Knitting advice please

[SandpitDreams]

Please forgive the lack of basic knowledge here, as you can tell, I am a complete beginner.

I have started to knit a blanket for dd. I didn't know how to join squares together si I'm knitting it in one big piece. Would it have been easier to do square and then combine them? How do you fasten squares together?

I decided to use very fat needles and very chunky wool because I thought it would make a larger blanket for a fewer number of stitches ( and therefore would be quicker). Does this logic make sense or would I have been better (quicker, easier, using less wool) to have usef thinner needles and wool?

[CodyKing]

You see them together!

Or you could knit a long row of squares - so each square I'd a different Colour -

Small needle - small stitches

Chunky wool would work -

I like Pom Pom wool for quickness but it's expensive - there are similar types of wool - ask at your local shop

[tiddlyipom]

Big wool with big needles will knit up a lot faster than using smaller needles with thinner wool as you will need less stitches and rows to make your blanket.
The downside of knitting it in one big piece is that it's going to get pretty heavy the bigger it gets.
You could knit it in four quadrants, that would give you just a little bit of sewing up at the ends,or knit in long strips and sew the strips up at the end.
For sewing up, mattress stitch is always good.
Here's a blanket I did in stripes.

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.simple-knitting.com/mattress-stitch.html&ved=0ahUKEwjrmLPYhoHMAhXBmZQKHQGZAp4QFggjMAM&usg=AFQjCNGLJmMzOHW5i6uHx77W5uu6pBYndQ&sig2=HhcK3KVmrlG7-eQ0Uq6gKw" rel="nofollow noindex" target="_blank">www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.simple-knitting.com/mattress-stitch.html&ved=0ahUKEwjrmLPYhoHMAhXBmZQKHQGZAp4QFggjMAM&usg=AFQjCNGLJmMzOHW5i6uHx77W5uu6pBYndQ&sig2=HhcK3KVmrlG7-eQ0Uq6gKw

and a good tutorial for mattress stitch.Good luck!

[RattieOfCatan]

Nig wool and big needles will go up quicker, it'll also help you see the stitches more easily which is great when you're learning. RE putting squares together, you just sew them together, it seems scarier than it is

[SandpitDreams]

Genius! I had honestly persuaded myself that the sewing together bit would be a whole lot more complicated! It's going really well at present, in fact I think I may be just under halfway there. It is getting quite large though, so I may well finish off this section and make the other half and sew them together.

Starting to get a little hooked on this now!

So my next question, I am currently using just one type of wool (hobbycraft's bargain cheap stuff). If I wanted to put in a couple of squares of lovely soft fluffy wool then I would have to add in more stitches for that section because the wool isn't as thick, is that correct?

[RattieOfCatan]

Do you still have the band that went around the big wool ball? And have you got the band for the softer wool? Depending on what size the yarns are you may be able to double p the thinner yarn

[glasg0wmum]

Another very forgiving pattern for blanket knitting is the log cabin one where you start with 10 stitches, knit a square, turn through 90 degrees, pick up stitches and knit a strip and so on. It sounds very complicated but it's really not and all you have to do is count to 10. Also as you are kniitting in different directions, the blanket keeps its shape well.