Needlecrafts Crochet

23 Crochet Blanket Ideas

Plus Free Crochet Blanket Patterns and Instructions

Multi colored blanket in wool
KariHoglund / Getty Images

Want to crochet a blanket? Would you like to see ideas for different blankets to crochet--along with free patterns and instructions for crocheting each design? If so, keep reading, because we've posted bunches of different blanket patterns, pictures and ideas for you to use.

  • 01 of 23

    Fast, Easy Crochet Baby Blanket for Beginners

    Fast, Easy Crochet Baby Blanket
    Fast, Easy Crochet Baby Blanket Fast, Easy Crochet Baby Blanket. Photo © Amy Solovay

    Here is a fantastic multi-purpose blanket that you could crochet in several different sizes. This is an easy pattern that's perfect for anyone who is new to crochet, or whose crochet skill level is "beginner." The pattern is also ideal for anyone who likes simple projects, regardless of experience level.

  • 02 of 23

    Custom Crochet Blanket

    Custom Crochet Blanket
    Custom Crochet Blanket Custom Crochet Blanket -- Photo © Amy Solovay

    This pattern is the next best thing to designing your own blanket. You get to make all the important design choices when you create your own unique version of this blanket.

  • 03 of 23

    Christmas Blanket

    Christmas Afghan Pattern
    Christmas Afghan Pattern Christmas Afghan Pattern -- Photo © Michael Solovay

    This blanket is one example of a design that you could crochet using the custom blanket pattern linked above. If you want to make this blanket exactly as pictured, please help yourself to the free charts and pattern for it. You could also design a similar blanket using the custom blanket pattern mentioned above.

  • 04 of 23

    Freeform Crochet Blanket

    Freeform Crochet Blanket
    Freeform Crochet Blanket Freeform Crochet Blanket -- Photo © Amy Solovay

    No pattern is needed for making a freeform crochet blanket. With this sort of blanket, you just make the pattern up as you go.

    Basic Freeform Blanket Instructions: Pick up a crochet hook, and some yarn or thread. Begin crocheting at random.

    You could crochet squares, hexagons, triangles, or any combination of these shapes -- or you could crochet completely irregular pieces. Then later you would join them together to create your blanket. That's how I approached the blanket pictured at left.

    Or you could crochet a long starting chain that's blanket-sized, and then crochet random rows of stitches to create your blanket.

    These are not the only two possibilities, so feel free to let your creativity take over if you have other ideas for how to approach a freeform crochet blanket.

    Want to learn more? See this freeform crochet overview, and these freeform crochet resources for more information and project inspiration.

    Continue to 5 of 23 below
  • 05 of 23

    Striped Lace Baby Blanket

    Striped Crochet Baby Blanket
    Striped Crochet Baby Blanket Striped Crochet Baby Blanket -- Photo © Amy Solovay

    If "pretty" is the effect you're striving for when you decorate baby's nursery, then this lacy blanket is a great choice. This blanket also makes a great baby shower gift.

  • 06 of 23

    Checkered Blanket

    Checkered Baby Blanket
    Checkered Baby Blanket Checkered Baby Blanket -- Photo © Michael Solovay

    Pictured at left is a checkered baby blanket. The simple checkerboard motif is a design that works well on a blanket for kids of any age, including babies and toddlers on up through college kids.

    This pattern is available in several sizes, including the size pictured, receiving blanket size, and a couple of larger sizes. Instructions are also available for crocheting crib size and twin size versions of the design. If you want to make a blanket that will (hopefully!) be able to stay with the kid until graduation, I'm thinking the twin size is the way to go. But that, of course, is up to you; the smaller sizes use less yarn, are quicker, and are also nice to have on hand if needed.

  • 07 of 23

    Heart Sampler Baby Blanket

    Heart Sampler Baby Blanket
    Heart Sampler Baby Blanket Heart Sampler Baby Blanket -- Photo © Amy Solovay

    Hearts form the focal point of this multicolored baby blanket. The hearts are accented with colorful checkerboard patterns, making for a project that's interesting to crochet as well as beautiful to look at.

