This cozy afghan is knit in modular pieces in garter stitch for a soft, cushy blanket. The modular design makes it very easy to adjust the size for a lap afghan or a baby blanket. You could even change the yarn weight and needle size and just knit it until it’s as big as you want it. It’s also a great way to use up all those scrap yarns!

Yarn: 2200 yards in Color 1, 1800 yards in Color 2, and 250 yards in Color 3 of heavy worsted or aran weight yarn. Sample shown in Plymouth Encore Worsted (75% Acrylic/25% Wool, 200 yds per 100 gm skein) Color 1-Green (1233), Color 2-Light Grey (194), Color 3-Medium Grey (0389); 9 wpi
Needles: 5mm (US 8) needle for flat knitting and another 36 or 40 inch circular needle for working borders (see note) or size needed to obtain gauge.
Gauge: 18 stitches & 17 rows in 4 inches (10cm) square in garter stitch.
Finished Size: 82 inches (213cm) tall, 62 inches (163cm) wide. Adjustments in size can be made by simply knitting more or fewer modular pieces (see notes)
Notions: crochet hook of similar size to the needle, tapestry needle to weave in ends.

This afghan is worked with modular pieces that are picked up and knitted from the existing pieces, beginning with the large mitered square in the bottom right corner. Each full square consists of a large mitered square, two rectangles and a smaller mitered square that completes the full square. Squares on the left and top edges are not full squares, but consist of one or more modular pieces as described in the pattern. Work each square in number order according to the diagram, working from Square 1 to Square 48. When all 48 squares are complete, a border is picked up and knitted on using the longer circular needle, plus 4 small mitered squares in each corner of the border.

Stitches Used: knit, knit 2 together, slip stitches with yarn in front, purl 2 together, sl1 k2tog psso, pass slipped stitch over, picking up stitches (with tutorial video)

For cast ons, use the cable cast on method. See the tutorial video here.

Stitches should be picked up as demonstrated in the tutorial video here.

The modular nature of this blanket means it would be very easy to adjust the size either smaller or larger. The yardage required will change if you adjust the size (see last note here). To knit a baby sized blanket, work the modular pieces to be 4 large mitered squares wide and 4 large mitered squares tall. For a lap aghan, work the modular pieces to be 6 large mitered squares wide and 6 large mitered squares tall.

The cable of a 36 or 40 inch circular needle might be a bit unwieldy when working the modular pieces, but if you don’t mind the extra cable, you could make do with just the 36 or 40 inch circular needle for the whole blanket.

A digital scale can be very useful when working this afghan. I use about 23 grams for each large mitered square, 8 grams for each rectangle, and 3 grams for each small mitered square. The border took 165 grams of Color 2, and 12 grams of Color 3. If you’re tight on yarn, or making adjustments to the size, working out these weights as you work the firsts few modular sections will help you estimate the needed yardage. To measure the amount of yarn you are using, weigh the ball BEFORE you begin the modular piece and record the measurement, then weigh the ball again AFTER you work the modular piece. Subtract the second weight from the first and
you will know how much yarn went into the modular piece.