ISO soft fat yarn for baby blanket

[PancakeGoddess]

Would like to knit soft blanket, not in HUGE yarn, but biggish. I was thinking of trying the linen stitch - what do you think? Could someone recommend a nice fat yarn that isn't going to be really expensive to buy a lot of, a blanket's worth? It could have some synthetic, but needs to be less than half.

[Sarah]

A lady I know just started a sweater on "Homespun" which is all acrylic- but the color she chose is a very natural off white and the resulting fabric looks like a silk cotton blend- it's really pretty.

As for the linen stitch- try a swatch before you commit to a blanket- you may not love all the yarn forwards and backs- working bulky, that may be more than tiresome- it may be exhausting. But you'll love the texture it gives you! I have never tried linen stitch on something really bulky- It never dawned on me that I could! It's also going to gobble up yarn- but it will be a very warm soft blanket- the drape of linen stitch is fantastic.

[PancakeGoddess]

oh.... see, this is just what I was needing to know. I've only just seen linen stitich - never even tried it yet. What would be some good alternative stitches to do with big yarn for a blanket? It doesn't need to be the same stitch throughout. I wish I could just find a good pattern, but I've looked and looked and don't see too many bulky yarn baby blankets I like.

[andreac]

I have the book Yarn Girls Guide to Kid Knits and it has a several patterns for baby blankets, all knit with bulky yarns. You should see if your library has it.

Another idea I saw in a book, Knitting for Baby, was just doing simple garter stitch squares and sewing them together, patchwork style. If you alternate colors and the orientation of the blocks (one block w/the rows running horizontally, the next with the rows running vertically) you get a nice effect without a lot of hassle and you can pick whatever yarn you like since all you need to worry about is making the squares the same size.

[Emmama]

What about picking a soft yarn and running cables down the whole thing? I havea cotton cableed baby blanket for my ds3 and he loves it! so soft, and the cabling gives it some extra bulk, without needing a bulky yarn.

[PancakeGoddess]

oh, these are great ideas - the squares and the cables. I'm not so great choosing color combinations, but I could look around for ideas and go from there. I really need to use what's in my stash now, though. I keep forgetting I can also double-strand to get the heavier weight.

Do you think it would look bad to do some squares with cables and some without? Or maybe around the edge squares? I'm afraid I'd never get them lined up well enough.