  • 08 of 23

    Coral Hearts Baby Blanket

    Coral Hearts Baby Blanket
    Coral Hearts Baby Blanket Coral Hearts Baby Blanket -- Photo © Amy Solovay

    For those of you who like the heart blanket idea but you want the color scheme to be simpler, this is a good alternative.

    Continue to 9 of 23 below
  • 09 of 23

    Granny Square Scrap Blanket

    Granny Square Scrap Blanket by Dayle
    Granny Square Scrap Blanket by Dayle Granny Square Scrap Blanket by Dayle.

    Scrapghans are popular crochet projects -- with good reason! They provide a creative challenge, and they also provide an outlet for the worthy goal of using up all your yarn scraps.

    This colorful scrap afghan was submitted by one of our readers, Dayle.

  • 10 of 23

    Blanket or Bedspread With Checkered Diamond Design

    Checkered Diamonds Pattern
    Checkered Diamonds Pattern Checkered Diamonds Pattern -- Photo © Amy Solovay

    Filet crochet is a popular technique for crocheting bedspreads, and you can also use it for crocheting blankets as well.

    This particular filet crochet design would be lovely to use for making either a blanket or a bedspread. If you know how to do filet crochet already, you can just use this checkered diamonds chart, which tiles seamlessly, for crocheting a piece that's as large as you want your blanket to be (allowing room for a border if desired.)

    You could also use the same chart to crochet other matching accessories such as panels for curtains, a runner for your dresser, etc.

    If you don't already know how to do filet crochet, you're invited to check out our filet crochet tutorials and give it a try.

  • 11 of 23

    Blanket or Bedspread Made From Criss-Cross Granny Squares

    Thread Crochet Bedspread Made From Criss-Cross Granny Squares
    Thread Crochet Bedspread Made From Criss-Cross Granny Squares Thread Crochet Bedspread Made From Criss-Cross Granny Squares - Photo © Amy Solovay

    You could crochet an interesting variation of a granny square blanket using this fun little pattern. I suggest making this design with crochet thread or fine yarn, so that it will become a bedspread rather than a heavy blanket. That, of course, is up to you; I encourage you to use the pattern however you like. I make the recommendation because I personally prefer not to let the "holey" areas in my blankets get excessively big, and that could get to be an issue with chunky yarns if they were to be used in this pattern. Using finer yarns is one possible way of solving that issue.

    The pattern linked here is for making the granny square. To create an afghan or blanket from this design, you'll need to crochet a bunch of the squares, then join them together, then add the blanket border or edging of your choice. You can follow those basic instructions and use them for making afghans out of just about any type of square or rectangle pattern, including the rest of the square patterns linked on this page.

  • 12 of 23

    Nested Checkerboard Baby Blanket

    Boy's Baby Blanket Idea Featuring Nested Checkerboard Pattern - Change Colors for Unisex Design
    Boy's Baby Blanket Idea Featuring Nested Checkerboard Pattern - Can Be Made Unisex With a Color Change Boy's Checkerboard Baby Blanket Idea - Can Be Made Unisex With a Color Change; © Amy Solovay

    I've designed several baby afghan squares that have checkerboard designs nested inside other checkerboard designs. I find it really fun and interesting to come up with different ways for combining these squares together to make blanket designs. Of all the different ways I came up with, I really like three of them, and this one is my favorite.

    Continue to 13 of 23 below
  • 13 of 23

    White and Blue Nested Checkerboard Baby Blanket

    White and Blue Nested Checkerboard Baby Blanket
    White and Blue Nested Checkerboard Baby Blanket White and Blue Nested Checkerboard Baby Blanket -- © Amy Solovay

    This is another idea for using the nested checkerboard afghan squares to crochet a baby blanket. I love the symmetrical look of this design.

