Knitting a blanket.

[jackandahat]

This is one of those things where I've done plenty of googling, but I'd like "real people's suggestions" to go with gathered information.

So, for those of you who've knitted a blanket (I'm most likely going with a variation on Moderne Log Cabin Blanket) - what kind of yarn did you use? Given my local knitting shop runs heavy to acrylic and baby-pastels, it seems likely I'll have to order some, so I'm looking for solid advice before I get out the debit card.

Comments

[sailorcoruscant]

I've only knitted baby blankets, and for those I use a soft acrylic, because the last thing a new mum wants to deal with is handwashing baby vomit out of a blanket. :)

Hope you get some real answers. I've been tempted to knit myself a blanket for a long time, so I'll be watching the rest of this post with interest.

[jackandahat]

I've actually done the acrylic thing - started out as a doll blanket to use up odds and ends and, uh, turns out I had a few more odds and ends than I thought! So it ended up being for the child rather than her doll. But it was good practice, which was what I wanted - chance to use up all my random acrylic and to practice picking up stitches and things like that.

...the only problem being, now I want one of my own. And so *points* this post. Because the internet Knows All.

[jumpuphigh]

Well, I live in Arizona where we don't get call for heavy blankets but I have used cotton yarn and loved it. If I was making a heavier blanket, I'd have to lean towards alpaca cause yum, alpaca.

[jackandahat]

Heh, I think alpaca is just a wee bit out of my price range! I've never actually met any, so I have no idea what it feels like.

[jumpuphigh]

I think it just depends on what is available in your area. I can get alpaca for the same cost as most wools or cottons here. Sure, I could spend mega-bucks on it but I wouldn't, at least not for a blanket.

I don't recommend bamboo. Sure it's the cool new thing to knit with but it felts really easily and not in any way that would be considered nice. (Think hard and scratchy and poky and prickly.)

[jackandahat]

I love bamboo, I have a bunch of socks made from Wendy Happy, but it's not something I would have ever considered for a blanket.

[jumpuphigh]

I like knitting with it a lot but caring for it is a pain.

[vass]

I agree not bamboo. I've knitted a couple of scarves with it, and it looked really nice, but was hell to work with. Extremely splitty.

[james]

I made one out of cotton, and it's very nice and drapey. And it washes easily. Depending on the climate you're in, it's cooler than acrylic and may be more (or less) suitable.

[jackandahat]

I'm in a very cold room in England. So it does need to be pretty heavy duty, rather than cooler. But I will keep cotton in mind for other stuff.

(I have to admit, I'm surprised, I'd expected the answers to involve some kind of wool-mix.)

[thistleingrey]

There is machine-washable wool as well! Have you looked at Rowan's line? (Ought to be available more readily in England than some of the suggestions here.) This is good stuff for low-fuss care, or (a little lighter) this.

A friend living in Galway and I collaborated on a baby blanket last year, which took a bit of maneuvering. We ended up using Rowan Purelife cotton DK--and she bought the yarn in Edinburgh. I'm in the U.S. :P

[jackandahat]

I know about machine-washable wool - that's why I was surprised it's not really come up in the comments!

Wow, long distance blanketing -that's cool!

[thistleingrey]

Ah, and I didn't click through to the pattern at first, so it looks as though you do want DK weight. But really, if I wanted a blanket to be warm, I'd go with aran weight instead and modify the pattern a bit for size....

She did half, posted it, and I invented a wide border. It turned out pretty well. :)

[jackandahat]

Sizing is negotiable - I was just using that as a reference for style, really. So going up to another weight isn't a big deal.

[novembersgirl]

I'm currently also looking into yarn for a blanket, basically with the same requirements as you have. I want a warm and heavy blanket for the cold winter days.

The kntting store recommended Boston by Schachenmayr to me which I found a bit too scartchy for my taste, although it does come in some nice colours and the price is relatively reasonable. Personally I'm tempted more by Merino Big by Schachenmayr which is a bit softer.

Last year I knitted a blanket for my mom and of course now I no longer remember what yarn I used. Hm, it might have been Vario by Lana Grossa.

Hope that helps :_)

[jackandahat]

That does help, thank you. I know patterns and such have lots of advice, but that's not the same as getting advice form people who've actually done it.

[novembersgirl]

I know what you mean. :-) Finding the right yarn is always tough, especially when you don't have many stores near-by and can't touch and test yarns for yourselves.

[havocthecat]

I'm in the middle of knitting a blanket right now! (Literally the middle, I just finished 50% of the project.) I've been using Noro Kureyon, because I like the colors a LOT. It lets me turn it into a kind of crazy quilt, even with the knitting and the fact that I'm using the same kind of square the whole way through.

