Merry Christmas to you all! I am so grateful for this beautiful time of year. I am one lucky grandma to have all four grandchildren here for the holidays. Since they were all together, I had one last blanket to make! 

Several months ago, I had the idea to make each of them a sweater and take a group photo, but just getting them matching jammies and making one blanket turned out to be a way better, more realistic, and likely-to-happen idea! As Hannah and Elizabeth (the babies’ moms) helped me take the photos, we thought this would make such a fun new Christmas tradition!

It was quite a challenge to get these kids to sit still and get a cute photo, and as the chaos ensued, we hoped the coming years would be easier as they aged. And then we thought, oh, this would be a fun idea to make a Christmas blanket each year and take a photo. 

So, the birth of a new Christmas tradition might just be happening as we speak. We turned this day into a fun playdate for the kids and they were so happy to get outside in the beautiful Arizona sunshine and play for the rest of the day in their matching jammies. 

In the picture below, from left to right, we have Jack, age 4, Nora, age 10 months, James, age 2, and Kate, age 2. Jack and Kate are the children of my son Tanner, and James and Nora are the children of my daughter Hannah.  

The idea of making a Christmas blanket only popped into our heads last week, so I needed a quick-to-make pattern with chunky yarn. Immediately, I thought of the Ribbed V-Stitch blanket that I designed and made for Nora when she was born. I knew I needed to make it large to cuddle all the babies at once, and I also needed to be able to access red yarn really fast. The best supply of any chunky yarn at the last minute is Bernat Blanket Yarn. 

I went to my local store and found six balls of Bernat Blanket Yarn in Crimson. Luckily, I already had one ball in my stash, and this blanket took exactly seven skeins. If I had thought of this a week earlier, I would have ordered from Yarnspirations.com and just had it sent. I went up one hook size compared to the package recommendation because I wanted the blanket to have more drape. I didn’t want it stiff. 

It turned out better than I could imagine! 

What I love about this pattern is that it’s only one row of front or back post stitching, followed by one row of double crochet v-stitch. It’s so nice to have that break row of regular DC. The front and back post stitching is a bit slow, so only having to make those stitches every other row really speeds up the make time and still achieves the beautiful look of ribbing. 

This has to be one of my favorite designs to date. I’ve played around with it and made it a diamond weave look as well, but I chose to stay with the original pattern for ease and because I wanted to finish it in just a few days. It took me five days, working about four hours each day, to complete it. So, if you are looking for a last-minute Christmas blanket, this is it! 

Materials

Bernat Blanket Yarn (100% polyester, 300g / 10.5 oz, 201 meters / 220 yards, #6 super bulky)

7 skeins Crimson

9 mm hook, tapestry needle, scissors

Size 

50 x 60 inches

Gauge: 6 sts, and 4 rows = 4 inches taken from blanket

Stitches

Double Crochet (DC): YO, insert your hook, YO and pull up a loop, YO and pull through two loops, YO and pull through remaining two loops

Front Post DC (FPDC): YO, insert your hook around the post, popping the post toward the front of the work, YO and pull up a loop, YO and pull through two loops, YO and pull through remaining two loops

Back Post DC (BPDC): YO, insert your hook around the post, popping the post toward the back of the work, YO and pull up a loop, YO and pull through two loops, YO and pull through remaining two loops

Pattern

Chain 96 (or any EVEN number to the width you’d like)

ROW 1: Begin in the fourth chain from the hook with 2 DC. Skip (SK) the next chain space, *2 DC in the next chain space,  SK the next chain. Repeat from * across the row and work one DC into the very last chain. Chain 2 and turn. (This will count as your first DC) on the next row.

ROW 2: Begin with the first set of DC that are worked into one chain from the previous row and work 1 FPDC around each. *1 BPDC around each of the next set. 1 FPDC around each of the next set. Repeat from * across the row. End with 1 DC worked around the turning chain, CH 2 and turn. 

ROW 3: Begin row by working 2 DC in between the first pair of DC of the previous row. *2 DC in between the next pair. Repeat from * across the row. End with 1 DC worked around the ch 2 turning chain, CH 2 and turn. 

Repeat rows 2 and 3 until the blanket is the height desired. 

Tie off and knot and then weave in the ends. 

Below is the video tutorial for the original Ribbed V-Stitch Blanket made with Bernat Velvet if you need any help at all:

Sending you all my love for a beautiful Christmas season, and thank you so much for stopping by to see what we are making. 

XO, Tiffany 

Click here or image below to download printable pdf.