In this post, you will see a chunky cable knit blanket pattern.
The blanket is really huge and squishy, perfect for those cold autumn/winter days.
Knit with a soft alpaca wool blend, this really is a blanket that you will want to make!
Scroll down for the free pattern or you can grab your printer-friendly, ad-free PDF here.
This pattern is perfect if you’re looking for an easy quick pattern to work on while watching a show or listening to a podcast.
You’ll use knit and purl stitches to form the cable stitch pattern.
The cable is an easy one to knit, so if you have never cabled before, don’t worry it is really simple – you can do it!
Making Your Own Cable Throw Blanket
The cables in the blanket form an intricate design that looks more complicated than it is.
You will follow an 8-row repeat throughout the pattern, knitting extra stitches for the borders on either side.
This cable pattern is known as a 6 stitch cable to the left.
If you are new to cables, this is a great pattern for you to try out.
This Chunky Blanket Knits Up Faster Than Most!
Chunky knit blankets are just everywhere right now and make great throws for your home.
You can make this blanket fairly fast, which makes it great for gift giving!
Cozy and snuggly, it is large enough for two or three if you include the cat or dog.
The Needles
- I used 25 mm (US 50) 40″ circular knitting needles for this pattern.
- They are huge needles and easy to work with.
- Fantastic for making throw blankets and scarves.
- I did not have a cable needle this large, so used a 20mm (US 36) needle as my cable needle.
- If you have a 25mm (US 50) straight needle – I would recommend using that for the cables.
The Yarn
- I used Yarn Art Alpine Alpaca in the color beige (430) for the blanket.
- This yarn is an alpaca/wool/acrylic blend and very soft to touch.
- This yarn is super bulky/super chunky/14 ply and I knit with two strands together for the blanket.
- If you use jumbo weight yarn then you should knit with a single strand only.
Yarn Substitutes
You can substitute this yarn with any yarn that is the super bulky weight.
You can find a full list of yarn substitutes here.
Here are some examples:
- Lion Brand – Wool-Ease Thick and Quick.
- Novita – Folk
- Stylecraft – Swift Knit
- Grundl – Alaska
- Big Twist Yarns – Natural Blend
- Buttercream – Luxe Craft Alpaca Solid
- Mary Maxim – Starlette Chunky
- Yarn Bee – Effortless Super Bulky
- Lion Brand – Hometown USA
- Patons (Australia) – Super Quick
- Bergere De France – Recyclaine
More Knitted Blanket Patterns
This blanket pattern is great for any advanced beginners who are learning how to knit cables.
For more free blanket patterns please take a look at these posts:
For more cable knits you may like this post – 17+ Cable Knitting Patterns.
Resources and tutorials you may find helpful in following this pattern:
- You should be comfortable casting on and casting off, as well as knitting in garter stitch.
- You should also know how to purl – as this is a commonly used stitch.
- You should be comfortable knitting with two strands of yarn together.
- You should also be comfortable reading knitting patterns.
- And understanding knitting abbreviations and terms.
Cable Knit Blanket Pattern
Grab your inexpensive ad-free, printable PDF pattern HERE.
Notes
The blanket knits up fairly quickly and the cable twist design makes for a relaxing and enjoyable knit.
- Please do not copy, sell, redistribute or republish this pattern.
- If you wish to share this pattern, link to the pattern page only.
- You may sell items produced using this pattern.
- In all product listings please credit Handy Little Me (Louise Bollanos) as the designer.
- Do NOT use the copyrighted photos for your product listing.
- For the copyright T&C’s please read my Terms of Use.
Skill Level – Intermediate
Gauge
10 x 10 cm /4 x 4 inches = 4 sts and 6 rows in stocking stitch.
Size
Length = 70 inches / 178 cm
Width = 66 inches / 168 cm
The Supplies You Need
Yarn
- Super bulky/super chunky/14 ply – Knit with two strands together.
- If knitting with a single strand – you will need jumbo-weight yarn.
