iKNITS: afghan

CROCHET LINEN STITCH WITH WAVY BORDER BLANKET

Remember when I made the checkered baby blanket for one of my besties? Well, I had another friend help me choose the colors, and while I was sending her pictures of all the options, she said, “Wait, I LOVE these two pinks together!”

Turns out… SHE was having a baby girl, too! 😂 So you KNOW I had to make her a blanket!

I asked her to hop online and find a pattern she loved, and she chose the Linen Square Blanket by Premier Yarns. The picture was so pretty, I totally understood why she picked it. And thankfully, the yarn weight she chose was the correct weight! Phew! 🙌

So I got to work.

And oh my gosh.

I know it’s been a while since I’ve followed a crochet pattern, but something about this one just was NOT working for me. I kept doing exactly what the pattern told me to do, and it just wasn’t looking right. I was getting SO frustrated.

I even called in one of my crochet experts—my mother-in-law 😂—and it wasn’t working for her either!

You guys HAVE to tell me if you try this pattern and let me know if it works for you. Because the way it was written, the square wasn’t continuous. You could clearly see where each round started, and we don’t want that!

So, I made a few edits to the pattern to get the look I wanted. I also totally changed the border. The original pattern had a lot of holes to make the wavy edge, and it just didn't look good in my opinion. Plus, having holes in a baby blanket isn't the best. So I did some trial and error, and it came out perfect! Like it was meant to be. If you’re making this blanket and need a little extra help, follow along with my tutorial here!

But guys… if you’re a creator, you KNOW how special it is when someone genuinely loves and appreciates a handmade gift you’ve poured your time and heart into. You can tell when someone truly appreciates it. And my best friend? This is exactly why she’s my bestie. ❤️ Her reaction was EVERYTHING. She was SO appreciative and understood how much love went into making something for her sweet baby girl—something they can cherish for generations to come. It made all the hair-pulling worth it. 😂 Get you a friend who supports you, appreciates your handmade creations, and makes all that hard work worth it. ❤️🧶

Okay friends, grab your hook and your yarn—here’s the revised pattern!

SKILL LEVEL - INTERMEDIATE

MATERIALS - Size 6 super bulky yarn

• Baby Bee Snugs & Kisses - Cozy Rosy & Strawberry Daze (2 skeins each)

• SIZE K (6.5MM) HOOK

Blanket Size: I forgot to measure it before I gave it to my friend but I did 35 rows and then the border. If you make the same size, let me know how big yours is!

PATTERN

Make a magic ring, and then ch 1. In your ring, sc, ch 1. Repeat this 7 times. So you will have 8 sc, and 8 ch 1. Join with slip st. into your first ch 1. Now you can tighten your ring! Magicccc!

Alright, time for your second color! Ch 1, then sc, ch 1, and sc, ch 1 in that same space to create our first corner.

Now you sc, ch 1 in the next space. Then let’s make our second corner, sc, ch 1 twice. It’s a tighter squeeze, but you can do it!

Then sc, ch1, in the next space.

Then do our third corner by sc, ch 1, sc, ch 1.

Sc, ch 1 in the next space.

Sc, ch 1 twice for your last and final corner! Hooray!

Sc, ch 1 in next space and then join in your first ch 1. Look how cute! We’re doing ittttt.

Now we ch 2, and this is when we change colors again. To make this seamless, you must do it this way. You have to carry your yarn. So, go through your first ch space, have your old yarn on the top of your project, sl st with your new yarn, keep your old yarn on the top, and sc, and ch 1. Go through the same space and sc, ch 1. Stop carrying your old yarn and continue with the rnd.

You will have 2 spaces between your corners for this round. And the next round it’ll be 3 spaces. It’s fairly easy to see when your corners are coming up so don’t worry if you lose count.

Sc, ch 1 twice. Then sc, ch 1 in the next ch space, find your next ch space and sc, ch 1.

Then we’re at our 3rd corner. Sc, ch 1, sc, ch 1.

Keep repeating this until the end of the round. Sl st. to join. Then ch 2.

I want to explain to you one more time how to switch colors: Go through your first ch space, bring our old yarn to the top or front (whatever you want to call it). Use your new yarn, pull it through, and sl st.

Then you start your next round with sc, ch 1 twice to make your first corner.

Keep repeating this to your desired length. I did 35 rounds. Look at the right side and the wrong side. Seamless! It’s perfection.

We are DONE! Looks so good. Okay now for the cute WAVE BORDER:

SET UP SC ROUND

At the end of your last rnd, join, ch 1, sc,

In the corners, we want 6 sc, so that was our first one. Lets do our second sc, 3, 4&5 go in the same st, and 6.

We’re just going to sc on the sides. I try to make it as evenly as possible. I tried to go through every stitch.

At the end of the round, sl st., sc in that same stitch.

WAVE

hdc, hdc, 3 dc, hdc, hdc, sc, slst, and that’s one wave! Let’s keep going.

*Sc, hdc, hdc, 3dc, hdc, hdc, sc, slst*

Keep repeating this until end of rnd. Sl st.

Pull your yarn out, cut it. Now weave in your ends. My favoriteeee part. You can get a tapestry needle, but you can use your crochet hook. The most important thing here is to make sure your yarn doesn’t show on both sides. You want to hide it. Then, you want to go back the other way so that it stays hidden. I do maybe 2 inches worth of yarn. When you feel like it’s enough, then cut it, and wa la!

I am so happy this wave border turned out so well! The one in the pattern was awful looking. Nobody wants holes like that. Especially for a baby blanket.

The original pattern waves

Okay now for the fun part, delivering it to my best friend who just had a baby! Her reaction is literally the best. (You can watch it on my youtube video) It’s everything us crafters dream of and makes all the hours, all the frustration, and starting over worth it. I love you Kaelin. Here's some pics of her and her baby girl!