Blanket/Afgahn help for creating said thing

How-to Questions
1

I’m sure I didn’t look hard enough but I really need an answer. I want to knit a large afghan/blanket for my out-of-state son and get it to him as close to Valentine’s Day as possible. I’m looking at a multiple colored ‘checkerboard’ type, but I don’t want to do it in squares nor strips, but it looks like one or the other - have no experience with intarsia. I’m trying to incorporate three of my son’s favorite colors and then a white (or ‘lemonade’, which I’ve been calling ‘gold’, as I have several skeins of that left over from a baby blanket) for the border.

Um, I was planning on just doing stockinette throughout and want it measuring somewhere along the lines of between 50" and 60" - what’s a good size for a nice blanket? Just something to cuddle up with on a bed/couch but not a lap blanket or something that would completely cover something over a twin-bed size?

I need to know how many stitches to cast on and the only thing I can find is things like:

STRIP A (make 2)
**With A, cast on 35 sts.

OR

CO 140 sts with Main Color. Knit for 38 rows.
Change to Contrast Color 1. Knit for 38 rows.

OR whatever.

And maybe it’s my brain having issues but… I want to know how many total stitches because I want to knit the border directly into the pattern, not add it after the strips/blocks are all done; also then have to figure out how wide each strip will have to be to accommodate the border without making the ‘squares’ of the checkerboard… uh… not coming out as square.

My idea is basically to knit the whole thing in three strips. First one would have a border on the top/bottom, the left side and half of the border on the right. The second strip would have the border on the top and the other half of the border on the left and the right. The third and final strip would have the top/bottom border with the other half of the border of the left side.

Look here for an example, bottom or top blanket makes no difference.

Both of these blankets are made up of squares with the border added after and then seamed together. Ideally, I would have mine made in strips with the border being knitted at the same time, each of those squares would then have another border between them. (The purple here would be in white and knitted within the strips.) They would be seamed on the borders and would only have two seams - for the middle panel – instead of all the ones shown on those blankets.

I sincerely hope this makes sense to some of you ROFL! If there is a pattern you know of that fits this, PLEASE send it to me /laugh. I’m absolutely positive I could have made this post shorter, more clear and gave far too much information but…

FYI: List of materials
7 skeins Caron Simply Soft med. 4 'Lemonade’
1 (almost 2) skein Lion Brand Pound of Love med. 4 'White’
2 skeins Red Heart Super Saver med. 4 'Royal’
2 Skeins Red " " " med. 4 'Hunter Green’
3 Skeins Red " " " med. 4 'Cherry Red’
7 US / 4.5mm knitting needles

Thanks for all the help!!

2

Excuse my ignorance, but I found your post so long and rambling that I got lost.

What is your question?

3

Why are the majority of patterns I’ve come across for large blankets/afghans done in strips or squares instead of one entire thing?

What’s the best size for a blanket that is good to cuddle in? I was thinking somewhere between 50 and 60 inches or is that too big/too small?

Going by that, what is the standard amount for stitches to cast on (when dealing with worsted weight yarn, average gauge)?

As noted in attached pic, I want to make the entire thing in minimal pieces so that I only have TWO seams, which would be where the middle panel would connect, along the borders on each side, to the side panel borders. Is there a pattern out there that would fit this desire? One that does not add the borders AFTER the body is finished or that has the body made up of all squares and seamed together before adding a border to it?

The only information I’ve come across are for patterns that give cast on amounts per panel that do not include borders.

I hope this helps; sorry, I have cognitive issues and today is a difficult day.

Image…

4

IME the best place to start looking for patterns is www.ravelry.com. HTH

5

I like your idea of how to do the blanket with the knit in border. I prefer the border that is added on later, however. It pulls the strips together and if it’s done seamlessly, adds a nice finish to the blanket.
I’ve made a throw for a couch at 48" x 58" which seems to work well. Not a lapghan and not so large either. If you figure worsted weight at 20sts/4" that’s a cast on of ~250sts across the entire short end. You can divide that into strips if that’s the way you want to go. It’s a good idea to check your gauge with your needles and yarn before heading into this big project.
Very nice Valentine’s Day present!

6

Doing a large blanket as one piece requires having a long cable needle. Some people don’t have one and don’t want to invest in one for a single project.

Sampler afghans will have different CO#s and different gauges depending on the stitch pattern within each square, making it difficult to work the entire piece without increasing/decreasing between sections.

Working on and transporting a large blanket around can become cumbersome. Pieces are easier to hold/knit/carry/tote around, especially if you like to knit away from home.

There is no standard CO #. Depends on the size of blanket you want to make, your yarn/needles and your gauge. Luckily, blankets rarely, if ever need to be an exact size - it won’t matter if your lapghan is 58" or 58.5" (just a random # there).

As noted, there are hundreds of patterns available on Ravelry.com. You can search them by the features you want.

7

I’m pretty fond of mitered squares. They’re join as you go and, if worked in garter, make a nice thick blanket.

Since you have just about a month to do this, think about multiple strands. Also, I’m one of the people who have trouble working with a single heavy piece. Consider some alternate joining methods. For that matter, if you crochet, there are some excellent edge-joining methods that can e worked even on knitted strips.

8

Mitred squares are a very good idea. I’ve seen a method for joining them as you go by picking up sts along one edge (seen on Knitting Daily). Here’s the tutorial from Mason-Dixon knitting that is similar.
http://www.masondixonknitting.com/hints-tips/blanket-finishing/no-sew-mitered-square-blanket-an-epic-tutorial/
This methos isn’t as portable as individual squares but it may make seaming minimal.