How to Crochet a Blanket for Beginners: Easy Pattern for Your Cozy Blanket

Crocheting a blanket is a rewarding project for beginners: you need just one stitch for the whole thing, and the growing blanket keeps your lap warm while you crochet. In this guide, we show you step by step how to crochet a throw of about 100 × 140 cm in half double crochet – with chunky yarn, an 8 mm hook and a reverse single crochet border. You'll also learn which yarn works well, how much of it you need, and how to crochet a granny square blanket or a striped blanket.

Crocheting a blanket: what you need

• Yarn: 9–10 balls of 100 g each for a 100 × 140 cm throw, plus 1 extra ball for the border. Good choices for our pattern are Chunky Yarn Milana with Wool, 130 m / 100 g and Chunky Wool Bella with Baby Alpaca, 120 m / 100 g.
• Crochet hook in the size listed under "Crochet hook" in the yarn's product description – 8 mm for the pattern below. A second hook in 9 mm is helpful for the foundation chain.
• Stitch markers: at least 2, plus a few more for counting the foundation chain
• Tapestry needle with a blunt tip for weaving in the ends
• Scissors and a tape measure
• Kitchen scale (optional), if you want to calculate exactly how much yarn you need

Which yarn is best for a blanket?

A good blanket yarn is soft and warm but still lightweight – a large blanket can easily weigh 1–2 kg. For your first crochet blanket, we recommend a chunky yarn with a yardage of 120–130 m per 100 g: the stitches are easy to see, and the blanket grows quickly. Medium-weight yarns with 180–220 m give a finer stitch pattern but need more stitches and rows.

Blended yarns are a great choice for blankets: wool keeps you warm, alpaca makes the yarn soft, and acrylic makes it lightweight and helps it keep its shape.

Our yarns for blankets

Chunky Yarn Milana with Wool, 130 m / 100 g – 45 % wool, 55 % acrylic, hook size 7–8 mm, in white. The yarn glides smoothly over the hook – just right if you're crocheting a blanket for the first time. The pattern below is calculated for this yarn and an 8 mm hook.

Chunky Wool Bella with Baby Alpaca, 120 m / 100 g – 30 % baby alpaca, 45 % wool, 25 % acrylic, hook size 7–9 mm, in dark brown and brown. Our thickest yarn, so your blanket grows fastest with it. Baby alpaca keeps you warm, and the wool holds the shape.

Wool Nello with Alpaca, 180 m / 100 g – 50 % wool, 15 % alpaca, 35 % acrylic, hook size 5–6 mm, in green, purple and orange. The colors are solid and muted and easy to combine, which makes this yarn especially well suited to granny squares.

Multicolor Yarn Tenero with Alpaca, 180 m / 100 g – 15 % alpaca, 15 % wool, 70 % acrylic, hook size 5.5–6.5 mm, in multicolor. Several colors run through the same strand and blend into one another – so your blanket turns out colorful without a single color change. It's the softest and fluffiest of our multicolor yarns.

Glitter Wool Nila with Alpaca, 220 m / 100 g – 25 % alpaca, 25 % wool, 20 % acrylic, 20 % polyamide, 10 % metal (metallized), hook size 4–5 mm, 12 colors. A fine metallic thread runs alongside and shimmers depending on the light. This yarn is best for accents such as pillows or a lightweight decorative throw for the sofa. For a cozy blanket to snuggle up in and for baby blankets, choose a yarn without a metallic thread.

You'll find all our blanket yarns in our Yarn for Blankets category, and more thick yarns under Chunky Yarn.

How much yarn do I need for a blanket?

That depends on the size, the stitch and the yarn weight. Crocheted fabric is denser than knitted fabric, so it takes more yarn. Our guidelines for yarns with a yardage of 120–220 m per 100 g:

• Crocheted in half double crochet or double crochet: approx. 600–700 g per m²
• Granny squares: a little less, approx. 500–600 g per m²
• Knitted: approx. 450–550 g per m²

Rounded up generously, this gives you the following for blankets in half double crochet:

Blanket	Size	Yarn (balls of 100 g)
Baby blanket	70 × 90 cm	4–5 balls
Sofa throw	100 × 140 cm	9–10 balls
Cozy blanket	130 × 170 cm	14–16 balls
Bedspread	150 × 200 cm	19–22 balls

For each amount, plan on 1 extra ball for the border.

