The best thing about knitting a garter-stitch blanket on the bias with leftover stash yarn and recycled fiber I'll never use for anything else is that this pile:
turns into this:
I'm such a cheapskate at heart. We got it all in here: recycled cotton and wool sweaters, craptastic eyelash yarn, satin ribbons, cotton in overly-bright colors, some Caron Simply Soft that simply would not go away, a wool sweater I sliced in a spiral to spin with but never used, etc. etc.
The best thing is that you already own the yarn for this project.
Name: Sediment Scraps Blanket
[Ravelry]
Designer: Katie Rose Pryal of the Knitty Professors
Yarn: Any combination of yarns that will make a bulky-to-super-bulky weight fiber, usually 5ish strands of a worstedish weight yarn. Ideally recycled, reclaimed, or cut from a felted sweater (like the light green stuff in the picture at the beginning of this post). Fiber content is not critical. I used a mish-mash. It takes a lot though--my finished blanket weighs about 5 pounds.
Finished size: About 4 feet by about 6 feet. (I call this "couch blanket" size.)
Needles: Size 11 circulars, the longer the better. I used my Denises lengthened to about 4 feet.
Special Stitches:
kfb = knit into the front and back of stitch. This increases by one stitch.
k2tog = knit two stitches together as one. This decreases by one stitch.
Pattern:
Cast on 1 st.
Row 1: Kfb.
Row 2: Kfb, k1.
Row 3: Kfb, k to end of row.
Repeat row three over and over and over. You will start making a big garter-stitch triangle. Work until one of the (non-working) sides measures between 48 and 50 inches wide.
**About adding yarn: I started with five balls of yarn. Then, I started knitting. When one ball ran out, I knotted a another ball on. That's why the color changes are more gradual. The knots got sucked into the thick garter stitch and I didn't worry about weaving in ends.**
Now you will start working length-wise only.
Row 4: Kfb, k to end of row.
Row 5: K2tog, k to end of row.
Repeat rows 4 and 5 until the length starts to look good to you--or until you fear that you will run out of yarn.
Now you will work the end section.
Row 6: K2tog, k to end of row.
Row 7: k2tog, k to end of row.
Work rows 6 and 7 until you have "closed" the rectangle. Knit the last 2 live sts together, bind off, weave in end.
Done!
REUSE, PEOPLE. It's a moral imperative.
31 comments:
Wow, what an excellent, (and beautiful) stash buster. Thank you for the inspiration and pattern.
Wow!
Now I have and idea of how to use up my yarn, and this is perfect for a beginning knitter like me.
Excellent idea is right! I can't wait to pull some scraps out...it can just be a colorful little blanket, an ongoing project...for those times of fairy repetitive type knitting (sometimes very necessary)!
Thanks so much for posting the pattern!
~Vicki (nonaofsav on Ravelry)
I'm sure it's very elementary to most, but I could use a glossary for "kfb." It's a lovely project for remnant yarn!
I have a box full of "scrap" clothing meant for quilting and such. This would be a perfect project for those! Now, to get a fabric strip cutter....
How well does it wash?
No washing--too much wool. Right now it's hanging on the wall as a "art" piece. hahaha.
I'd be willing to try washing it on warm, delicate setting, with Eucalan, in my machine. It takes a lot more than that to felt something. This would take a long while to air dry. I bet it would even do okay on a low or fluff dryer setting.
Thank you.
Fenomenal, asà podré usar todos los resto de lana.
Carlynx
Just to confirm the directions: You knit with all 5 yarns at once? Is that what "5ish strands of worstedish weight" means? How many skeins did you use total for your 4 foot by 6 foot blanket?
I need to start this soon to reclaim some closet space.
Thanks,
Kelly Grace
I did work all 5 strands together. I can't tell you how many skeins--I measured by weight. The blanket weighs about 5 pounds (very heavy!).
