Where can I buy the pattern?
You can buy my pattern on Ravelry and Etsy. I recommend buying the pattern on Ravelry because it’s cheaper (I can charge less because Ravelry’s fees are lower) and you’ll get immediate delivery of the pattern. If you buy on Etsy, you have to wait for me to email you the pattern, which I do as fast as possible, but if I’m asleep or in a movie or on an airplane you’ll have to wait a bit. Ravelry also has the benefit of sending out automatic pattern updates when they become available.
Click here to buy the pattern on Ravelry.
Click here to buy the pattern on Etsy.
I don’t knit! Do you sell the completed blanket?
I do sell the completed blanket on commission on Etsy. Because every blanket is made to order, delivery will take 4-6 weeks upon receipt of payment.
Click here to buy the completed blanket on Etsy.
What are the finished measurements?
The finished blanket size is approximately 50″ by 84″. Because each blanket is unique, sizes will vary slightly.
How much wool does the blanket require?
The pattern calls for six pounds of unspun wool roving. I’ve knit three blankets so far and this amount seems just right.
Doesn’t that make the blanket really heavy?
Yeah, the blanket’s pretty heavy. It’s very comfy, too. The weight does require a bit of upper-body strength while knitting the pattern, however. You need to be fairly able-bodied in order to knit with such large needles and with so much wool. To alleviate any weight and stress on your arms while knitting, I recommend resting the “needles” on the floor while working with the yarn and taking regular breaks!
How much do the materials cost?
Well, that depends. I buy my wool from Sheep Shed Studio online, and I buy the Brown Sheep Superwash roving. As of October 2011, 6 pounds of roving plus priority shipping to California cost $107. That said, there are many places to purchase roving and you can likely find a cheaper source. The most important factor in choosing your roving is to make sure the roving comes in long pieces — ideally, you’d like it to all be in one long piece. Sheep Shed Studio has always delivered impeccable roving, so I’m sticking with them for now, but feel free to shop around!
The non-wool materials needed are PVC pipe, duct tape, and ideally a needle felting mat
Though the needle-felting kit is listed as “optional” in the pattern, I highly recommended it for grafting ends together.
How do you cast on?
You cast on using a simple backwards-loop cast on. It’s very easy and has the benefit of using up less wool than other cast-on methods. Here’s a video tutorial on the backwards-loop cast on.
Where can I get more information about the process?
Here’s a video of me knitting the blanket.
Here are all the blog posts about the giganto-blanket.
Here are all my pictures on flickr tagged “gigantoblanket.”
Here are all the people who are working on the blanket on Ravelry.
Does the roving shed?
Any unspun roving will shed, so the felting process I describe in the pattern is intended to minimize this shedding in the completed blanket. That said, the blanket will still shed fibers and pill a fair amount — there’s just no way around it, as far as I can tell. Suggestions are welcome! I recommend putting the blanket in a low-traffic area to reduce shedding. The more abuse the blanket gets, the more it will shed. Also, just expect to use a lint-roller afterwards if you’re going to curl up under the blanket. You can also “groom” the blanket gently with your fingers to remove excess fiber or pilling.
How long does it take to make the blanket?
In my experience, it takes about 2-3 hours to felt the wool. After letting the wool dry for 24 hours, the knitting itself takes anywhere from 2-4 hours. There’s about 720 stitches in the entire blanket, so it’s a quick knit!
Where can I buy the wool?
I buy my wool from Sheep Shed Studio online.
How do you clean the blanket?
Soak with a no-rinse wool wash in the washing machine with cool water — do not agitate. Drain, and spin out excess water. Dry flat, or as flat as you can.
What is a needle felting mat and needle felting tool and what does it mean to “graft” the ends together?
Good question! Here is the needle felting tool
Why didn’t you answer my question?
Because you haven’t asked me yet! Please feel free to post any additional questions in the comments and I will be happy to answer them. Thanks!
I did a search for “roving shed” and found great info about the studio you use to get your roving, but that wasn’t the question I really had in mind.
Does the roving leave fibers all over? Does the light felting help?
Hi Erin! I answered your question on the page. Thanks!
Hello Erin! How long does it take to make each blanket? can I get the wool like that on the internet? I have checked local knitting shoppes and I cannot find any.
Hi Jessica — I’ve answered your question in the FAQ page. Thanks!
Hi, I was wondering if there was another yarn you could suggest to replace the wool. I’m TERRIBLY allergic to wool, but I really really really like the look of this blanket. Thanks!
Unfortunately I can’t think of any substitute for wool for this blanket — you need a fiber that comes in long lengths of roving, and wool or alpaca or other animal fibers are the only things I can think of.
Maybe you can make “yarn” using cotton knit that you would cut in a long continuous 3 or 4 inch thick ribbon? You cut in in a long zig zag from a couple of yards or you cut straight ribbons a sew them together in a continuous. You could use sweat pants cotton k it too. When cut theses fabric don’t u ravel and have a stretch to them and if you pull on them they will curl on themselves into a rope Lille thing…. It could work. Maybe fleece a really thick high quality could be fun too.
Those are all great ideas!
I have heard that alpaca is supposed to be good for people with wool allergies.
They do make a silk roving, I found it after reading through these questions and thought you might like to know. It is considerably more expensive but it might work the same way?
