Big, Bulky Broken Rib Knit Blanket

I wanted to knit up something fast that would be full of comfort and love for a friend who was about to start chemo (and her family). I came up with this blanket, worked in super bulky yarn in an easy Broken Rib pattern, which I was able to knit up in less than a week.

Use whatever super bulky yarn you have in your stash to make stripes, or make it a solid color if you prefer. I used a couple of different kinds of yarn because that's what I had on hand. You can make yours all with the same kind of yarn or with whatever you like.

What you need

I used 19 balls total of super bulky yarn, or about 1,200 yards total. My yarn was mostly Lion Brand Hometown USA in colors:
Fort Worth Blue (3)
Portland Wine (3)
Chicago Charcoal (1)
Detroit Blue (4)
Washington Denim (3)
Dallas Gray (1)
I also used 4 skeins of Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in Claret, which is the darker red color next to the Detroit Blue

size 13 US/9 mm circular needle, the longer the better

Gauge:
Gauge is not critical but I got 8 stitches and 10.5 rows per 4 inches/10 cm, or 2 stitches and 2.5 rows per inch/2.5 cm

Size:
Blanket as knit measures 64 by 72 inches/162.5 by 183 cm. Size can vary easily by knitting more rows or casting on more stitches.

Instructions

Depending on the yarn you have, you need to choose your stripe pattern. I wanted to do even stripes of different widths across the length of the project, meeting in the middle and repeating in reverse on the other side, so that I began and ended with the same color.

If you have an even number of skeins of each color, this is simple, but if you have odd numbers as I did, you’ll need to have a kitchen scale handy so you can divide your odd skeins evenly by weight.

My stripe pattern is as listed above, using 1.5 skeins of Fort Worth Blue, 1.5 skeins of Portland Wine, half a skein of Chicago Charcoal, 2 skeins of Detroit Blue, 2 skeins of Claret, 1.5 skeins of Washington Denim and the full skein of Dallas Gray before repeating on the other side in the opposite direction. As you knit you’ll learn how many rows you can get out of each skein so you can consistently change colors on the same side of the work (I did it on the wrong side each time).

Using your first color, cast on 130 stitches. If you want a larger blanket, cast on multiples of 4 plus 2. To make the long cast on easier, work with a strand of yarn each from two different skeins to work a long tail cast on.

Work in Broken Rib Pattern as follows:

Row 1: K2, *p2, k2 across.

Row 2: Purl

Change colors as necessary to complete your desired stripe pattern and work until piece measures 72 inches or you’re finished with your stripe pattern.

Bind off loosely, as this is a heavy blanket that will want to stretch.