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]

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I’ve been toying with the idea of making a yarn cozy or yarn ball holder on the circular knitting machine, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. In the meantime, here are some yarn cozy knitting patterns you can make with knitting needles. Use yarn to hold you yarn!

In its simplest form, a yarn cozy is just a sleeve or a little basket that holds your yarn when you’re working with a center-pull ball so it doesn’t fall apart when you knit. The easiest ones I could find are from Love in Stitches KN, which has a regular size and a mini size. They’re worked with sock yarn and there are options for making them with ribbing, faux cables and with self-striping yarn.

For bigger cakes there’s a project called We call it the “bail holder” from Nicole LeBlanc. This pattern is available on Ravelry and you can use any yarn and make it any size you like. It features an I-cord edging that has a loop in it so you can thread they yarn through the loop to keep it extra contained as you knit.

Another large one that has a slightly fancier pattern is this one by Mareike Meye. You can use any yarn and any gauge, and slip stitch pattern worked in different colors on the sides makes it a little more fun and uses a bit more stash. A strap buttons across the top to hold the ball in place and you can add a buttonhole to the middle of the strap to thread the yarn through. Check this one out on Ravelry.

Adding lace to a yarn cozy makes it fit a wider variety of balls and expand or shrink a bit as needed. Jennifer Sugarman’s Ball Sack uses sock yarn and is made to hold sock yarn. It has the option of making I-cord or using ribbon or cord you already have to make a drawstring at the top. You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

Another lacy option is the yarn ball holder from Frugal Knitting Haus. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has an easy mesh lace pattern and an I-cord drawstring that’s sewn together at the ends so you could loop it over your wrist while you knit if you like. This pattern is also on Ravelry.

Speaking of wrist yarn holders, I also found this one form Knituition. This one uses sport weight yarn and has a spiral rib pattern on the body. The strap is attached to the bag with D-rings, or you could make it a little longer and just sew it into the bag.

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