Stitches

A question about knitting a throw blanket? How many stitches?

I have a question about knitting a throw blanket... I will be using Lion Brand "Wool ease, thick and quick yarn" and size 10 knitting needles. How many stiches should I cast on to make an average size throw blanket? (Big enough for a guy to snuggle with on the couch)

Public Comments

1. Wow, I'm not sure, I've never done anything that big before.
2. The answer is, it depends. Not what you were hoping for huh? But it does depend on a number of things. With a little knowledge, you'll be able to figure it out on your own. Pick a stitch pattern and cast on a good number of stitches to make swatch maybe 6" x 6". Guesstimate at this point, but make the swatch fairly large. Once you have the swatch made, take a ruler and count how many stitches measure 4" across in the middle of the swatch. Now take that number--your stitch guage--and figure out how many stitches you need for your afghan. For example, if your afghan is going to be four feet wide, then 48" * # stitches / 4" = how many stitches to cast on. In other words, 12 * #stitches to make 4".
3. Lion Brand T&Q is a super-bulky yarn with a gauge of 2.25 stitches per inch... so (for example) if you wanted to knit a 60" throw you'd need to cast on 135 stitches (2.25 x 60 = 135). You'll need a larger needle, though, at least a size 13. Knitting such a bulky yarn on size 10s will give you a stiff, tight fabric -- not very snuggly. For such a large project, I'd recommend getting a very long circular needle, since you won't be able to fit the whole afghan on straights.
4. first measure the with of the couch and then measure the back of the couch to the floor and plus a little bit added to it and that should be the size you should knit