Chunky Knit Wool Blanket

I’m a textile nut. It’s an appreciation my mother first instilled in me at a young age and one that’s developed and refined itself over 4 years of working closely with textiles. Last winter, I’d been craving the loft and warmth of an uber chunky knit, wool blanket. One that my hubby and I could cuddle up in during those last few months of cold weather. I looked everywhere, but couldn’t find one that quite fit our budget.

Never having knitted a purl in my life, I took a leap of faith and ordered Laura Birek’s Giganto Blanket Downloadable Tutorial here, as well as several pounds of  raw wool roving from The Sheep Shed Studio. Laura’s tutorial is very detailed. She walks you through how to felt the wool roving in your bathtub! and how to knit your blanket using two pvc pipes as your knitting needles. (I used broomsticks, as I wanted a smaller gauge.) You can watch Laura knitting her blanket in action here.

As an extremely beginner knitter (if I can even call myself one), I called upon the ‘ol internet for videos on how to cast on, how to use the backwards loop method, etc. Youtube has some great tutorials on the subject. After some major trial and error, the blanket took shape, and is ready for some serious snuggling again this winter!