[FONT=“Arial Narrow”][COLOR=“DarkSlateBlue”]I started to knit a baby blanket for for a friend. My needles are 14’’ long. I wanted the blanket to be about 36’‘x36’’ About how many stitches do I need to cast on to make one this size? This will be the third attempt at the same blanket. First time, I had a book that is intended for tweenagers, but it was completely backwards from what I learned from instructional videos online. I started over again and made a few mistakes, but ones I recovered from, only to have my needle come out in the middle of the row and some of the loops fall. So, my solution is to start from scratch (again:wall:) and do it right this time since I’ve gotten a hang of the pattern I am using. (Broken rib) [/COLOR][/FONT]
New knitter needs help!
A lot of the answers depend on what kind of yarn you’re using.
If, say, your yarn is knitting up at 4 stitches = one inch (just for example) and you want your blanket 36 inches, then 4 x 36 = 144 - you’d have to cast on 144 stitches.
That may be too many stitches for 14" long straight needles to hold, so you may find it easier to use 24" circular needles. You can still knit flat with circular needles, it just makes it easier to hold so many stitches.
Thanks. I have about 6 stiches per inch so I would have to cast on roughly 216 stiches to make the blanket 36x36, correct?
Also, How do I knit a blanket on a circular needle? I watched a video on this site, but it seems she was just knitting something round. It blows my mind a little bit. Also, Can I buy a circular needle at Michael’s, or do I have to order it online? Sorry so many questions!
You should be able to buy circulars at Michael’s. When knitting on circulars you turn your work at the end of the row just as you do on straights so that you work back across.
Michael’s might have only 29" circulars, but that length is fine too. You don’t have to knit in the round with them, for flat knitting they’re used to hold many more stitches than you could fit onto a straight needle.