My Favorite Recipe . . .

. . . for a knitted blanket. This blanket is heftier than most knitted projects, since it’s a doubled thickness; and the main enjoyment comes from simply knitting and knitting and knitting. No special requirements to pay attention with this pattern, you merrily knit away while you watch a movie, visit with a friend, listen to an Audible book or your own thoughts.

I’ve made ten of these so far, and I find people absolutely adore them; it’s a great way to use up leftover balls of yarn, so you always have a unique color combination in each blanket. Just grab a ball of yarn, tie it onto the tail of the last one, and keep going! They make great gifts.

On a 36” or longer circular knitting needle (I use a size 8 but you can use whatever you have) cast on 252 stitches. Join and knit 125 stitches. Place a marker. Slip one stitch, (this will make a nice fold line for when the blanket is finished) and knit another 125 stitches where you will place a second marker. Now, off you go! Always slip the stitch after the marker so you have that line for folding the blanket. When you are finished, fold it carefully then crochet around all the edges, closing the open ends together and using the slipped stitches as a place to put your crochet hook. You can crochet something fancy around the edge if you wish, after you’ve sealed the blanket’s edges.

Author: Carolyn Kay Hanson

Carolyn was born and raised in Idaho. She has worked with animals for most of her life (prepare yourself, the list is long): cats, dogs, horses, cows, goats, sheep, rabbits, turkeys, ducks, chickens, guineas, and geese. She was married to a cowboy for twenty-five years and during that time lived on seven different cattle ranches. She learned how to give shots to cattle, brand cattle, castrate bull calves and close the head catch in time to capture the beast that was flying through the working chute like a streak of lightning. She also learned to back the truck up to the trailer hitch and get it right the first time. When a teen, she attended horsemanship clinics and schools, and competed in horse shows that included dressage and jumping. She owned and trained seven of her own horses. After having two children, both of whom she homeschooled until they passed the SAT with flying colors (which is absolutely no credit to her as they both reside in the genius category and continually leave her wondering what the heck is going on) she dove into homesteading, learning how to make her own bread, make soup stock from scratch, butcher chickens, rabbits, goats, sheep, and cows, and one year had so much fun canning everything in sight that when she counted the full glass jars in the pantry, she was shocked to discover there were over a thousand. Her knowledge of settings used as the basis of her stories is diverse due to the fact that she has lived in many different states including Idaho, Montana, California, Texas, Missouri, Virginia, Indiana, New Jersey, Washington, and Arizona. She now resides near Seattle. Her hobbies include knitting, crocheting, soap making, and, of course, writing. Oh, and her favorite author? P. G. Wodehouse. View all posts by Carolyn Kay Hanson