How to Crochet a Basket Weave Baby Blanket | Free Pattern

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Welcoming a new baby is always such a happy event. Here’s how to crochet a basket weave baby blanket.

My kids are older but I could never forget the joy of holding them in my arms for the first time and bringing them home from the hospital.  I think handmade baby gifts are so special – not only to the baby but to the mother as well. One of my favourite things to make for a new baby is a baby blanket. Every baby needs a blanket – from the moment they were born. My kids, albeit older now, still have their blankets. They become keepsakes and heirlooms. So I am always thinking of new baby blanket ideas to make. This basket weave baby blanket is easy to do and produces a lovely blanket. The texture is so nice.

Sometimes time is a factor – I need to hurry up and make one because the baby’s birth is imminent and so this basket weave baby blanket is just that. It’s quick and easy. You literally need to know only 1 stitch – the double crochet stitch. The basket weave baby blanket has such a lovely texture to it. Beginners and seasoned crocheters can all make this blanket.

For this pattern, I used Red Heart Super Saver Jumbo yarn – one in white and one in pink. This made a nice baby blanket sized 33 x 23.5 with some yarn leftover.  It’s not a big blanket, but perfect for the stroller and on the go. The Super Save Jumbo is huge! You don’t have to worry about running out of yarn. This also makes it easy to take this project on the go as you only need 1 skein of each. Have you ever taken a project on the go, only to find out you ran out of a certain colour and can’t go on until you get home and get another skein? I know I have. This was easy to take with me when I was out with my kids and I could work on it a bit. The pattern is also easy so I didn’t need to carry a pattern with me either (I typically print mine out and then they get all crumpled in my bag!).

I’m not a big pink person so I paired it with the white to cut down on the “pinkness” of the blanket. This blanket could easily be done in 1 solid colour or even 3 colours of alternating stripes. There is a lot of flexibility with this pattern.

I used a 5mm crochet hook, as recommended by Red Heart.

How to do the Front Post and Back Post Double Crochet Stitch

In order to crochet the basket weave baby blanket, you simply need to be able to do a double crochet stitch – either around the front of the post or back of the post. Don’t let that sound confusing – it’s easier than you think. For the front post double crochet (FPDC), insert your hook, left to right, and go BEHIND the DC of the previous row – enter from the FRONT of the blanket (the side facing you). To do the back post double crochet (BPDC), insert your hook, left to right and go in FRONT of the DC of the previous row – enter from the BACK of the blanket.

The FPDC pulls the previous DC out while the BPDC pushes it back. The neat thing about this is that it is reverse on the backside – so there really isn’t a front side or a backside.

Basket Weave Baby Blanket Pattern

I like even numbers and so made each block 10 stitches. For me, when I crochet 8 rows, it makes a square with the 10 DCs. Depending on your tension you may adjust this a bit. I wanted my pattern to be squares and this is what worked best for me. But there is no rule about that – you could do rectangles – just don’t do as many rows.

The nice thing about doing an even number of rows per colour (in my case, 8), all your colour changes are on the same side of the blanket and therefore you can simply carry the yarn up. If you don’t want to do that, or if you have an odd number of rows you can cut your yarn. I like carrying yarn because then I don’t have any ends to weave in!

I am a loose crocheter and so I do 2 chains to be the equivalent to 1 DC stitch. Some of you may do 3 chains. Either way, it’ll work – just be consistent.

Row 1 – With colour A,  FDC 110; alternately you can ch 112, DC into the 3rd stitch from the hook and along. Regardless, you should have 110 DCs as the first row.

Row 2 – FPDC 10, BPDC 10, FPDC 10, BPDC 10, etc. Continue along until you reach the end of the row. You will end with FPDC 10. Ch 2. Turn.

Row 3 – BPDC 10, FPDC 10, BPDC 10, FPDC, etc. Continue along until you reach the end of the row. You will end with BPDC 10. Ch 2. Turn.

Row 4 – repeat Row 2

Row 5 – repeat Row 3

Row 6 – repeat Row 2

Row 7 – repeat Row 3

Row 8 – repeat Row 2; at the end of the row change to colour B.

Row 9 – DC across (just in the regular 2 loops – not front post or back post).

Rows 10 – 16 – repeat Rows 2-8; at the end of row 16, change to colour A

Repeat the striping process until you reach the desired length. I think it looks best when you end with colour A. For mine, I did 6 stripes.

Prior to doing a border, I did an sc foundation stitch all the way around. On the sides, I did 1 sc for each DC and in each corner, I did 3 sc. Using this as a foundation, you can do any border. I chose to do a simple scalloped border.  For border ideas, check out this YouTube video I made on simple borders.

The crochet basket weave baby blanket has such a lovely texture to it. I was able to make it quite quickly. As mentioned, once you know the pattern, you don’t need to refer to it anymore, making it an easy project to work on while out and about or on the go. You could easily modify the size of this by adding another column (just make it the same width as the others- in my case, 10) and/or by adding additional stripes.

Want to remember how to crochet this easy basket weave baby blanket? Be sure to save this to your favourite Pinterest board.