you've finished your afghan, I'd love to see your creation!
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6 comments:
just a thought, but try a russian join, so that there are no loose ends to weave in. takes a second or two each time you need to add in a new yarn, but saves time and frustration in the end.
Nice Blanket, thanks for sharing!
I wasn't thinking too much about that when I started... but that would have been a good idea.
I kept finding ends during the first week that I was using it!
Way to go, Chemmy person!!! this is from another Chem person..Organic for me. Go figure a science brain trying to figure out how to use up all that yarn. I bet I have that many skeins of LB, too, but the size of the needles, like you said, would kill my hands.
Love the blanket and glad you finished it!
Christine
Wow. Just, Wow. I would never attempt a project that big unless I could locate a long cable needle in the correct size; my hands couldn't manage that much weight on straight needles. It's gorgeous, congratulations and adulations!
Could you tell me what a Russian Join is, please?
Here is a good illustration of a Russian Join. http://www.knittinganyway.com/freethings/russianjoin.htm
It is a great way to deal with loose ends as you work. (versus looking for them to pop out and then trim, which is what I did this time)
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