Zen Knitting

Get some yarn, use it doubled if it’s worsted weight, cast on 20 stitches and knit 20 rows. Take it off the needles and measure across the center for 2 inches. Count the number of stitches across and divide by 2. This is your stitches per inch. Now decide how wide you want the blanket to be, but unless you have size 13 circulars you may want to consider making this in strips about a foot wide (especially if you lots of odds and ends of different colors of yarn) by the length you want the blanket to be and then seaming them. Take the number of stitches per inch and multiply that times the number of inches wide you want it to be to get the number of stitches to cast on. Figure out which stitch pattern you want to use and adjust the cast on for any multiples in the stitch pattern (adding or subtracting a few stitches as needed), remembering to keep 5 to 6 selvedge stitches to work in garter stitch along each vertical side, and 12 rows of garter stitch at each end. If you knit in strips, you’ll only need garter stitch on the outer strips along one edge.