Stripe Your Stash to Make an Easy Blanket

I have this giant stash busting garter stitch blanket that I’ve been working on (if you can call it that) for probably 15 or 20 years by now. I’m not sure it’s correct to say I’m working on it, because it usually only comes out in the winter when I’m not working on anything else and I want to use it as a blanket while I’m knitting it.

While you are here, check out this Knitted Patchwork Blanket from our sister site.

It’s made of strips of garter stitch, but I’m joining them together as I knit them (by knitting the edge stitch on my needle together with the edge stitch on the previous strip). It’s a satisfying and relatively mindless way to use up scraps, and my goal is that it will one day be 6 feet square (1.8 meters). Hopefully sometime in the next 15 or 20 years!

If you want to make a simple blanket but don’t want to have to lug around the whole thing as you work on it, the striped blanket from The Knitting Squirrel is a great option.

It, too, is made of odd balls and garter stitch, but this one is done in panels that aren’t joined until they are done. (And the way that’s done is pretty clever, too!) This one is done in sock yarn that was made into magic balls before knitting, but you could use whatever yarn you have a lot of and either make the panels narrower or make fewer of them, or just make your blanket whatever size works for you.

Read more about magic balls here if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

My version is worsted weight and alternates between panels of 12 and 24 stitches, so that’s also an option you could try to mix the colors up even more.

Check out the free pattern at The Knitting Squirrel for all the details.

[Photo: The Knitting Squirrel]

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

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