Thursday, February 25, 2010

10 Hour Afghan Pattern - My Remnant Throw Blanket

So 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

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.
I am unbelievably happy with this afghan. I had no idea how much I would love it when I decided to save up my remnant yarn for this project months ago. My hands are tired, but it is 100% worth the effort. This afghan is so cozy and squishy. It was quite comfortable to stitch the two pieces together while sitting on it on the floor.



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.)
I made my blanket huge. The seed stitch pattern is so stretch knit on these huge needles that even half of the blanket is enough for one person to cuddle with. The blanket will stretch to accommodate your body like a hug.


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.

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This this pattern was created by ChemKnits for your personal or charity use. This pattern is not to be replicated, sold or redistributed without permission from ChemKnits. © 2010 ChemKnits Please send a picture of your project to chemknitsblog@gmail.com when you've finished your afghan, I'd love to see your creation!


Note: I became a Lion Brand Affiliate in January 2018.