They probably do make silk roving, but it might be cost prohibitive for such a large blanket. Take a look online and see what you can find!
Hi! I was wondering how long the pvc pipe should be?!
If you use superwash, how does it felt? I was looking at The Sheep Studio website, and they have “DOES NOT FELT!!” in red letters…Am I looking at the wrong roving?
This is a very fair question! Even superwash roving will felt a little given the right circumstances. What we want is a very LIGHT felting, not a full-on heavy-duty felting, so superwash is actually ideal for our purposes!
What is a needle felting mat and needle felting tool and what does it mean to “graft” the ends together? I’ve knitted for a long time but I have no idea what these mean =/ Super-excited to get to work on this though!
Hi Meredith! I answered your question at the end of the FAQ. Thanks for asking!
On that website you shared there is $15 dollar per pound superwash and #1 white superwash for $14, whats the difference?
Would it be okay to make the blanket with dyed superwash instead of just white?
And do you have to take the felting tools to every single inch of material in order to make it?
How long would the necessary felting take?
Hi Kenzie — the dyed wool is $1 more a pound than the undyed white wool, which accounts for the price difference. I haven’t yet made a blanket with the dyed wool but I imagine it would be a fun process! The only thing to worry about would be the dye bleeding into whatever sheets you used during felting, so you would need to make sure those sheets aren’t expensive or important to you! You don’t have to use the felting needle on the whole length of wool — that’s only used to graft the ends together, probably about 6-10 times per blanket. The felting is actually done by stomping on the wool in your bathtub, and the whole process takes about 3 hours of active time and then 24 hours to let the wool dry. The process is explained in full detail in my pattern. Hope that helps!
Hello! I’m not sure if I’ve missed this on your website but could you tell me what size needles you use & where you get them from? Thanks!
Hi Maddie — the “needles” are actually 2 pieces of PVC pipe! All the details can be found in the pattern. Thanks!
-Laura
brilliant – thank you!
Hi!
Do you ship this blanket worldwide?
I do ship worldwide — I just have to charge a bit more for shipping! Please contact me directly for more info. Thanks!
Beautiful!!!
Do you by any chance know of a site that sells wool in Europe?
The Sheep Shed Studio delivers in Italy (where I live) but it costs 60$…
Also, there is one thing I haven’t understood in the whole process.
It is the “stomping on the wool in your bathtub” thing, why do you need to do it?
I will buy the pattern the minute I figure out how to get the wool here, can’t wait to get started and roll myself in your gigantic beauty!
Thank you,
Samantha
Hi Samantha! I’m not familiar with any shops that sell roving in Europe, but there has got to be one somewhere! The most important thing is to find a place that sells roving in one long strand, or as close to one long strand as possible. Check out the ravelry.com message boards and see if there’s any hints about where to find roving in Europe… that’s how I found the Sheep Shed Studio here in the US.
If you manage to source some wool let me know and I can post that info on my site. Thanks!
You said that you felt the roving wool in the bathtub, but on the website for the wool it says that the superwash wool roving does not felt… just was confused about the contradiction. Please confirm that it does felt…
Nevermind… I saw that you already answered this question a few above
Hey!
This is super awesome! I was wondering if I crocheted this instead of knitted it if it would use less wool? I don’t know how to knit but I I do know how to crochet and I saw this picture of a girl crocheting with her arms instead of needles this huge yarn. The link was disabled so I have no idea how she used it or how she got the huge yarn….it looks very different from what you have here. But your wool is the only thing I’ve been able to find thats close to what I’m looking for. Unfortunately its very expensive and I thought if it used less to crochet it this might be a possible project for me. thoughts?
Hi Lauren — I’m not sure if crocheting would use less wool as I’m not very experienced with crochet. If you wanted to use less wool, in theory you could use broomsticks instead of PVC pipe and split the yarn twice instead of just once?
I have found that crocheting takes up *more* fiber than knitting.
How do you felt super wash wool? It’s my understanding super wash won’t felt
Laura D
Hi! Good question! Any wool, including superwash, will felt in hot, soapy water. Superwash wool is just more resistant to felting. What we want is a really LIGHT felting so I find superwash to be perfect! Hope that helps!
Has anyone tried roving that’s not superwash? Any modifications needed in the felting technique? I am after a darker natural color and can’t find that in superwash – Thanks!
I actually saw a blanket like this at Anthropologie last winter. I wanted to make it SO much but didn’t know where to get long strips of roving. Thanks a bunch!
Wow! This is super cool. Do you know, roughly how many yards of this roving you used to make one blanket? Thank you!
Gosh – good question! I know I use about 6 pounds per blanket but not sure what that translates to in yardage. I might go downstairs and measure a length right now to see. Stay tuned!
Okay, I measured and it’s approximately 117 yards of raw roving for the blanket, but then you felt it and split it so he actual yardage knit is about 234. I got this by measuring out 8 ounces of wool and found it had about 9.75 yards. Hope that helps!
Awesome blanket. I just received a circular pair of Size 50 needles custom made by Ed Jenkins. The cable is an airplane cable and is 72 inches long. I’m going to make this with four strands of Hometown yarn from Lion Brand. That way, I don’t have to worry about shedding. Cool idea for a quickie blanket.