Widening a blanket

[rosiegirl]

Hi all!

I'm making my first blanket and I totally messed up but didn't realize until I was about 100 rows in and already had to rip out half the blanket before because I was somehow increasing and decreasing the length of my rows (I have since fixed that).  So I don't want to start over since I need it done soon!

Anyway, I'm trying to make a throw as a present and it is only 22" wide, which is way too narrow, oops!  Any thoughts on how to widen it?  I was going to just stop early and make a really wide border but I wasn't sure if that would work or look silly?  I'm using a yarn that changes colors so it's pretty forgiving in terms of looks.  What do you all think?

[Granny Square]

I don't think a border on either side would look too odd if it were a solid color...but I am not a fan of most variegated yarn.

I might consider throwing in another element, beside a 22" strip worked north-south and sides worked east to west.  Variegated is going to pool (create color blobs) differently across 22" versus whatever the length of your blanket is, and may not be what you had in mind.

Maybe find a skein of a color that coordinates with your variegated, or something 'neutral' like black or white, and make stripes?  Example, along the lines of the sketch below--if your variegated were the yellow, and the white a neutral or coordinating color.

[rosiegirl]

Thank you!  I will try that!

[rosiegirl]

@Granny Square...how wide do you think I should make it?

[Granny Square]

Heres' a list of Red Heart free afghan patterns, you could click on a few to see what size they are (couch throw versus baby blanket, etc.  You'll need a PDF reader to see the pattern).  This is also a good way to roughly estimate how much yarn you need on a project, if you can find a pattern in the same weight yarn and similar size and stitch pattern.  Gets trickier with multiple colors, tho.

Here's a size guide for bedding sized blankets.  I've never made a bed blanket, but usually aim for roughly 3'x4' for baby blankets or lap throws, 4'x5' for couch throws.

• Crib: 45 by 60 inches.
• Twin: 66 by 90 inches.
• Double: 80 by 90 inches.
• Queen: 90 by 90 to 100 inches.
• King: 108 by 90 to 100 inches.