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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