This blanket covers my double sized bed, and my cat, Rascal, loves it! I used 3 skeins of Barcelona Big – Amethyst yarn, about 1000 yards. This loom is done in 5 sections of short rows, you increase and create a wedge, then start another, and seam the first and last wedge together.
Let’s get started.
What You Need
- Yarn – I used about 1000 yards of bulky (5) Barcelona Big yarn by Loops & Threads
- A large gauge loom with 70+ pegs. I used the AKB Flexee Loom Links Chunky, just one loom, flat.
- A crochet hook if you use a crochet cast on
- A knitting tool/hook
- A moveable marker, since you’ll be increasing each row.
- One stationary marker.
Definitions
Knit: Knit the peg. All knits are e-wrap knits.
Purl: Purl the peg. There is very little purling in this pattern.
Slip 1 (sl1): This is done at the beginning of a row, you don’t knit the first peg, you just pass it and knit or purl the 2nd peg. This creates a nice, braided, border.
Half Stitch (HS): This is done to the last peg on the very end of the row, you wrap the yarn halfway around the peg and knit the existing loop over it. This is done to get a nice, braided edge, like slipping the first stitch.
Short row: A row where you don’t knit to the very last peg, but knit a certain number of pegs (in my pattern, you knit to the marker), and then you turn around, and knit back to the first peg you started from.
Wrap and Turn (W&T): This is done at the end of a short row so there aren’t any “holes” in the knitting. Because you’re going to be knitting part way down the loom, turning around, and going back, you’re going to knit or purl x many stitches, wrap the peg beside the final peg you knit by taking the loop of the peg, wrapping the yarn around the peg, putting the loop back on, and then knitting or purling back in the opposite direction. It’s easy once you get the hang of it!
The Pattern
Cast on 70 pegs from left to right. Last peg on the right is peg 70. Put a moveable marker on peg 69. Put a stationary marker on peg 8, this is your garter border, and also a short row.
Row 1: Sl1, K all, HS
Row 2: Sl 1, P7, W&T (peg 9)
Row 3: K back to peg 1, HS
Row 4: Sl 1, P7, K to moveable marker, W&T, move the marker 1 peg to the left (peg 68, 67, 66…)
Row 5: K all, HS
Repeat rows 2-5 until the moveable marker is on peg 9.
Then place the moveable marker back on peg 69, and knit one row and repeat rows 2-5 again until the movable marker is back on peg 9.