- Yarn Weight Guide
- Yarn Art Alpine Alpaca (150g/5,28oz/120m/131.23 yds) in the color beige 430 x 13 skeins
- Total yardage for blanket = 1,706 yds.
- Substitute yarn suggestion: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick
- Substitute yarn suggestion: Paintbox Yarns Simply Super Chunky 10 Value Pack
- Substitute yarn suggestion: Paintbox Yarns Wool Mix Super Chunky 10 Ball Value Pack
- For more yarn substitutes please see the info further up in this post.
Needles
- 25mm (US 50) 40″ circular knitting needles
- Cable needle – (could use a straight 20mm (US 36) or a 25mm (US 50) knitting needle)
Notions
Abbreviations
- CO – Cast on
- Cont – Continue
- C6F – (K3+3), slip the next 3 sts onto a cable needle and hold at the front of the work, K3 from left-hand needle, then knit 3 from the cable needle.
- K – Knit
- P – Purl
- Rep – Repeat
- St(s) – Stitch(es)
Cable Knit Blanket Pattern
With two strands held together – Cast on 78 sts (do not join in the round)
Rows 1-3: Knit to the end of the row.
Next start cable pattern:
Row 1: K6 (edge), *P3, K6, rep from * to last 6 sts, K6.
Row 2: K6 (edge), *K3, P6, rep from * to last 6 sts, K6.
Row 3: K6 (edge), *P3, K6, rep from * to last 6 sts, K6.
Row 4: K6 (edge), *K3, P6, rep from * to last 6 sts, K6.
Row 5: K6 (edge), *P3, K6, rep from * to last 6 sts, K6.
Row 6: K6 (edge), *K3, P6, rep from * to last 6 sts, K6.
Row 7: K6 (edge), *P3, C6F, rep from * to last 6 sts, K6.
Row 8: K6 (edge), *K3, P6, rep from * to last 6 sts, K6.
The 8 rows above form the pattern.
Rep rows 1-8 until you have completed rows 1-8 – 10 times.
Cont in cable pattern for a further 6 rows (rows 1-6 only).
Knit 3 rows.
Cast off.
Weave in all loose ends.
I love seeing your finished projects!
If you enjoyed making the large knit blanket, I’d love to see yours on Instagram, be sure to tag me @handylittleme or #handylittleme to be featured.
If you are on Facebook, stop over to the handylittleme Facebook page and share a photo! I’d love to see your work!
sylvie says
love love love
i do work a lot with Thick and quick yarn,, how much yarn would you need ( the same amount as Alpaca ???)
I wish you would post on Ravelry so lots of people could see you work !!!
LOve Love Love
handylittleme says
Hello Sylvie, You could substitute the yarn for Thick and Quick – you can work out how much you need by looking at the quantity of Yarn Art Alpine Alpaca used which was 13 skeins at 150g each. The thick and quick are around 170g each so maybe 12 will be ok. I am indeed on Ravelry – have been for years 🙂 You can find my patterns here – https://www.ravelry.com/designers/louise-bollanos. Thanks so much for your kind words, I hope you enjoy the pattern 🙂
Delia says
When converting a pattern to a different yarn, I should use the weight rather than length? The Thick and Quick is heavier, but the skeins are only 106 yards instead of 131 yards like the alpaca… I just want to make sure I buy enough yarn before starting my blanket. Thank you!!
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Delia, I would go on the length – because the Alpine Alpaca is very similar in weight to the Thick and Quick yarn.
So you need to buy more yarn because the thick and quick has fewer yards per skein.
I think I wrote how much you need in the post.
I hope that helps!
Louise 🙂
Delia says
Thanks for the super quick reply!! Do you recommend any particular cast on method or will any of them work fine? I just learned the knitted cast on and really like it for blankets because it gives a stretchy edge.
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Delia,
The knitted cast on will work just fine, or the thumb cast-on method.
A stretchy cast odd (bind off) is also good so that you don’t have a tight edge when you cast off.