How to calculate your yarn requirements exactly

For an even more precise figure, make your own swatch. Using your yarn and hook, crochet a 15 × 15 cm piece in the blanket's stitch pattern and weigh it on a kitchen scale. Then calculate:

Weight of the swatch in g ÷ 225 cm² × area of the blanket in cm² = yarn needed in g

Example: your swatch weighs 14 g, and the throw measures 100 × 140 cm, which is 14,000 cm². 14 ÷ 225 × 14,000 comes to about 870 g. So you need 9 balls plus 1 extra ball for the border. If your swatch isn't exactly 15 × 15 cm, use its actual area instead of 225.

How to half double crochet: the basic stitch for your blanket

The half double crochet (hdc) is taller than a single crochet and shorter than a double crochet. It creates a dense, soft fabric without holes and grows faster than single crochet – ideal for a cozy blanket. Here's how:

1. Yarn over: bring the yarn over the hook from back to front.
2. Insert the hook into the next stitch, under both loops.
3. Yarn over and pull up a loop through the stitch. You now have 3 loops on the hook.
4. Yarn over again and pull through all 3 loops at once.

We explain chains, single crochet and double crochet in detail in our guide Crochet for Beginners.

Pattern: crocheting a blanket step by step

Size: sofa throw, approx. 100 × 136 cm without the border, approx. 104 × 140 cm with the border
Materials: 9–10 balls of Chunky Yarn Milana or Chunky Wool Bella, plus 1 extra ball for the border, crochet hooks in 8 mm and 9 mm, stitch markers, tapestry needle
Gauge: 10 hdc and 7 rows = 10 × 10 cm with an 8 mm hook
Abbreviations: ch = chain(s), hdc = half double crochet, sc = single crochet, sl st = slip stitch(es), st(s) = stitch(es)

This gauge is just an example, because everyone crochets a little differently. So crochet your own swatch first. If your gauge is different, recalculate: desired width in cm × stitches per cm = number of ch – at 11 hdc per 10 cm, that's 110 ch plus 2 turning ch. You don't need to recalculate the rows: just crochet until the length is right.

1. Make the foundation chain

Chain 100 for the width plus 2 turning ch, for a total of 102 ch. Use the 9 mm hook for this: foundation chains tend to be too tight, which makes the bottom edge of the blanket pull in. Place a stitch marker after every 20 ch so you don't lose count.

2. First row

Switch to the 8 mm hook. Work 1 hdc in the 3rd ch from the hook, then 1 hdc in each remaining ch. You now have 100 hdc. The 2 skipped ch are your turning chain and don't count as a stitch.

3. Row 2 and onward

Ch 2 (does not count as a stitch) and turn your work. Work 1 hdc in each st of the previous row: the first one in the stitch right next to the turning chain, the last one in the last hdc of the previous row – not in the turning chain. At the end of the row, you'll have 100 hdc again.

Mark the first and last stitch and move both markers up every row. That way you'll always find the edge stitches. At first, count your stitches after every row; later, about every 10 rows.

4. Crochet to the desired length

Repeat row 2 until the blanket is about 136 cm long – at our gauge, that's about 95 rows. Measure on a table without stretching the blanket. The border will add about 2 cm on each side later.

Always join a new ball at the end of a row, never in the middle: work the last hdc until there are 3 loops on the hook, then pull the new yarn through all 3 loops. Leave tails of about 15 cm from both the old and the new yarn to weave in later.

Crocheting the border and finishing the blanket

A border straightens the edges and hides small irregularities at the row ends.

Round 1: single crochet

After the last row, ch 1, then, without turning, work single crochet all around the blanket. Along the top edge and the foundation edge, work 1 sc in each stitch; along the long sides, work about 3 sc for every 2 rows. In each of the 4 corners, work 3 sc into the same spot. Join the round with 1 sl st into the first sc. The border should lie flat: if it ruffles, work fewer sc; if it pulls in, work more.

Round 2: reverse single crochet

Reverse single crochet (crab stitch) is single crochet worked backward without turning – if you're right-handed, that means from left to right. Ch 1, insert the hook into the next stitch to the right of the hook and pull up a loop (2 loops on the hook). Yarn over again and pull through both loops. This creates a sturdy, cord-like edge. Join the round with 1 sl st, cut the yarn and pull it through the last loop.

Weaving in the ends, washing and blocking

Weave in all the ends with the tapestry needle: run each tail a few centimeters through the stitches on the wrong side, change direction once, and only then cut it. That way it won't come loose, even in the wash.

Finally, hand wash the blanket at 30 °C – the bathtub is easiest. Gently press out the water without wringing, roll the blanket in towels and let it dry flat. While it dries, ease it into shape and pin the edges straight on blocking mats or a large towel. Read more in our guide How to Wash Wool.

