This post will share how to create a practical giant yarn crochet baby blanket with this easy pattern.
You all may have noticed, I’m a huge fan of giant yarn, pun absolutely intended. I love it because it is unusual, warm, fast to work with, and easy to see errors you might have made. Love Fest Fibers has become my favorite domestic source of giant yarn and for good reason. They have a variety of large-scale yarns to choose from, in neutrals and dreamy colors, in both all natural and recycled plastic + natural material blends.
For the baby blankets I decided to make for a pair of cousins who are pregnant and due at nearly the same time, I chose the Relove Merino blend that is wool and recycled plastic bottles. I’m not going to bluff you; I chose it because it is washable, not because I am primarily interested in using, or not using, recycled plastic. Function comes first and foremost in my mind. However, it is clearly an advantage to use up some of those wasted plastic bottles in a rad baby blanket. Additionally, a baby blanket must be washable. Unless you aren’t giving it to a baby 😉
This yarn is about as big in diameter as a dime, which isn’t the biggest yarn I’ve worked with but it comes in a delicious aqua (that I really, really want to use in a blanket for my bed), a pink, and a blue. They also have large wooden hooks and needles available for purchase which is very helpful indeed. I crocheted a basket with their Tough Love felted yarn with my fingers but for this project, a hook was definitely faster.
One skein of their largest size, 100-yard length made a perfectly sized baby blanket. I crocheted a chain about as wide as a crib, and used my go-to single crochet stitch, chain one and skip a stitch, single crochet routine on repeat back and forth. That way you get a lot more blanket area than if you made a stitch in every single chain.
One important tip when working with really large scale yarn is that because you want to use up every last bit of it, sometimes you’d rather not just end a row and cut it off. You might want to keep crocheting but aren’t sure if you’ll make it to the other end without running out. I will taper off by making a few short single crochets (just a tighter stitch) and then doing a looser slip stitch, and then a snug slip stitch. That way you can gradually decrease and hopefully make it to the other end. You don’t have to do this of course but that’s one way I’ve found that is helpful.
This video will show what can’t be explained in words. I hope it is helpful, Wildflowers!
Making a baby gift by hand is something that many people wish they could do but don’t realize that the actually CAN do. You absolutely can learn how to crochet a baby blanket. If you don’t want to learn how to crochet, you can learn how to sew. If you’d rather not sew, I bet you can paint silk, or embroider a baby monogram, or make a bib, or customize a diaper bag…you are capable beyond your wildest dreams, Wildflowers, and that’s why you are here. Learn how to create more by hand and reap the benefits tenfold.
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