I cast off very loosely so that the blanket didn’t have a tight pulled in cast off edge.
I hope that helps 🙂
Happy knitting!
Louise
Donna thorne says
What a beautiful piece of work!! Would love to get started!
💛Was wondering do you thing the cables would pop as well in the white or cream?
💛love the look of the beige…Does this yarn pill?
grateful thanks for sharing your pattern, regards, donna thorne
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Donna! Thank you for your kind words, I’m so happy you like the pattern. I think yes the cables would stand out in a white or cream yarn – probably more than they do in the beige I knit with. Especially I think if you used Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick and Quick in Fisherman.
The yarn I used has a wool/alpaca count – so yes it does get a little hairy.
I don’t have this problem when I use the wool ease thick and quick – but this has a higher acrylic count than the yarn I used.
I hope you enjoy making the blanket 🙂
Donna Thorne says
Thank you so much for the quick response…Excited to get started …having some difficulty finding the ICE alpine alpaca without an enormous delivery fee…does the lion brand have as fine a look as the one here.
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Donna, yes the YarnArt Alpine Alpaca may be more available in Europe – have you checked YarnStreet or on Etsy? If I am stuck I sometimes order from those places. The Lion Brand Yarn is also one of my favourites to work with and is more available – the yarn is very nice and has a good quality to it. I have a shelf full of that waiting to be used and I just ordered more in the Jan sales 🙂 If you have a local yarn store that stocks Lion Brand maybe you could go and check it out before you decide? Happy knitting, Louise
Megan says
Im confused. I knit rows 1 to 8 and then the 6 cable rows? And then repeat the 14 rows again?
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Megan, if you read the pattern, you will see that the cable has an 8-row repeat.
This means that to work the cable you need to follow the 8 rows given for that pattern – the actual cable row is row 7 of that 8-row repeat.
You need to repeat working those 8 rows a further 10 times, then after that you work rows 1-6 then the border rows. I hope that helps 🙂
Lorna says
Hi! Love your blanket. If I wanted to make it narrower because of a chunkier yarn, what is ur cable pattern repeat? How do I calculate how many stitches to cast on?l
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Lorna, this cable pattern is known as a 6 stitch cable to the left. For symmetry, work on a multiple of 9 + 3 sts, + 1 edge st on each side. 🙂
Eunice says
Hello Louise,
Is the pattern supposed to look the same on both sides? This is my first experience with cable knitting and one side of my blanket has the pattern, but the other is totally not the same.
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Eunice, the cable pattern will be seen on one side. The underside of the blanket looks different. This is not a reversible pattern. Thanks for visiting 🙂
Amber says
Hi, firstly this blanket is absolutely beautiful. However, I am struggling to find enough yarn in NZ for the pattern so am wondering about instructions for making a slightly smaller blanket – more like a single bed size. Would you have substitute instructions for this? Many thanks 🙂
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Amber, thank you for your comment, I’m so happy you like the pattern. The cable pattern has 9 stitches needed for the repeat for each of the cable rows and 6 sts on each edge for the border. You can work out from that how many sts you need for your blanket – cutting down on perhaps three or four of the cables. This will make the width of the blanket shorter, then you can adjust the height to match. I hope that helps! 🙂
Jacqueline says
Hi there! This is so beautiful and I am looking forward to making it for a friend’s wedding gift. I do have a couple of questions…
1. How many yards of yarn total do I need?
2. And do I knit with a double strand?
3. Do you think this yarn would work?
Thank you so much!
Jacqueline
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Jacqueline, here are the answers to your questions:
1. You need – approx 1,706 yards. This info is in the yarn section of the pattern as I used Yarn Art Alpine Alpaca – which is 131.23 yards per skein.
2. Yes, you knit with two strands together if you use super bulky yarn.
3. The yarn you suggested – it could work but with that yarn, you would only need to knit with one strand – as this is jumbo yarn.
I’m so happy you like the pattern and I hope you enjoy making it.
