Stitch Up Some Zen with This Easy Knit Blanket

There is just something about a garter stitch blanket. The knitting is easy and relatively mindless, and the resulting knit fabric is cozy, kind of chunky and rustic and just looks like something you want to snuggle under.

I knit a twin sized bed sized garter stitch blanket out of a bunch of yarn leftovers many years ago, and it’s still one of my favorites (even though I machine washed it and kind of felted parts of it so the sides aren’t totally even any more). I also have a never-ending garter stitch stash busting project that involves long strips of garter stitch joined as I knit. The goal with that one is to make it 6 feet by 6 feet, so it may actually never be done.

For something a little less daunting, which you don’t necessarily need to make with odd balls, though you totally could, check out the Zigzag Zen blanket from Anniina Juuti.

This pretty blanket is worked with two strands of fingering weight yarn held together to make a DK weight, or you could just use DK held singly, or even worsted weight if that’s what you have on hand.

It features alternating horizontal and vertical stripes, and you can make it with a consistent “background” color as shown or go wild and make it with all the scraps you’ve ever saved.

The pattern includes sizing for a baby blanket and a throw, but if you use a different weight of yarn your size will be a bit different. You could also just keep working the pattern with more sections added to make it as big as you want.

You can grab a copy of the pattern for this fun blanket (and see all the cool variations people have made, including one that’s crocheted instead of knit) on Ravelry.

[Photo: Anniina Juuti]

Next Pattern:

I’ve shared a lot of Christmas stocking knitting patterns over the years (see posts 1, 2, 3 for example) but what if you want to knit a stocking for a non-human member of your family. If you’re looking for Christmas stocking knitting patterns for your cats or dogs, this is the post for you.

These large paw print stockings are perfect for either dogs or cats, so they’re great to knit if you have both. They are worked in the round using DK weight yarn, and the stocking measures about 17 inches/43 cm from the top to the heel. You can get the pattern from nicolaluke.

The K4 Project has a super cute Kitty Christmas stocking pattern, which is worked in worsted weight yarn. They also have a dog version, or you can buy both and get a discount if you have both dogs and cats to knit for. Both projects have two patterns, showing how to work the stockings flat or in the round.

Put your dog into a Christmas scene with this stocking pattern from ifanhourChild. It shows a dog in a dog house in the snow, and has room for the dog’s name at the top. It’s worked flat using worsted weight yarn and the pattern includes charts for many small and medium dog breeds (there’s a separate listing for bigger dogs) so you can stitch a dog that looks like yours.

Annie’s Woolens has both dog and cat stocking knitting patterns that are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. You can change up the colors to suit your pet if you want, and they come with an alphabet chart for personalization. Or you can stick with holiday colors and buy a kit to make the dog or cat stocking.

Waiting for Santa Paws is a pattern from Kate Agner on Ravelry that would be cute for a dog or a cat. It looks like a leg with a paw print on the bottom part of the foot and more paw prints running around the top of the leg. This is a great option if you don’t want to mess with a heel turn because it doesn’t have a heel, because dogs and cats don’t have heels so why would their stockings?

Book Review – 20 to Knit: Tiny Christmas Toys to Knit

Book Review – Knit Christmas Stockings

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply