Intermediate ✦✦✦✧✧
Here is a free crochet pattern for a new type of 3-stranded basketweave that is super stretchy. The pattern includes videos to show how to weave the stitches through one another.
A few months ago, I started making this blanket. I found myself staring at a plastic box that I put my son's toys in trying to figure out the pattern on it. It was a basketweave pattern but with three strands woven together instead of just 2 in a traditional basketweave. I knew I just had to find a way to recreate it in crochet.
This free crochet blanket pattern looks best when used with the various self striping yarn cakes that are available since the weave pattern blends the rows together to make the color changes more seamless. One side looks like a smooth gradient while the other side has a really neat dithered effect.
One surprising detail about this pattern is that it created a very stretchy fabric. This blanket can easily stretch to cover that pesky shoulder that always pokes out.
To top it all off, I made it with bulky self-striping yarn (Caron Tea Cakes) so it stitches up relatively fast and there are only 2 ends to weave in when you use a Russian join to seamlessly join cakes.
For this blanket, I used 8 skeins of Caron's Tea Cakes in the "Lady Grey" colorway. My blanket measures 48 inches wide and 72 inches long, perfect for a twin bed or two people to cuddle under on the couch.
This blanket can be made with any yarn weight and appropriate hook combination for a soft fabric (I recommend a 6mm hook with worsted weight yarn, and a 3.5mm hook with fingering weight yarn).
Gauge: 8 stitches in 4 rows of double crochet makes a 4 inch square (using Caron Tea Cakes bulky weight yarn and a 10mm hook). Gauge is not important for this pattern.
Pattern:
Chain a multiple of 4 + 3 sts. My blanket starts with a chain of 95.
Row 1: Ch 3 (counts as the first dc), dc in the back loop of each ch across. Turn.
Row 2: Ch 7 (counts as the first hdc and ch-loop), [skip 3 sts, hdc, ch 5] repeat across to the last 3 sts, hdc, ch 2, skip 1 st, hdc in the 3rd ch of the turning chain below. Turn.
Row 3: Ch 7 (counts as the first hdc and ch-loop), [skip 3 sts in Row 1, dc in the next st in Row 1 (make sure that you stitch in front of Row 2), ch 5] repeat across to the last 3 sts, dc in the next st in Row 1, ch 2, skip 1 st, hdc in the 2nd ch of the turning chain from the row below. Turn.
Row 4: Ch 7 (counts as the first hdc and ch-loop), [skip 3 sts, tc in the same st as the next hdc from Row 2 (the treble should be stitched behind Row 3 and in front of Row 2), ch 5] repeat across to the last 3 sts, tc in the same st as the next hdc from row 2, ch 2, skip 2 sts, hdc in the 2nd ch of the turning chain from the row below. Turn.
Row 5: Ch 7 (counts as the first hdc and ch-loop), [dc around the next ch-loop three rows below so that it is behind the loop in the row just below and in front of the dc two rows below, ch 5] repeat for each loop across, ch 2, hdc in the 2nd ch of the turning ch below. Turn.
Row 6: Ch 7 (counts as the first hdc and ch-loop), [dc around the next ch-loop three rows below so that it is in front of the loop in the row just below and behind the dc two rows below, ch 5] repeat for each loop across, ch 2, hdc in the 2nd ch of the turning ch below. Turn.
Row 7: "Weave the dc in back": Ch 7 (counts as the first hdc and ch-loop), [dc around the next ch-loop three rows below so that it is behind the dc two rows below and in front of the loop in the row just below, ch 5] repeat for each loop across, ch 2, hdc in the 2nd ch of the turning ch below. Turn.
Row 8: "Weave the dc in front": Ch 7 (counts as the first hdc and ch-loop), [dc around the next ch-loop three rows below so that it is in front of the dc two rows below and behind the loop in the row just below, ch 5] repeat for each loop across, ch 2, hdc in the 2nd ch of the turning ch below. Turn.
Repeat Rows 7 and 8 until the blanket is the length you want.
Row 7: Ch 3 (counts as the first hdc and ch), hdc around the first loop 2 rows below (the one that would normally be skipped), [ch, (dc around the next loop 3 rows below while weaving behind the loop 1 row below and sc around the loop 1 row below) together, ch, hdc around the next loop 2 rows below] repeat across ending with a hdc in the second chain of the turning chain from the row below. Turn.
Row 8: Ch 3 (counts as the first dc), dc in each stitch and chain across.
