Striped Crochet Baby Blanket Pattern

A striped crochet baby blanket is a plain one-stitch blanket with one extra skill added: changing yarn at the end of a row. This pattern uses half double crochet in three colors, with wide six-row stripes that keep the number of yarn ends low.

The stitch never changes, so your attention can go to clean color changes and straight edges. The pattern is written in US crochet terms.

Materials

• Worsted weight (#4 medium) yarn in three colors, about 900-1,100 yd (820-1,000 m) in total: Color A, Color B and Color C
• US H-8 (5 mm) crochet hook
• Blunt yarn needle
• Scissors and a tape measure
• One stitch marker (optional)

Each color makes up about one third of the blanket, roughly 300-370 yd (275-340 m) apiece. Allow a little more of whichever color you choose for the border. These amounts are estimates that depend on your gauge, so buy a little extra of each color from the same dye lot.

Finished Size

About 30 x 36 in (76 x 91 cm) before the border.

Gauge

14 half double crochets and 10 rows = 4 in (10 cm), measured flat. Matching this target matters for the finished size and for how much yarn the blanket uses.

Make a swatch at least 6 in (15 cm) square and measure in the middle. See the guide to measuring crochet gauge for the method.

The numbers in the pattern come from the gauge. Fourteen stitches in 4 in is 3.5 stitches per inch, and 3.5 x 30 in = 105 stitches. Add 1 chain for the turn: 106 chains. Ten rows in 4 in is 2.5 rows per inch, and 2.5 x 36 in = 90 rows.

Abbreviations

• ch – chain
• hdc – half double crochet: yarn over, insert hook, yarn over and pull up a loop (3 loops on hook), yarn over and pull through all 3 loops
• st(s) – stitch(es)
• yo – yarn over

Pattern Notes

• The turning ch-1 does not count as a stitch. Work the first hdc of each row into the very first stitch, and the last hdc into the last stitch of the row below, not into the turning chain.
• Any number of chains works. To change the width, multiply your stitches per inch by the width you want and add 1.
• Every stripe has an even number of rows, so every color change happens on the same side edge.
• Every row has 105 hdc.

If the stitch is new to you, the half double crochet blanket pattern walks through it one movement at a time.

Stripe Sequence

The blanket has 15 stripes of 6 rows each, about 2.4 in (6 cm) per stripe. The three-stripe sequence A, B, C is worked five times.

Color	Rows per Stripe	Rows Worked in This Color
A	6	1-6, 19-24, 37-42, 55-60, 73-78
B	6	7-12, 25-30, 43-48, 61-66, 79-84
C	6	13-18, 31-36, 49-54, 67-72, 85-90

Instructions

With Color A, chain 106 loosely.

Row 1: Hdc in the 2nd ch from the hook and in each ch across. (105 hdc)

Row 2: Ch 1, turn. Hdc in the first st and in each st across. (105 hdc)

Rows 3-6: Repeat Row 2. On the last stitch of Row 6, change to Color B as described below.

Rows 7-90: Repeat Row 2, changing color at the end of every sixth row in the order given in the table.

Fasten off after Row 90, leaving a 6 in (15 cm) tail.

How to Change Color at the End of a Row

1. Work the last hdc of the row until 3 loops are on the hook: yo, insert the hook in the last stitch, yo and pull up a loop. Stop there.
2. Drop the old color. Lay the new color over the hook, leaving a 6 in (15 cm) tail, and pull it through all 3 loops. The stitch is finished in the old color, and the loop on the hook is the new color.
3. Ch 1 with the new color, turn, and work the next row.
4. Cut the old color, leaving a 6 in (15 cm) tail.

Changing in that final yarn over keeps the edge clean. The guide on how to change colors in crochet covers this in more detail.

Cut the Yarn or Carry It

For six-row stripes, cut the yarn at every change. The idle colors would otherwise have to travel 12 rows up the side, which leaves long strands along the edge.

Carrying is worth doing only for narrow stripes: two colors alternating every 2 rows. In that case, leave the unused yarn attached, pick it up when its turn comes, and let it run loosely up the edge. Pulled tight, it gathers the side of the blanket. When you add the border, work its first round over the carried strands so the stitches enclose them.

Planning Your Own Stripe Widths

• Even stripes: the sequence above. Calm and regular, and each color uses the same amount of yarn.
• Wide and narrow: for example, 8 rows of A, 2 rows of B, 8 rows of C, 2 rows of B. Repeat those 20 rows and end after a wide stripe. Color B needs less yarn than the others in this plan.
• Random: stripes of 2, 4, 6 or 8 rows in no fixed order. Write the plan down before you start so you can track yarn and length.

Whatever the plan, keep each stripe to an even number of rows so the tails stay on one edge, and add up the rows to check the length: at this gauge, every 10 rows is 4 in (10 cm).

Finishing

Weave each tail into rows of its own color, changing direction at least twice, then trim close. A tail woven into a different color can show through. The method is in the guide to weaving in ends.

A border in one of the three colors hides the stepped look of the color changes along the side. One or two rounds of single crochet is enough; the article on a simple single crochet border explains stitch placement and corners. Wash as the yarn label directs, then check both sides for any tail that has worked loose.