It will make a beautiful wedding gift! 🙂
Maggie says
Can I cast on 102 stitches if I wanted to make the blanket a bit bigger? I’m assuming this works in multiples of 6 stitches?
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Maggie, this is a 6 stitch cable to the left and for symmetry work on a multiple of 3+6 sts + 6 edge sts on each side.
I would suggest casting on 99 sts + 6 sts for the border each side or 108 sts + 6 sts for the border each side.
I hope that helps 🙂
Cindy Kanwar says
I have size 50 needles non-circular. Would you suggest me not trying to do this blanket with straight needles? Too bulky?
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Cindy, I think you would struggle with the number of stitches on the needles – there would be too many and with them all being really big, there would not be enough room.
I hope that helps 🙂
Cindy Kanwar says
It did… I need to search for these needles. Local vendors do not have. Amazon to the rescue. REALLY big sale going on right now with Michael’s and the Lion Brand big skeins of Thick & Quick. I am going crazy buying it up to do several of your lovely patterns.
Manuel Trinidad says
Hi, I started knitting this project with Wool-Ease Thick & Quick yarn and I’m knitting with two strands, but after casting on 78 sts it seems to only be 26 inches long. Did I misread the pattern, or does this have to do with the yarn I’m using? If it is the yarn, should double or even triple the stitch count? Thank You.
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Manuel, have you knitted a couple of rows to see the length after knitting?
Also, this yarn knit with two strands together should be fine, as it is the same weight/thickness as the yarn I used.
It may look different once you have knit a few rows – let me know how that goes,
Thanks,
Louise
Manuel Trinidad says
Hi Louise, thank you so much for responding. Yes, once I knitted a few more rows I could finally see the actual length. I also went and restarted and cast on more loosely to make sure it was the right length. Thanks again!
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Manuel, that’s great, I think when you cast on it doesn’t look like much, but once you get knitting you can see it start to take shape.
I hope you enjoy making the blanket! 🙂
Melanie Louise Hamiel says
Hi! I’m very excited to make your blanket. I’m not to experienced, so I apologize if this is a silly question. When reading the first row of the cable part of the pattern, after repeating the p3 k6, should I add p3 before last k6 border? Thank you!- Melanie
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Melanie, Yes on the first row – Row 1: K6 (edge), *P3, K6, rep from * to last 6 sts, K6.
You K6 for the edge, then repeat the P3, K6 to the end of the row, this means you will p3 before the K6 for the edge stitches.
I hope that helps 🙂
Louise
Kristine says
Hello, I am very excited to start this blanket. With your yarn you said you needed 13 skeins. If you double up and use 2 strands of yarn does that mean I need 26 skeins total, Or was that figured in for the 13 skeins. Thank You
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Kristine, I used 13 skeins of the super bulky yarn – knit with two strands together.
I hope that helps!
Louise
Kristine says
If the knitting needles are US 50 what is the length of the needles to be able to fit all of the knitting on?
Thank you
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Kristine,
You need size 25 mm (US 50) 40″ circular knitting needles. 🙂
LaVerna says
Hi, I’m excited about making this blanket. Purchased the US 50 needles. Also purchased a skein of “Yarn Bee Effortless Super Bulky” yarn–111 yards per skein.
I want to be sure to order enough yarn. I knit tight and was thinking I should order 20 skeins. Your opinion would be appreciated.
Thanks, LaVerna
Louise Bollanos says
Hello LaVerna,
The yarn I used was 131 yards per skein so you will need to buy more as the yarn you have is 111 yards per skein.
I used 13 skeins, so you will need around 16 skeins.
But if you think you will need more, you could go ahead and get 20.
If you start knitting and come to see that you have more yarn than you need, you can just make your blanket longer to use it up!
Or make a matching hat 🙂
I hope that helps,
Happy Knitting!
Louise
Jen says
Hello, I have a question please:I ordered my yarn to make this beautiful blanket.
it’s super bulky,in u.s. its #7, and requires size 50 needles.would this be suitable?
