Knitting a throw

[daisie4]

Has anyone knitted throws? I have looking at buying some but they all seem to be acrylic - I'm happy to knit one but wondered how much wool I'd probably need and can I actually do one wide enough on my needles or would it have to be knitted in sections? Also are there any good places for free patterns on the internet? Thanks

Have a look on Ravelry.

You might be able to do it on a very long circular needle (despite the name, they are not actually circular, but they are basically two straight needles held together with a cord of anything up to 150-odd cm). But it would weigh a ton and generally get to be a pain.

Traditionally you would do it in squares and then spend the next decade sewing them all together :) You could cut down somewhat by doing 4 long strips, each say 30 or 50 cm wide.

prettybird was measuring up for a throw she wanted to do and I think it was about 10 balls but if you look at a pattern on Rav it will give you the approx amount of yarn in metres/yards that you need.

The other possibility is a log cabin blanket - you can do this all in one giant piece or as smaller ones, have a google as well as a look on Rav.

Ravelry - I have this one saved to make one day. [http://www.lionbrand.com/Lion Brand yarn]] also have a lot of downloadable patterns, although you may need to register and you need to search for Afghanis instead of throw.

whoops - autocorrect fail. You need to search for Afghans on Lion Brand, not Afghanis

Thanks so much for your quick replies, I'll have a look at ravelry - I'd never heard of it. I haven't knitted for years, but it just feels wrong to spend so much on acrylic when I'd much rather have wool. I hadn't thought of circular needles, thats a really good idea.

Hopefully this search may avoid a diplomatic incident

I am currently making the Arestano throw with the merino wool it is beautifully warm and I am really pleased with the look.

Is that the comfort throw on the ravelry site? It looks really nice and the sort of thing I'm after - do you know how much wool you'll need?