I love a classic shell stitch and absolutely love it as a baby blanket made with Bernat Softee Cotton in the color cotton. It’s a bit confusing, but the name of this shade of cream-colored yarn is “cotton.” 

I can’t say enough about my love for the yarn either. It’s a cotton blend, 3 weight, and so very nice to work with. I have made bibs, hats, sweaters, and so many blankets with Bernat Softee Cotton and everything washes up well and looks good. 

Cotton yarn tends to show off the definition of each stitch and I like that in a classic heirloom type blanket. I’m hoping this blanket will be one that Hannah’s baby girl will hold on to for years to come. 

Even the border is shell stitch. If you are new to crochet and are wanting to further your skills, this classic shell stitch is a good place to start. It’s an easy repeat to memorize and once you get the rhythm of the double crochets, it becomes a relaxing stitch to make and you’ll be looking forward to watching it grow. 

This blanket uses 6 skeins of Bernat Softee Cotton almost exactly, so to prevent different tensions and the risk of running out, we are going to list that you’ll need 7 skeins. So keep that in mind if you are wanting to adjust for size. 

As always, I always encourage you to make a practice swatch. This will help you decide if you have the correct hook size for the drape that you’d like, as well as becoming familiar with the stitch sequence. 

Taking the gauge for this blanket was a bit of a challenge, in the pattern you’ll see that gauge is explained as in 4 inches of width, there are 3 sets of shells (5 DC) with a SC in between each set. And for the height, or rows, I measured how many sets of shells (5). 

Mostly, in a blanket, we are listing the gauge so you’ll know how tight we crocheted to obtain the same look, drape, and use the same amount of yarn. You don’t need to be beholden to it. It is mainly given as a guide. 

We find that most people use different yarn anyway, and the gauge won’t apply. It’s another reason why I like to encourage you to just make a practice swatch so you can figure out all these things before the blanket begins. 

Materials

for 35 x 38 inch blanket

gauge: from blanket 4 inches = 3 sets of shells stitches with sc in between and 5 sets of shells rows

Bernat Softee Cotton (40% acrylic 60% cotton, 120g / 4.2 oz, 232 meters / 254 yards, 3 weight)

(Please tap the name of the yarn to order from Yarnspirations.com)

7 balls Cotton (that’s the name of the color)

Size H-5.00 mm hook, scissors, tapestry needle

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.

Single Crochet (SC): Insert your hook, YO and pull up a loop, YO and pull through two loops on hook.

Pattern

Chain 164 (If you’d like to make a different size, chain any number x 6, then add 2.)

ROW 1: Starting in the 2nd chain from the hook, work 1 SC. *Skip two chains, work 5 DC into the next chain space. Skip two chains, 1 SC into the next chain. Repeat from * across the row ending with 1 SC into the final chain. CH 3 and turn.

ROW 2: Starting in the first stitch (the SC from the previous row), work 2 DC. *Skip 2 DC, work 1 SC in the next DC. Skip the next 2 DC, 5 DC in next SC stitch. Repeat from * across the row, ending with 3 DC in the final stitch. CH 1 and turn.

ROW 3: Starting in the first stitch (the SC from the previous row), work 1 SC. *Skip 2 DC, work 5 DC into the SC, skip 2 DC, work 1 SC into the DC. Repeat from * across ending with 1 SC into the top of the turning chain, CH 3 and turn.Repeat rows 2 and 3 for the remainder of the blanket to the size you need. 

Border

After completing the last row of the blanket, CH 1 and turn to work down the first side with the Shell stitch as evenly as possible.  Corners can be worked with 5 DC or 1 SC. Rotate the blanket after the first side to work shell stitch across the bottom and then the other side. Join with a slip stitch after completing the side, tie off and weave in the ends. The last row of the blanket counts as the final side of the border. 

Thank you for stopping by for this classic crochet baby blanket pattern, if you’d like to see other baby blankets we have made be sure and look through our latest roundup of 50 Free Crochet Baby Blanket Patterns.

As always, each pattern on our website comes with a free printable pdf at the end of each post. Just tap the photo of the words that are linked to print or save as a pdf on your computer. 

For video help, we have a stitch tutorial you can watch to learn the shell stitch, see the video linked below by tapping on the arrow in the middle of the box, after a very short ad, the video will play. 

Happy Crocheting and I hope your blanket turns out beautiful! 

XO, Tiffany

Click here or image below for a printable pdf.