Keeping your blanket straight: common beginner mistakes

• The blanket gets narrower or wider: usually a stitch gets lost or added at the end of a row because the turning chain was counted as a stitch or the last stitch was missed. Stitch markers help prevent this.
• The blanket gets lopsided or wavy: your tension is changing. Crochet in a relaxed, even way, and after the first 10 cm, measure whether the blanket is as wide at the top as at the bottom.
• The stitches are very tight: this makes the blanket stiff and uses more yarn. Pull your loops up a little higher when you yarn over, or use a larger hook.

Crocheting a granny square blanket

Granny squares are small squares made of clusters of double crochet (dc) that you work in rounds and then join into a blanket at the end. They're easy to take with you on the go, and you can combine colors however you like. For Wool Nello with Alpaca, use a 5–6 mm hook.

1. Start: ch 4 and join into a ring with 1 sl st.
2. Round 1: ch 3 (counts as the first dc), 2 dc into the ring, then 3 times *ch 2, 3 dc into the ring*. Ch 2 and join the round with 1 sl st into the 3rd ch of the beginning ch-3. You have 4 clusters of 3 dc and 4 corner spaces of 2 ch each.
3. Round 2: sl st across the next 2 dc and work 1 sl st into the corner space. In this corner space, work ch 3, 2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc. In each of the other corner spaces, work 3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc, with ch 1 between the corners. Ch 1 and join the round with 1 sl st into the 3rd ch of the beginning ch-3.
4. Round 3 and onward: begin as in round 2. In each corner, work 3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc; in each ch-1 space along the sides, work 3 dc, with ch 1 between all clusters. With every round, each side gains one cluster.

To change colors, cut the yarn at the end of the round and join the new color in a corner space. Keep crocheting rounds until your square measures about 15 × 15 cm. For a 105 × 135 cm blanket, you'll need 7 × 9 = 63 squares and 8–9 balls, for example 3 each in purple, orange and green, plus 1 ball for the border.

To join them, place two squares right sides together and crochet them together along one edge through both layers with slip stitches or single crochet – first into strips, then the strips to each other. If you place the squares wrong sides together, you'll get a visible decorative ridge on the front.

More variations: striped blanket, gradient blanket and baby blanket

• Striped blanket: crochet following the pattern above and change colors at the end of a row, just as when you join a new ball. Stripes of 4 rows each in dark brown and brown in Chunky Wool Bella look lovely, for example. With an even number of rows per stripe, every color change falls on the same side. You can then carry the unused color loosely up the edge and save yourself lots of ends to weave in.
• Gradient blanket: with Multicolor Yarn Tenero with Alpaca, the color changes happen on their own. Because this yarn is thinner (hook size 5.5–6.5 mm), crochet a gauge swatch and recalculate the foundation chain. You'll find more yarns under Gradient Yarn.
• Crocheting a large cozy blanket: for about 130 × 170 cm, at our gauge, chain 130 + 2 and crochet until the blanket is about 166 cm long, which is about 116 rows. You'll need 14–16 balls plus extra for the border.
• Baby blanket: for 70 × 90 cm, you'll need 4–5 balls. Choose a soft yarn without a metallic thread and a dense stitch like half double crochet, so little fingers can't get caught. Read more in Which Yarn for a Baby Blanket?

Examples for inspiration

Here's what crocheted blankets can look like – in colors that are also available in our yarns.

Note: The images in this section are AI-generated examples for inspiration.

Frequently asked questions about crocheting a blanket

Can I crochet a blanket if I'm just starting out?
Yes. A half double crochet blanket uses a single stitch worked back and forth in rows. With chunky yarn you'll see progress quickly, and small irregularities hardly show in such a large piece.

How long does it take to crochet a blanket?
The throw in our pattern has about 10,000 stitches. Depending on your pace, plan on roughly 15–25 hours of crocheting.

Which stitch is best for a blanket?
For beginners, we recommend half double crochet. It's dense and soft and grows faster than single crochet. Double crochet is even faster but leaves small gaps.

Which is faster: crocheting or knitting a blanket?
Crocheting is usually faster because each stitch is taller. On the other hand, a crocheted blanket takes more yarn: about 600–700 g per m² compared with 450–550 g for knitting.

Can I wash a crocheted blanket in the washing machine?
For all our blanket yarns, we recommend hand washing at 30 °C instead of the washing machine: don't wring, dry flat and don't put it in the dryer.

Your yarn for the blanket comes to you from Görlitz – with free shipping within Germany, in 2–4 business days. Have fun crocheting!