If you want solid colors, maybe Cascade or Brown Sheep?

I'm very fond of wool, but that's because I live in Illinois, and our winters get cold. I'm not sure where you live, or if that's a consideration.

[jackandahat]

I live in England, but in a very drafty house, so "It's cold" is a good description. Thank you.

[vass]

I've knitted two blankets, both a mixture of that awful feather stuff and 8-ply acrylic, one strand of each, knitted together on 15mm needles. The result looks effective and is warm, and was very cheap, but yeah, you'd probably want something nicer.

[jackandahat]

Yeah - I'm really not a fan of the feather stuff. It's all down to taste, really.

[pinesandmaples]

If the blanket is for me or one of the few knitter-kind in my life: Cascade 220.

If the blanket is not for me or a knitter: Cascade 220 superwash (if I really like them) or Plymouth Encore Worsted.

Other things that could make a blanket, if you really wanted them to: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted.

Lots of people use Knitpicks, but I think their yarn is crap and has some major labor issues behind it. (As in, hello, sweatshop-style yarns produced for pennies on the dollar in developing countries where labor laws don't mean shit!)

[jackandahat]

I did not know that about Knitpicks, so thank you for the warning, I'll look into that.

[pinesandmaples]

Knitpicks is really dodgy about their sources. Anyone who is dodgy about their sources in the fiber world is hiding something.

Also, since you live in the UK, have you given much thought to Colinette yarns? I want to make one of their throw kits (probably AbFab throw in Meadow), but that doesn't seem to be your style here.

[jackandahat]

I've not heard of them - I don't have any experience ordering online. So it's good to have the recs to look into, thank you.

[pinesandmaples]

AH! Well, they're British. So the prices shouldn't make you sob quite as loudly as they make Yanks sob.

And another delicious British store is The Yarn Yard, but her website isn't awesome. Her yarn, however, is. I've actually imported it because it's that nice.

[jackandahat]

I'll have to sit down and have a look through all these, thank you.

[ladyjax]

I'll also put in my vote for Cascade 220 and 220 Superwash. You might want to also consider Cascade Yarns Eco Wool. Lots of yardage for a reasonable price.

I bought two skeins a couple of days ago because I'm making the Stashbuster Blanket from Stitch Diva and wanted some bulky yarn to go with the worsted yarn coming out of my stash.

[jackandahat]

Thank you.

[aunty_marion]

A lot of my 'A Recipe for Fish' blanket will end up having been done in Sirdar Escape, which is readily available in the UK and is not too expensive. A 50g ball of the DK (they also do an Aran weight, I think) cost me £3.28 week before last. Comes in solid colours and variegated, and the variegated have a long colour change - I made nine or ten fish from a ball of the brown, and every single one was different (and a fish uses about 19 yards), some of them almost a solid colour, some with a colour change from one end to the other. It's 51% wool 49% acrylic. Sirdar Country Style is (I think) partly wool too, and relatively cheap, and feels OK. The Biggan First Cross Merino DK is absolutely gorgeous, comes in 64 solid colours, but costs more (I think IKnit have it at £5 a ball).

Knitpicks don't ship to the UK, alas (I want some of their Time Traveler colour of sock wool!). Cascade 220 is available at Loop, but it's not cheap - I think I paid about £15 for a 100g skein.

[jackandahat]

Oooo, I have petted the Sirdar stuff, I believe. Clearly, I need to go pet it again. I'm after solid colours, rather than variegated, so it's good to have options.

[aunty_marion]

Another one is the Sirdar Click, also available in DK and Aran weights. I think that's mostly solid colours, and is about 70% wool.

[jackandahat]

I was petting some of that today, it's nice.

[aunty_marion]

If you're shopping online, by the way, I can recommend Knitters' & Sewers' World in Swansea (which is where I was shopping for Escape (without telling Mum) last fortnight). Good stock of the Sirdar stuff (among others), and not too expensive!

[jackandahat]

Ooo, good to know, thank you.

[blinker]

Not sure if you've decided already, but I really like superwash wool. It's nicer to knit with than acrylic, but still machine-washable. I made a baby blanket for my nephew using Valley Yarns Superwash (available from yarn.com, one of the bigger yarn shops in the US), and I've got an afghan in progress using a superwash wool from Elann Yarns that's sadly no longer available. I've also used Cascade 220 Superwash for scarves and stuff, and that's a great yarn in lots of fun colors too.