Cool Stuff Blanket

I usually work in lighter weight yarns; however, I have always had a secret desire to make one of those handknit blankets with oversized yarn. So, when Scheepjes came out with their Cool Stuff Yarn, made from 100% Recycled Polyester and perfect for hand knitting, I jumped at the opportunity.

I love this blanket. It’s like a giant pillow you can wrap around yourself. I’ve been using it to lift my work up to a more ergonomical position while crocheting.

This blanket is knit with your hands, no knitting needles needed. I have kept the pattern a simple Extended Moss Stitch, 3 stacked purls (or knits) instead of 2.

If you would like to make your own, I have made a full video tutorial as well as written out all the instructions down below.

I made this blanket by knitting a few rows then undoing and switching some of the knits to purls. This might seem like extra work, but I found it extremely challenging to maintain tension and keep everything in place while alternating knits and purls. After trying a lot of things out this is the method that gave me the best results.

Related Links

• Visit the Ravelry page for the Cool Stuff Blanket and add it to your queue.
• Watch the Tutorial On YouTube
• Join my Facebook Group, Jessica Wifall’s Crochet Studio
• Subscribe to my newsletter

Video Tutorial

This Blanket was primary made as a Video Tutorial, I have written out the instructions here for those who prefer written and images, but I recommend watching the video if anything seems unclear.

Video Tutorial

Pattern Support

Jessica Wifall’s Crochet Studio: This group is a great place to ask questions of me and the community and share your creations and works in progress.

Materials, Size and Gauge

For my blanket I used 13 Balls of Scheepjes Cool Stuff (100% Recycled Polyester; 500g/20m). It weighs about 6–6.5 kg (around 14 lbs) and is around 120×180 cm (4×6 ft). If you want a smaller blanket, you can use less yarn. This blanket is knit with your hands, no knitting needles needed. However, you will need a sewing needle and some matching thread to sew together the balls of yarn and finish the ends. My blanket has a gauge of about 2 stitches x 3 rows = 10 x 10cm.

---

---

Joining Ends Together

I am going to give instructions for joining the ends together first because I joined as much of the yarn together as I could before I started knitting. I unwound them into a big basket and kept joining until I filled up the basket. My basket fit about 6-7 balls, so I used up my basket, then joined the rest of my yarn, refilling the basket.

Step 1: trim the two ends you are joining together. This is just to have a clean starting end, you can also remove a little more if the end is puffy.

Step 2: Peel Back the fabric tube of both ends, exposing the internal fibers.

Step 3: Trim the internal fibers, cut of a few centimeters so that the fabric will fully cover the fibers when the raw edges are turned in, then cut the fiber diagonally so that the volume gradually decreases at the end, repeat on both ends.

Step 5: On one end only, roll the fabric back over the fibers. Then place it along the loose fibers of the other end matching up the diagonals.

Step 6: Roll the fabric back over the ends held together.

Step 7: Tuck in the raw edges and sew all around this seam.

---

---

Knitting Instructions

Foundation:

Make a slip knot and a chain with 27 loops (or any odd number of your choice). Make the loops as uniform in size as possible. I find it helpful to hold the chain firmly while working to prevent slippage.

Note: the slip knot will be removed at the end of the blanket and finished neatly so you don’t need to leave a long tail.

Row 1:

Make one more chain, this will be the first stitch of the row. Turn over the chain to work from the “wrong side”.

Twist this first stitch over so the yarn is going right to left. Then, find the back bump of the second chain.

Push a loop of yarn up through the back bump. Repeat across the whole chain. Make the stitches as uniform as possible in size, EXCEPT the first and last loop, make those a little smaller to keep the edge tidy.

When row one is complete, turn over your work to the “right side”. from here on out we will be working only on the “right side” just moving left and right to make the rows.

Rows 2-4, Knit the Stitches:

In each loop from the previous row, pull a new loop of yarn up from underneath to knit a stitch. Keep the stitches from the prior row close together while working and make stitches as uniform as possible in size, EXCEPT the first and last stitch, make those a little smaller to keep the edge tidy. Keep repeating this until you have made 3 more rows.

Rows 1-4, Switch the Stitches:

Now we will form the knit-purl pattern by undoing and redoing stitches. Starting with the second column of stitches undo back 4 stitches. Then remake 3 stitches as purls by pulling the yarn down through the loop from above, remake the last stitch as a knit again so that our live edge is always knit. Repeat this across in every other column so you have alternating knit and purl columns.

If you find this confusing, this is the part of the video where I show this step, it was hard to capture in photos.

---

---

Rows 5-7, Knit the Stitches:

Just like 2-4 knit all the stitches until you have made 3 more rows.

Rows 4-7, Switch the Stitches:

This is just like for switching stitches for rows 1-4 except we are switching the other columns this time. Starting with the 3rd column of stitches undo back 4 stitches. Then remake 3 stitches as purls and the last stitch as a knit again so that our live edge is always knit. Repeat this across in every other column so you have alternating purl columns above the knit columns from the previous 3 rows. Both sides of the blanket should remain as knit stitches.

Repeat:

Repeat rows 2-4, switch stitches, and rows 4-7, switch stitches, 6 more times or until the blanket is your desired length. For the last repeat knit only 2 more rows and don’t leave the last row as knit.

Bind off:

To bind off, knit the first stitch then pull it over to line up with the second stitch.  Now knit the second stitch pulling the loop though both the second stitch and the stitch you just knit. Repeat across the whole row, making sure to keep a good tension. When you get to the last stitch knit it as with the rest of the row then pull the tail of the yarn all the way through. 

Finishing Instructions

To finish off the end neatly we are going to trim the yarn and sew down tucked inside one of the loops. I started by figuring out where I wanted to sew it down and marked the spot with a pin. Then I cut the yarn a few centimeters after where I marked it with the pin.

Just like with the joining, I peeled back the fabric tube and gave the fibers a trim with a diagonal cut. Then rolled the fabric back in place and tucked in the raw edges. Then I stitched the end of the tube in place and adjusted the stitches so that the sewing was hidden away.

To finish off the start neatly, I began by partially undoing the slip knot.

Then I repeated the same steps from finishing the end before stitching the end of the tube in place and adjusted the stitches so that the sewing was hidden away.

---

---

I will admit that this blanket is a bit on the ridiculous side, but I love it anyway. I find the weight comforting and I love to wrap it around my lap when crocheting. I basically use it as a very adjustable crochet pillow to lift my work to a more ergonomic position. It’s also surprisingly cool in temperature which is a bonus for me as it is super-hot where I live right now.