Crispin Baby Blanket: Free Crochet Blanket Pattern

With the start of September, I really wanted to make a crochet blanket pattern that felt autumnal. I wanted something that reminded me of the crunch of leaves underfoot, the look of colorful tree-lined streets, and the warm smell of cinnamon and apple pies.

That’s a lot to ask for in a blanket, I know! But while I played around with color schemes for an earlier post, I found the perfect colors that did exactly that, and the Crispin Baby Blanket was born!

These colors from WeCrochet were just calling to me and once you read their names, you’ll see why.I love how bright and bold they are together. And because these shades are more jewel-toned than just primary colors, it really gave me the vibe of fallen leaves rather than a rainbow.

WeCrochet was so kind to gift me some of the Mighty Stitch Worsted line, which I love for baby blankets and throws. It’s 80% super soft acrylic and 20% superwash wool, which makes it perfect for snuggly blankets that are easy to wash!

For the stitch, I was inspired a little bit by the big maple tree in front of my house growing up. Every Fall, my sisters and I would collect the fallen seeds and throw them in the air to watch them spin back down. I actually didn’t know it was a maple tree until I just looked up what those helicopter seeds were from.

The Catherine wheel stitch just reminded me of that spinning fall. For this pattern though, I modified the typical pattern a little so that there were fewer gaps and it was easier to memorize.

 

The full free pattern is written out below. For those who’d prefer to print the pattern and take it with you for on-the-go and to markup as you go, you can buy the inexpensive printable PDF from my Etsy and Ravelry shops. The PDF is formatted without ads or comments, so it’s easy to read.

Materials:

• 5.50mm crochet hook / I hook
• #4 medium weight yarn – I used 4 skeins each of WeCrochet Mighty Stitch Worsted* in Cream, Love Letter, Satsuma, Sunflower, Macaw, Spruce, and Bark
• tapestry needle

*denotes affiliate link

Abbreviations:

• ch – chain
• SC – single crochet
• DC – double crochet
• HDC – half double crochet
• sl – slip stitch

Pattern Notes:

• Skill level: Intermediate
• Sizing: 45 x 45 inches
• Gauge: 1 wheel per inch

Crispin Baby Blanket: Free Crochet Blanket Pattern

Row 1: With Color 1, create a slip knot and chain 205 (or any multiple of 10+5).

Row 2: Starting with the second chain from the hook, SC 2 over the next 2 spaces. *Work 7DC into the next space, skip 3 chains, SC 3 into the next 3 spaces.* Repeat from * until the last space and work 4DC into the last stitch.

This creates our first layer of Catherine wheels. For the next row, you’ll be working into the hills and valleys to make the next set of wheels. The next two rows are going to set the pattern for the entire blanket until the border. it’s easy to memorize after a few repeats and then it’s just about the color changes!

Switch to Color 2 for the next row.

Row 3: Chain 1, turn. SC 2, *DC7tog over the next 7 spaces, ch 4, SC 3 across the top of the wheel*. Repeat from * until the last space. SC 2, working the last one into the turning chain of the previous row.

Row 4: Chain 1, turn. SC2, *work 7DC into the chain that closed the cluster in the row before, SC 3*. Repeat until the last cluster, and 4DC into it.

Rows 5-80: Repeat rows 3-4 until the blanket is about 44 inches tall, ending on a Row 3 so the last row is flat. You can follow whatever color pattern you like, but for this blanket, I worked stripes of color 6 rows tall divided by 2 rows of cream until I worked all 6 colors, and then I repeated for the first 5 colors and 1 row of the cream.

Here is the full color scheme below:

Border

For the border of this crochet blanket pattern, I wanted to go with something simple that wouldn’t take away from all the color and pattern of the main body of the blanket. So I chose to do just a few rows of HDC in brown.

Round 1: Once you’re done with the body of the blanket, switch to the border color. Work one row of SC all the way along the row, making sure to work into the chain spaces as well.

Some of the spaces might be hard to get the hook into, but just wiggle it in and you should be okay. *Into the last space of the row, work 3 SC into the corner, turn the blanket to work along the side, and SC evenly down the side.*

You don’t need any particular stitch count, just SC into the spaces and make sure the tension is even and the stitches are flat. Repeat all the way around the blanket, ending with 2 SC into the space you started in.

Round 2: HDC along the edge, work 3 HDC into the corner (the middle stitch of the 3SC), turn, and continue around the blanket.

Rounds 3-4: Repeat round 2. You can work more rounds to make the border thicker if you like. Then just BO and weave in all the ends in the blanket to finish.

Check out the videos for this crochet blanket pattern on Youtube!

I’ve made two videos to go along with this pattern. The first one walks you through the stitch and how to change colors for each section. The second video goes over how to make the base row for the border and work the border.

Click the images below to watch the videos on Youtube!

See you soon 🙂

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