I have so much stash to use up, thanks for the pattern. I laughed when I read that you had some Caron yarn that simply wouldn't go away. I have about 8 skeins of something rather thin and fuzzy, between taupe and beige in color -- don't remember the brand or fiber content. In a weak moment, I purchased it during a sale at the LYS. Once I came to my senses, I didn't have the nerve to return it. No amount of begging could induce my daughter (also a knitter) to take it off my hands. I hid it in my stash, where it crops up from time to time. Now I have a use for it! :)
I am a new knitter and have a question about the pattern. After working Row 3 to 50 " wide do I turn the work to begin working on the length or is Row 4 continued after the 50" is reached?
I am a new knitter and have a question about the pattern. After working Row 3 to 50 " wide do I turn the work to begin working on the length or is Row 4 continued after the 50" is reached?
Brilliant and perfect for when I have loadsd of stash to use up and not worrying about yarn thickness is a huge bonus. Thank you so much for posting this.
for SuziQ
Once you get the 50" length...or however long you want your blanket, begin decreasing by Knitting 2 together at the beginning of each row, then knit across.
K2Tog, knit to end of row.
Your corner will close and when you have only 2 sts left, knit them together, and fasten off securely.
Great Use for scrap yarn...or the sport weight yarn I have stored!
Please, anyone, what size in mm (i.e. metric) are Size 11 needles?
What a wonderful way to get the stash down to a workable size.
What size are 11 mm needles please for the English knitters??
Thanks for the pattern,
hugs
Yvonne
My size 11(US) needle hs 8mm also stamped on it.
OMGOSH!!! I have a use for all that Caron that I bought at Wally world that they were discontinuing at a quarter a skein and I thought I needed to buy every skein they had on the shelf (138 skeins as husband just looks at me and the full cart and shakes and his head and asks what I will do with so much yarn)...One of my purchases at a weak moment!!! hahaha....
Thanks for the pattern!! Will definitely try this one!!!!
Yummy I adore it!
I am so thrilled that I found your comment on Ravelry then followed it here. I am working on 2 other scrap afghans using up stash then finding out I needed to buy some more to finish them THEN have some bits of leftovers! Being cheap I just couldn't bring myself to think about tossing them out. And then thinking of how in the world was I going to use up an assortment of wild skeins for projects I have no interest in now...
This blog and your instructions are a Godsend! I know what my next onging, ongrowing project will be!
Thank you for the idea and the instructions!
Would you necessarily have to make the blanket so heavy? I have a lot of stash to use up, but not that much stash. I was thinking of using 2 strands of worsted weight together, then maybe using 3 together of lighter yarns.
@Anonymous 12/25/2013: You can use any weight yarn, so long as when you hold the strands together, the yarns you work with you are working with the same weights. I used heavy yarn because I had a lot to work through, because the thickest yarn I had was really thick, and because I wanted a heavy blanket. Online knitting websites have great lists for how to convert yarn weights (2 strands of worsted weight = 1 stand of ?) and what needle size is ideal. I would check those out. Good luck! -Katie Rose
Lovely pattern! I'm working on it right now, I'm just a bit confused. The section (rows 4 and 5) where you increase and then decrease every other row until it's the right length--wouldn't that just give it a weird hexagonal shape instead of lengthening it as a rectangle? Or am I missing something? Or is it supposed to be shaped that way?
@Eva: That's the magic of knitting on the bias! It just turns into a rectangle. You increase both sides in the first part, then work evenly by increasing one side and decreasing the other, and then at end, decrease both sides. Once you bind off, the work forms a rectangle. I promise. ;)
@krgp I will have faith and follow the pattern, then! :)
I like the idea of this pattern for all my leftover yarn. However, Row 6 and Row 7 are identical in the pattern, which is confusing. Aren't you just repeating Row 6 until you've "closed" the rectangle? Or am I missing something?
LOVE IT!! I made it for Project Linus and turned out so awesome, it's on my ravelry projects page, I'm m042010. Each time I had scraps I worked on the afghan a little until it was done.
Dear KRGP:
"I used my Denises lengthened to about 4 feet."
I am unfamiliar with Denise's needles. I looked them up on the net. Please clarify: Are these 'interchangeable' circular needles? And does Denise provide extra long cords that attach to any size needle?
If the above is true, can you think of a way to achieve a sufficiently long needle without buying the whole set(s)?
Please forgive my ignorance, and thanks in advance for your reply.
Petra
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