Thank you,this will be a Christmas gift for a treasured family member,I’m using antique cream color yarn with soft lite dove grey on the side 6 stitches .
Thank you.
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Jen,
Yes if you use Jumbo weight yarn 07 – knit with a single strand only on the US size 50 needles that will work out well.
I hope you enjoy knitting the blanket and your colour choices sound lovely.
Feel free to tag me in a pic on Instagram of your blanket or drop a photo in the Handy Little Me Facebook group – the makers will love to see it!
Happy knitting!
Louise 🙂
Katie says
Hi, this will be my first cable knit blanket and I’m very excited to see how it comes out! I’m making a blanket for my niece for Christmas and I think she would love this pattern but she chose a multicolor yarn. Do you think this pattern would still look pretty in multicolor or do you think it’s a pattern that comes out best with a simple single color? Thank you so much!
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Katie,
I think the cables on the blanket will stand out more in a solid colour.
But with them being so large you should be able to see them ok in the multi coloured yarn.
You could try a sample to see how it looks? before you buy the whole amount you need to make the blanket.
I hope that helps!
Louise
mari sullivan says
Hi,
I am excited to start my blanket however I am a little confused.
The instruction is to cast on 78 stitches (I presume this includes the 6 st each side edging) This doesn’t seem to calculate evenly can you confirm ?
I do want to make the blanket larger so will probably follow the below which do calculate
this is a 6 stitch cable to the left and for symmetry work on a multiple of 3+6 sts + 6 edge sts on each side.
I would suggest casting on 99 sts + 6 sts for the border each side or 108 sts + 6 sts for the border each side.
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Mari,
The blanket has 7 cables and a six stitch edge either side.
78 sts is correct to cast on – if you minus the 12 edge stitches (6 either side) you have 66 sts left for the cables.
You can upsize the blanket if you wish, this will make it suitable for a super king-size bed.
The blanket pattern as it is is suitable for a double bed up to a king-size to throw over your duvet.
Or you can snuggle up on the sofa!
Happy knitting!
Louise
Judy says
Hi Louise,
I was so excited to start knitting this lovely blanket but ordered the wrong weight 🙁 Bulky instead of Super Bulky. I wondered if I should just go with a thinner needle(size 19) instead of US50. Not sure of the result and amount of stitches I would need? Any advice would be appreciated!
Many Thanks.
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Judy,
If you want to use bulky yarn knit with two strands together – then yes using a smaller needle size will be better – you could try out a 19mm (US 35) or 15mm (US 19).
You need to keep 6 sts at each edge and the cable repeat is over 9 sts.
You could try casting on 120 sts (9×12+12 = 120) or 138 sts (9×14+12 = 138) – to see how that goes.
I hope that helps!
Louise
Judy says
Louise,
I will certainly do that! Thank you, much appreciated!
Gina Tusson says
I wanted to make this beautiful cable blanket but I am having a problem with the count. I am using size 50 circular needles, however, I wanted to make it smaller so I thought I would cast on 58 stitches instead of 78. I wanted to know if your count includes the 3K rows in the beginning and the 3K rows at the end? How many cables would I need if I made the blanket smaller? Sorry, but I’m confused?
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Gina,
This cable pattern is a 6-stitch cable to the left. For symmetry, work on multiples of 3+6 sts for the cables and add the 6 edge stitches at the beg and end of every row.
I would suggest casting on 60 sts – This is 5 x 9 for the cables (45), + 3 P sts at the end of each row (48), and the 12 sts you need for the edges (6 sts at the beg and end) = 60sts.
That would give you 5 cables.
I hope that helps!
Louise
Barbara says
Love the cable pattern! Any tips for joining skeins of yarn while knitting due to large needle size and looser stitch structure? Thanks.
Louise Bollanos says
Hello Barbara,
You may need to secure them by tying them to the end of the previous skein.
If you don’t they may be very loose while you work.
Later on, you can undo the knot and weave the ends in to hide them and to secure the yarn.
I hope that helps!
Louise