How to Crochet a Granny Stripe Blanket (Beginner)

Pull together a 6 mm (J/10) crochet hook, about 1,092 yards (two skeins) of Caron Jumbo Ombre worsted-weight yarn, a tapestry needle, two or three stitch markers, and a pair of scissors. Ashley uses the color Sepia, which is a warm brown-to-cream gradient. Any ombre cake will give you the same self-striping effect.

The throw she demonstrates finishes at about 30 by 39 inches once the border is on. Her free blog pattern covers 14 sizes from baby to queen, so check the chart before you start if you want a different finished measurement. For another simple blanket option, see how to crochet a blanket.

Start with a slip knot on your hook. Yarn over and pull through the loop. That's one chain. Repeat until you have 86 chains for the medium throw. Different size? Use any multiple of 3 plus 2 - so 26, 29, 32, 35 and so on - to keep the stitch math working.

The loop on your hook never counts as a chain, only the finished Vs lying flat. If your chain feels tight, loosen up. Tight foundation chains fight you in Row 1. For a refresher on the stitch itself, see the foundation chain tutorial.

Skip the very first chain. Insert your hook into the second chain from the hook. Yarn over, pull up a loop, yarn over again, and pull through both loops on the hook. That's your first single crochet.

Work one single crochet into every remaining chain. When you finish, you should have 85 stitches if you started with 86 chains - one less stitch than chains. This row is the flat foundation everything else builds on. If single crochet is brand new, watch the single crochet basics first.

Chain 3 and turn. Pop a stitch marker into the top of that chain-3 so you can find it later. The chain-3 counts as a double crochet, so you already have your first stitch of the row.

Work one double crochet into the first stitch right under the turning chain. Then skip two stitches and work a granny cluster - three double crochets all into the same stitch - into the third. Skip two more, cluster into the next third stitch. Keep that skip-two, cluster-into-third pattern across.

When you have three stitches left, skip the two and work 2 double crochets into the last stitch. For the throw, you should end Row 2 with 27 clusters and four double crochets (two at each edge).

Row 3 is where the pattern finally looks like itself. Chain 3, turn, then work your first granny cluster into the gap between the edge double crochet and the first cluster of Row 2. You're working into spaces now, not into stitch tops.

Skip the cluster and work the next 3-dc cluster into the gap between the next two clusters. Keep skipping clusters and dropping new clusters into the spaces all the way across. End the row with one double crochet into the top of the previous row's turning chain (this is where that stitch marker pays off).

Tug gently on the work as you go - opening up those spaces a little is what gives granny stripe its light, lacy feel.

Row 4 is Row 3 with mirrored edges. Chain 3, turn, double crochet into the first stitch, then cluster into each gap across, and finish with 2 double crochets in the top of the previous turning chain instead of a single double.

From here it's just Row 3, Row 4, Row 3, Row 4. For the throw you keep alternating until you've worked Rows 5 through 74. That sounds like a lot, but the stitch is so repetitive it's a great movie project.

This is where the self-striping yarn quietly does its job. The Caron Jumbo Ombre slowly shifts from sepia to cream as you crochet, so you get clean stripes without ever cutting yarn. If you want bolder stripes - blue, white, navy, white - swap to four to six solid colors and learn how to change colors in crochet at the end of every other row instead.

After your last even-numbered row, chain 1 and turn so the right side faces you. Work one single crochet into every stitch across the top. For the stitches that sit right before each cluster, you can either dip down into the actual stitch or wrap your single crochet around the post - both look fine, pick whichever you like.

Don't forget the very last single crochet into the top of the chain-3 turning chain from the previous row. That edge stitch holds the corner square.

This single-crochet finishing row gives the top edge of the blanket the same firm border you'll add to the sides next. See more on single crochet if you skipped Step 3.

The border is what turns this from a piece of fabric into a blanket. At the end of Row 75 you're already in the corner, so work 2 more single crochets into that same stitch to make a 3-stitch corner.

Turn the work to follow the natural curve down the side. Along the long sides, work 2 single crochets around each chain-3 turning chain or double crochet post. When you reach the foundation corner, work 3 single crochets to round it.

Across the bottom, work one single crochet into each foundation chain loop. Turn the next corner with 3 single crochets, then work up the second long side the same way you did the first.

Back at the top, switch to 2 double crochets per stitch along the final top edge so it visually matches the chunkier bottom of the blanket. The whole border takes about 30-40 minutes and makes the difference between "crocheted thing" and "finished blanket." If you want fancier border options later, the basic blanket guide covers shell and picot edges.

Cut your working yarn leaving a 6-to-8 inch tail. Pull the tail all the way through the last loop on the hook to lock the stitch. Thread the tail onto a tapestry needle.

For the invisible join, skip the first stitch of the border. Insert the needle front-to-back through the next stitch. Pull the yarn through. Then take the needle down through the back loop only of the very last stitch you made. This recreates the look of one extra stitch instead of leaving the usual slip-stitch bump.

Weave the tail in across the back of the blanket - in and out of three or four stitches in one direction, then back in the other to lock it. Do the same with the starting tail at the foundation chain. For more on this finishing skill, see fasten off and weave in ends.