  • 14 of 23

    Blue and White Nested Checkerboard Baby Blanket

    Blue and White Nested Checkerboard Baby Blanket
    Blue and White Nested Checkerboard Baby Blanket Blue and White Nested Checkerboard Baby Blanket -- © Amy Solovay

    This is the third of my three favorite nested checkerboard baby blanket designs.

  • 15 of 23

    Color Blocks Scrap Blanket Made From Squares

    Scrap Afghan Square
    Scrap Afghan Square Scrap Afghan Square -- Photo © Amy Solovay

    This colorful afghan square gives you yet another fun way to build a blanket.

    This pattern is easier than it looks. If you've mastered the single crochet stitch to the point that you can be confident in achieving consistent tension throughout a piece when you work it, you might like to try this pattern.

  • 16 of 23

    Granny Square Baby Blanket

    Crochet Granny Square
    Crochet Granny Square Crochet Granny Square -- Photo © Amy Solovay

    If you crochet a bunch of granny squares using baby yarn (see an example pictured at left,) you can join them together to create a beautiful baby blanket.

    Continue to 17 of 23 below
  • 17 of 23

    Simple Baby Blanket

    Simple Crocheted Baby Blanket
    Simple Crocheted Baby Blanket Simple Crocheted Baby Blanket -- Photo © Erica Jackofsky

    This simple baby blanket is part of a layette set that includes several other matching items for babies.

  • 18 of 23

    Crochet Hexagons Blanket

    Hexagon Motif for Crocheting Blankets and Other Projects
    Hexagon Motif for Crocheting Blankets and Other Projects Hexagon Motif for Crocheting Blankets and Other Projects -- Photo © Michael Solovay

    The hexagon you see pictured should, in theory, make really beautiful blankets if you crochet a bunch of them and then join them together. I'll confess that I haven't tried doing this yet, although it is on my to do list to try.

  • 19 of 23

    Rainbow Outlines Granny Square Blanket

    Crochet Rainbow Granny Square
    Crochet Rainbow Granny Square Crochet Rainbow Granny Square -- © Amy Solovay

    This granny square pattern could also be used to make lovely colorful blankets.

  • 20 of 23

    Blanket Made From V Stitch Granny Squares

    V Stitch Granny Square
    V Stitch Granny Square V Stitch Granny Square -- Photo © Amy Solovay.

    If you're a v-stitch fan, you might enjoy crocheting a blanket comprised of these v-stitch granny squares.

    If you like v-stitches then you might also be interested in our free crochet doll blanket pattern made from this same stitch.

    Continue to 21 of 23 below
  • 21 of 23

    Blanket Made From Easy Baby Afghan Squares

    Easy Baby Afghan Squares
    Easy Baby Afghan Squares Easy Baby Afghan Squares -- Photo © Amy Solovay

    You could make a simple but pretty blanket out of these easy baby afghan squares. I intended the design to be used in baby blankets, because the yarn is delightfully soft and fine. It's not the fastest to work with, but for a baby blanket it doesn't take too long. But really, if you have the patience for larger projects made with fine yarns, you could make a blanket like this for anyone -- grownups too.

  • 22 of 23

    Blanket Made From Easy Beginner's Granny Squares

    Easy Granny Square Pattern
    Easy Granny Square Pattern Easy Granny Square Pattern -- Photo © Amy Solovay

    If you have the patience for working with small squares, these little grannies would make a beautiful blanket.

  • 23 of 23

    Summer Bedspread Made From Granny Squares

    Summer Bedspread Granny Square
    Summer Bedspread Granny Square Photo © Amy Solovay

    If you want to crochet a blanket that won't be excessively warm, this granny square pattern is a great one to have in your pattern stash. It's ideal to use for crocheting bedspreads that you plan to use in the summer months, or for use in locations where it's warm year-around.

    To make your blanket, you'll just crochet a bunch of these squares, then join them together, then add the blanket edging of your choice around the outer edge.