Introduction: Easy Chunky Hand-Knitted Blanket in One Hour

By HollyMann Follow

More by the author:About: Army Vet. I love learning & being creative. I am back! More About HollyMann »

This project is quick, easy and affordable! In this Instructable, I will share with you the steps it takes to make a beautiful blanket or throw, in about an hour. I made mine out of chenille yarn and it only took 3 skeins. I will explain the details of the yarn in the next step.

If you're stopping by, I just want to say thank you! I haven't posted on here in a very long time and for that I am sorry. I miss Instructables immensely. If anyone wants to chat in the comments, I will be around! If you have any questions at all, please ask!

Supplies

All you need to make a chunky hand knit blanket is some super chunky yarn and maybe a needle and thread for joining balls of yarn together. That’s it! No knitting needles required.

Honestly, the hardest part of this project might be figuring out what type of yarn you’d like to use! Here are some options for super fat yarns:

Merino wool

Also know as wool roving, thick wool yarn was the most popular option for making chunky blankets when they first came on the scene. Since it’s so thick, it makes up into gorgeous blankets that look very cozy. However, using wool has some drawbacks. First up, it’s not washable so you’d have to dry clean it. Also, it’s fairly delicate – some people mention in online reviews that it sheds quite a bit and is super easy to snag. Finally, it’s pricey. For a throw size blanket you can spend over $100 for the wool to make one of these. I decided I wasn’t willing to spend that much for a blanket that might end up being mostly decorative.

Tube Yarn

The biggest drawback of tube yarn is that it’s quite expensive. I used three 3.5 lb balls of tube yarn ordered from Amazon to make a 50×54 inch throw blanket and the total cost was $140. You can also find a large variety of tube yarns on Etsy, although they seem to be a little more expensive than the yarn I ordered from Amazon. For me, having the cool modern look of this yarn plus the fact that it would be useable and washable made it worth the splurge.

Chunky Chenille Yarn

If you really want to hand knit a chunky blanket but are thinking “no way I’d drop a hundred dollars!” then chunky chenille is going to be your go-to yarn. This is a fat, fuzzy, super soft yarn that’s generally machine washable and is much more economical than tube yarn. I made the aqua blanket you can see in the next photo below using the Yarn Bee Eternal Bliss yarn from Hobby Lobby. Because I purchased it when it was on sale, I only spent $30 on this yarn (it would have been $42 full price). Walmart also sells chunky chenille yarn, and you can also find skeins on Amazon and Etsy.

Securing the Tails

At this point there will be a tail at the beginning and end of your blanket. The last step is hiding and securing those tails. Some people recommend weaving the tails in and hiding them within the blanket. However, I find that if you just weave them in they always work their way back out. So I recommend weaving them in and then using a needle and matching thread to stitch them in place.

How to Make a Chunky Knit Blanket

In the past few years, I’ve made a number of finger knit blankets using loop yarn, and I love them! But I wanted to make a really chunky blanket this time, using a super fat yarn. I’d heard of arm knitting, but it just seemed confusing to me, and I know you can use super fat needles, but since I’ve never knit with needles before that seemed confusing too.

So instead I decided to try hand-knitting, and it turns out that it’s a super simple and totally doable craft, even for a complete beginner with no knitting experience. I was able to hand knit this cool DIY chunky blanket in a couple of hours: