DIY Gift Idea // Chunky Knit Blanket
Everyone loves blankets.
It doesn’t matter who you are or where you live, there’s just no such thing as too many blankets. Add in a homemade factor, and, well, you’ve got a present worthy of an award (or, at the very least, a place front and center on grandma’s couch).
These chunky knit blankets are quite popular, but are certainly nothing new. I’ve seen them circulating on the inter-webs for at least two years and have always wanted one, minus the several hundred dollar price tag, of course. So, I finally decided to get crafty, get some yarn and get down to work. After all, what could be a better DIY gift idea for “Cozy Week” than a DIY chunky knit blanket? Even if you are just gifting it to yourself (I won’t tell if you won’t…).
There are about as many chunky knit blanket tutorials out there as there are Starbucks, but what’s one more, right? Although you can think of my tutorial more as a tutorial for someone who wants to make a nice gift for someone, not a tutorial from someone who is a super professional knitting ninja. In other words, it’s not fancy, it’s (hopefully) easy to understand, and it’s full of all the tricks that I personally found helpful. Let’s get knitting, shall we?
*First, you need some yarn. Michael’s sells the thick yarn you’ll need, although I feel like the colors available in-stores are rather limited. So I turned where I always turn- good ol’ Amazon. They have so many colors and options available, it’s a little overwhelming, but this is the yarn I went with. For a small throw blanket for one person, you’ll want to use 3-4 skeins. For a slightly bigger blanket, I’d suggest using 6 skeins. The average price per skein is about $10, so plan to spend anywhere from $30-$60, minimum, to make one of these.
*Once you have your yarn, you’ll want to make yourself super comfortable. Put on relaxing clothes, keep water close by and cozy up on the couch. Play a holiday movie, call a friend on speaker phone, play a podcast, whatever your thing is, just make sure you have something to keep you entertained for about 1.5-2 hours. Once you start, there’s no stopping until you’re done so you just want to make sure you’re good and ready to commit.
*The hardest part is simply starting. Casting on is slightly difficult, especially if you’ve never knit before. It’s also a bit awkward since you’re using your arms and you’re essentially tying yourself up. Even though I’ve knit before, using my arms really threw me off, and I had to cast on 4 or 5 times before finally getting it right. That took at least 30-40 minutes. But then, it was all smooth sailing and about an hour later I had knit myself into a warm, fuzzy blanket cocoon. My biggest tip, especially if you’ve never knit before, is to watch a few videos on Youtube. There are tons of super helpful, easy-to-follow tutorials available on the platform so take advantage of them.
4. Once you are done casting on, you’ll continue knitting. Hold the working yarn in the hand of the arm you’ve cast on to and pull off the first stitch over the working yarn. This will create a loop with the working yarn, which you’ll then transfer to your opposite arm. Repeat until all stitches have been transferred to your opposite arm.
5. Continue knitting, from arm to arm, until you’ve used up your skeins, being sure to leave enough yarn at the end to cast off (you’ll more than likely have a few pieces of yarn leftover, which is ok.). Whenever you need to knit in a new skein, simply tie the ends together nice and tight, then continue knitting (you’ll be able to trim the ends once you’re all done).
6. To cast off, knit two stitches from the arm with all the stitches onto your empty arm. Then, slide the first stitch over the second.
7. Transfer another stitch onto your arm and then slide the previous stitch over the last one. Continue until you only have one loop left. Pulling the working yarn through the last loop, cut it and then tie it in a tight knot. Trim any ends (such as the skeins that you tied in earlier on in the project) and voila! You have a nice, cozy blanket, ready to keep you warm, or to give as a gift (if you can pull yourself out from under the cozy, warmth it provides….good thing they’re so easy to make!).
1. To begin, measure out 20 lengths of yarn, measuring from your fingertips to your elbow. This piece will be your tail. Then, make a tight slipknot onto your arm of choice (I did my left arm.).
2. Then with whatever arm doesn’t have yarn on it, use that hand to cast on 20 stitches. Create a V-shape with your thumb and index finger, with the working yarn (aka the skein of yarn) by your thumb and the tail by your index finger.
3. Twist your hand so that the tail is under the working yarn, then pull the yarn from the tail through the loop that the twist has created. Grab the loop and pull it over your arm of choice. Repeat 19 more times, for a total of 20 stitches (you can do more or less depending on the width you’d like for your blanket). Make sure to keep the stitches tight, but not too tight, as you want to be able to slip them off easily.
