It’s never too early to start making a blanket for a spring baby! We love a classic stitch as well. This stitch combines a row of double crochets worked around the chains from the previous row to create a “box” look. You’ll find the pattern rhythmic and comforting after you get the first few rows established. 

This is a great pattern when you are ready to advance your beginning skills a bit further and when you are ready for a little more stitch variation through the rows. 

This blanket can be made with any type of yarn and any weight of yarn. To achieve the same look as this blanket, you’ll want to use a 4 weight acrylic. We love using Caron Simply Soft because of the wide range of color options and how well it washes. Plus it is very soft. 

Here is a quick video of the Boxed Block Stitch if you’d like to watch before you get started!

Materials

Caron Simply Soft (100% acrylic, 170 g/6 oz, 288 m/315 yds)

2 skeins White, 1 skein each Gold, Sunshine, Soft Pink, Strawberry

Size H/5.00mm hook, tapestry needle, scissors

Size

Finished size 27 in x 30 in

Gauge 4 in = 16 st and 8 rows of pattern

Stitches

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

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 and Back Post Double Crochet (FPDC & BPDC): A front post DC means you insert your hook from front to back around the post of the next DC and work your DC. A back post DC means you insert your hook around the post from the back to the front and work a DC.

Pattern

Chain 103 with White (if you’d like to make a custom size the pattern repeat is a multiple of 5, plus 3).  

Row 1: Work 1 SC in the second chain from the hook and in each stitch across. CH 1 and turn.

Row 2:  Work 1 SC in each of the first two stitches, *CH 3, skip the next three stitches, work 1 SC in each of the next two stitches. Repeat from * to the end. Your last two stitches will be SC in each of the last two spaces. CH 3 and turn.

Row 3: DC 5 into each space that the chain 3 made all the way across, skipping over the first two SC and all others, just work into the space made by the chain 3’s with 5 DC.  End with one DC in the last SC of the row below. CH 1 and turn.

Row 4: SC in the first two DC, *CH 3, skip over the next 3 DC, SC in the next 2 DC*, Repeat * all the way across, your last two stitches will be two SC in the last two spaces. CH 1 and turn.

Repeat rows 3 and 4 for the remainder of the blanket, with the following color changes: 

4 rows (2 blocks) White, 2 rows (1 block) Sunshine, 2 blocks White, 1 block Strawberry, 2 blocks White, 1 block Gold, 2 blocks White, 1 block Soft Pink, 2 blocks White, 1 block Sunshine, 2 blocks White, 1 block Strawberry, 2 blocks White, 1 block Gold, 2 blocks White, 1 block Soft Pink, 2 blocks White, 1 block Sunshine, 2 blocks White

Border

Weave in all ends with a tapestry needle.

Round 1: With White, pull up a loop in the top left hand corner chain 3. Work 1 round of DC around the blanket, working 5 DCs in each corner. On the sides, work 2 DC into the side of each DC post and one DC into a SC. 

Round 2: When you reach the corner you started with, work 5 DCs around the starting chain, then keep going around the blanket in the same direction, this time alternating front and back post double crochet (FPDC and BPDC).

A front post DC means you insert your hook from front to back around the post of the next DC and work your DC.  A back post DC means you insert your hook from the back to the front and work a DC. When you get to the corners of this row, you will want to continue the pattern of alternating front and back post double crochet, but you will work three stitches around the corner post. 

So, for example, if you get to the corner post and you are supposed to work a front post DC, then work a front post DC, a back post DC, and a front post DC all around that corner post.  Then in the next stitch you would continue the alternating pattern, working the opposite of whichever stitch you just used (in this example, you would work a back post DC). Just remember that you are always alternating front and back post double crochet around the whole blanket, you just happen to be working three of those stitches around the same post when you are working the corners.

Rounds 3 – 4: When you finish round 2, work 3 alternating front post/back post DCs into the corner you started with and repeat round 2. Always match your post double crochets to so that they are poking out in the same direction as the row below. I did five rounds total for the border of my blanket, but you can go around as many times as you’d like to get your desired border height. When you are finished with your border, slip stitch into the starting stitch and tie off. 

Block the blanket if needed by either hand washing and then reshaping and laying it out to dry, or simply use a spray bottle. I have found that using the Caron Simply soft does not require pins to block, just reshaping with my hands and letting it dry does the trick.

Thank you so much for visiting our blog, I hope you enjoy making this blanket! When you finish your project, please come share a picture with us on Facebook or Instagram using @daisyfarmcrafts, we’d love to see! 

Also, we have made this blanket in different shades of Caron Simply Soft several years ago if you’re curious in seeing it in blues. 

Click here or image below for free printable pdf.