The Sweet Gingham Baby Blanket, from TL Yarn Crafts

Spring has sprung, and so has my baby fever! I always look forward to this time of year, when I get to visit my friends from college who welcomed brand new babies in the winter months. My go-to baby welcome gift is a handmade blanket (obviously), which means I get to take a trip to my favorite craft store: JOANN!

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Find a printer friendly, PDF version of the Sweet Gingham Baby Blanket in my Etsy and Ravelry shops and on TLYarnCrafts.com. PDF version includes full-color, 5 page instructions and full schematic to chart your very own blanket.

My latest baby blanket design was inspired by two close friends, Phil and Maggie, who are raising their darling little girl in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. They have always been outdoorsy people – Phil is a fisherman and avid hunter while Maggie loves to paint the scenic woods around their home. Being a city girl myself, I had to find a way to share my chic aesthetic with their rustic charm. Thus, the Sweet Gingham Baby Blanket was created!

After Maggie announced her pregnancy, my first question was about her color palette. She responded with a Pinterest board full of soft but mature pinks, offset with grey and navy. I hopped a ride to JOANN right away to find the perfect skeins.

Side note: I could (and often do!) spend all day at JOANN. Here in Columbus, we have several stores in the city, but my favorite has a huge yarn selection and new yarns nearly every time I visit. I love strolling the aisles to find brands and colors I haven’t worked with yet.

I landed on an old standby for the Sweet Gingham Baby Blanket – Lion Brand Wool Ease. It’s my go-to for baby projects. It’s a wool blend that is still machine washable and soft to the touch. The gingham motif of my blanket called for two shades of one color, and a complimentary shade. I went for Rose Heather and Dark Rose Heather, accented with Fisherman. I originally planned to add Mushroom but ultimately decided not to. It does make for a pretty picture, though!

Being my indecisive self, I spent another 30 minutes making even more color palettes with Wool Ease while I was in JOANN. Leave a comment and let me know what you think about these:

The Sweet Gingham Baby Blanket is made using Tunisian crochet, a version of crochet that uses an extra long hook. This pattern uses simple stitches and color changes, and switches to traditional crochet for the border. The whole thing is finished off with 4 medium sized pom poms. If you’re new to Tunisian crochet, learn the basics and make your very first project with this video series.

Sweet Gingham Baby Blanket Pattern

MATERIALS:

-2 balls Lion Brand Wool Ease in color Rose Heather (A)

-2 balls Lion Brand Wool Ease in color Fisherman (B)

-2 balls Lion Brand Wool Ease in color Dark Rose Heather (C)

-6.5mm Tunisian crochet hook with 24” cord (these are my favorites)

-5.5mm crochet hook

-Scissors

-Yarn needle

-2.5” Clover pom pom maker (learn to make perfect pom poms with this video!)

-Blocking supplies (read more about blocking here!)

FINISHED SIZE:

32.5 inches x 31.5 inches after blocking, including border but not pom poms

GAUGE:

4 inches square = 14 stitches x 12-13 rows

ABBREVIATIONS:

Standard U.S. crochet terms

• Ch = chain
• Rep = repeat
• Sc = single crochet
• Sk = skip
• Sl st = slip stitch
• St(s) = stitch(es)
• Tss = Tunisian simple stitch (learn it here!)
• Yo = Yarn over

NOTE: Check your gauge! Gauge will directly impact the size of this blanket. The goal is to get each block as close to a square as possible. To make a gauge swatch, ch 33 and make a 3×3 block swatch using the pattern directions. Block your swatch and adjust the pattern as necessary to accommodate your tension and yarn choice.

Start by separating yarn into cakes or balls of nearly equal size: 5 cakes of Color A, 4 cakes of color B, and 5 cakes of Color C. Use a separate cake/ball for each color when working rows.

Blanket Body Pattern

With A and 6.5mm Tunisian crochet hook, ch 99.

Foundation Row: Pull up a loop in the back bump of each ch. Ch 1. Complete standard return pass. (99 sts)

Rows 1-10: [With A, Tss 11. With B, Tss 11] 4 times. With A, Tss 11. Ch 1. Complete standard return pass with color changes.

Rows 11-20: [With C, Tss, 11. With A, Tss 11] 4 times. With C, Tss 11. Ch 1. Complete standard return pass with color changes.

Rows 21-80: Repeat Rows 1-20 four times.

Rows 81-90: Repeat Rows 1-10.

Bind Off: With A, sl st loosely in each st across. Cut yarn.

Border Pattern

Round 1: With B and 5.5mm crochet hook, join with a sl st in first st to left of any corner. Ch 1. Sc in same st. [Sc in each st across row. Ch 3 at corner and rotate to work along next side] around blanket body. Sl st in first sc of round. Drop color, do not cut yarn.

Round 2: With C, join in the ch-2 corner sp to the right of the final sl st. Ch 1. Sc in same st. *Ch 1, sk 1 sc, [(sc in next sc, ch 1, sk 1 sc) to ch-3 sp]. (Sc, ch 2, sc) in ch-3 sp. Rep from * around. (Sc, ch 2) in the final corner and sl st in first sc of round to end the round. Cut yarn.

Round 3: Pick up color B in the ch-2 corner sp to the right of the final sl st of previous round. Ch 1. Sc in same ch sp. *Ch 1, sk 1 sc, [(sc in next sp, ch 1, sk 1 sc) to corner ch-2 sp]. (Sc, ch 2, sc) in corner ch-2 sp. Rep from * around. (Sc, ch 2) in the final corner and sl st in first sc of round to end the round. Drop color, do not cut yarn.

Round 4: With A, join in the ch-2 corner sp to the right of the final sl st. Ch 1. Sc in same ch sp. *Ch 1, sk 1 sc, [(sc in next sp, ch 1, sk 1 sc) to corner ch-2 sp]. (Sc, ch 2, sc) in corner ch-2 sp. Rep from * around. (Sc, ch 2) in the final corner and sl st in first sc of round to end the round. Cut yarn.

Round 5: With B, repeat Round 3. Cut yarn.

Finishing: With A, make 4 pom poms using a 2.5” Clover pom pom maker (green). Attach one pom pom to each corner. Weave in all remaining ends. Block lightly to shape.

Purchase the printable PDF pattern here!

Don’t forget to share your blankets with me on Instagram and Facebook using the hashtags #TLYCMakers and #SweetGingham. I can’t wait to see them!!

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