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Have you ever tried arm crochet? Or wanted to try it? I can tell you now that it’s SO fun! A while back, I saw a sale from Lion Brand and knew I needed to try out their Yooge yarn. I kept seeing all the modern, trendy knit chunky blankets but almost never saw the same version in crochet. Obviously, that was a cry for help so I needed to make my own arm crochet chunky blanket.
I’m not bashing knitting or anything, I honestly wish I could knit but I never get very far when I try but I love crochet so much. I love how my arm crochet blanket came out and I can’t wait to try this technique with more types of yarn. I’m not sure which yarn is next on my list but I’ll be on the hunt.
In all the arm knitting tutorials I saw, people used their wrist or forearm to create the stitch size they wanted. I did attempt this with arm crocheting but for the yarn I used, I needed a smaller gauge. In this tutorial, you’ll see I use four of my fingers to create the gauge I want. You can also use fewer fingers for a smaller gauge or your arm for a larger gauge. It all depends on the size of the yarn you’re using and how tight you want your stitches to be.
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What is arm crochet?
Arm crochet is when you use your arm, hand, or fingers (I define “arm” crochet loosely) to create a crocheted fabric instead of using a traditional hook. In many cases, arm crochet is used for large, bulky yarns to create home decor such as baskets, floor poufs, and blankets.
There are many types of yarns you can use for this technique such as roving yarns or what I like to call “stuffed” yarn which is what I use in this tutorial. Basically, it’s tube yarn with a fabric outer tube that has filling inside giving it that squish we all love.
You can crochet any stitch you know while using your arm as your crochet hook. You’ll see in this tutorial I use four fingers and work single crochet stitches across each row until I reach my desired blanket size.
What you need to know
If you’ve never crocheted before, this blanket is still super easy to make. We only use the starting chain and a single crochet stitch which are both easy, beginner-level crochet skills. In the video tutorial, you can follow along as I explain which spaces to work into, where to pull up a loop and how to finish off a stitch.
For those who have crocheted before – this is a beginner pattern, the only challenge will be using your arm instead of a hook!
Materials
This section will be a lot shorter than usual since we don’t need any special hook size or even yardage information!
- Bulky yarn of your choice (I am using Lion Brand Yooge which you can grab by clicking here!)
- I recommend using a Bulky weight 7 or larger yarn. Bulky roving yarns will work great for this as well
- Your arm! Or fingers and hand
- Scissors
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Stitch Abbreviations
- ch – chain
- st – stitch
- sc – single crochet
Arm Crochet Tutorial
For this tutorial, I am making a small, single-person throw blanket. You can also find the video tutorial below in addition to the written tutorial.
Start by creating your slip knot to start your beginning chain. Then chain to your desired width. The more chains you create, the wider your blanket will be.
Now that you have your starting chain, make a single crochet in the 2nd ch from your hand. Work a sc in each st across until the end, then ch1 and turn.
For the second row and each row after, sc in each st across the row until the end then ch1 and turn.
That’s all there is to it! Once you reach your desired height, cut & tie off.
To tie off and weave in the ends, I used my fingers to weave the end of the yarn into the tighter parts of stitches so it is less likely to come loose. Once you’ve hidden all your ends, you have a new chunky, arm crochet blanket!
Have you tried your own arm crochet blanket? Share your work with us by tagging us on Instagram using #yarnthrift or tag us @yarnthrift!
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