Chunky blankets, cozy pillows, and relaxing fragrances. I just described the perfect bedroom or living room atmosphere in my book and also according to the principles of Hygge. Hygge is a Danish and Norwegian term that refers to making ones home cozy and comfortable. The only thing I was missing was that chunky blanket.
I’ve had my eyes on a specific brand for several years now. Planning to save up for it, knowing just how beautiful it would look in whatever space I put it. Then my daughter wanted one too, so I had to add another to our list. Then I decided I wanted a separate color for our bedroom and another for the living room. I was now up to a total of three of those chunky blankets I needed to save for.
The thing is, those beautiful blankets were around $200 – $300 each depending on the size. And since we needed three… well, you can do the math. We’ve spent a great deal of time and energy shifting towards intentional living as a family and intentionally spending that much on blankets just didn’t seem logical for our budget.
I’m not crafty by any means. Creative yes, but crafty… heck no! I knew that I could not justify the price tag for those chunky blankets and I refused to settle for a different brand.
It might not make sense to everyone, but to me, if I was spending any money, it would be on the ones I wanted, not just a substitute. Then I got creative. I thought: what if these are easy to make? What if this is a project my daughter and I could do together? What if I could make a chunky blanket?
So, as I often do with any question, I went to YouTube. There is so much information available when you want to know how to do something. I found way more videos than I needed to figure out a DIY chunky blanket, but settled on this one (click on “this one” to view the video I followed) as it was easy to follow and enjoyable to watch (super important).
Step 1:
Decide how big you want to make your chunky blanket. As you can do anywhere from 15 – 25 loops wide, that will impact the number of skeins needed. I did a practice run for my daughter and did about 18 loops across and only used 3 skeins. This makes a very small chunky blanket but it’s perfect for a 7-year-old to cuddle with.
For me, I decided on 5 skeins (I might try more later) of big blanket yarn. The thicker the yarn the better, as I’ve seen that anything thin just won’t work.
Step 2:
Get cozy. This is seriously important because it’s not a quick 5-10 minute craft project. Chunky blankets do get easier over time, but your first attempt will take some time and you will mess up. My first blanket took about 3 hours.
So, go get your cup of coffee, tea, or adult beverage of choice and get cozy. We watched a hockey game when I worked on my first blanket, and it made the time fly!
And finally…
Step 3:
Smile and have fun with it. Laugh when you mess up. Try not to swear.
Now, I had every intention of creating a video to share with all of you, but the truth is the video I linked above is the one I followed and was already so user-friendly. I have included a handy dandy checklist for your DIY Chunky Blanket. (click on DIY Chunky Blanket for the checklist printable to make your own)
Since purchasing our first home in the Fall of 2016, I’ve slowly found myself becoming more thrifty with the things I want. If I can make it, I will attempt to. A renovation or update around the home? Let’s try to DIY it first (it certainly helps that my husband was a builder prior to going into Insurance).
There is also immense satisfaction in knowing you tried something on your own and got out of your comfort zone.
Over the coming months I have a solid handful of projects planned for myself to try. I also started a list with the kids of little DIY projects they want to try as well for the house and their rooms. We are excited to turn these into bonding experiences that still allow us to spend time around home. Home happens to be our favorite place, after all.
Have you tried making a DIY Chunky Blanket? Anything I should change about my process? And are you familiar with the Hygge trend? Have you jumped on that bandwagon? It’s hard to resist in Vermont in the winter!
