Birch Please Crochet Blanket + Tutorial

A fast two-day crochet blanket using Bernat Blanket yarn. Inspired by birch trees and quick repeating of 4 rounds of instructions. I became seriously addicted to this pattern I created due to the colour strategy involved, which I will share below. This is the Birch Please Crochet Blanket pattern.

If you prefer not to use Bernat Blanket, you can substitute the hook to match the yarn recommendation. Look at the ball bands on examples like Red Heart Super Saver, Red Heart with Love, Bernat Super Value or other yarns you love.

I thought the crisscross stitches would be fun if the crisscross were the subsequent colour blocking. It also gives you milestones that are fascinating to see how it will turn out. It makes the crisscrosses jump out of the pattern as well.

I was inspired by the Conversation Crochet Shawl and Conversation Crochet Blanket. The stitch sequence is similar. This square example has a colour strategy where the other two let the yarn play itself out for colouring.

Tutorial

Each repetition is 4 rounds. The crisscrosses are the next main colour of the next repeat. See the birch colour below. There are two rounds of birch; the crisscross is vapour gray (darker gray colouring) and returns to birch for the final round of the repeat. The next repetition starts with vapour gray for two rounds, goes to pale gray for the crisscross, and finishes with vapour gray.

Regardless of the colours you choose, the sequence of the colours may keep you addicted to this pattern.

Yarn and Technical Details

Instructions

Each repeat will grow the blanket by 7" across. Notice the start of the 1st rnd will have even numbers for the sides and will be consistent throughout the entire project.

With A, ch 4. Join with sl st to beg ch to form ring.

1st rnd: Ch 3, counts as dc, 3 dc in ring. Ch 2. [4 dc in ring, ch 2] three times. Join. 4 dc per side.

Repeating starts here. Crisscross rnds will be the next main colour sequence.

If you start starting over from 13th rnd here. Join A with sl st to beg ch-2 sp corner.

2nd rnd: Using BLO. Ch 1, 1 sc in same sp, *1 sc in each st,** (1 sc. Ch 2. 1 sc) in ch-2 sp; rep from * twice, then from * to ** once, 1 sc in beg sp. Join. 6 sc.

3rd rnd: Ch 3 (counts as dc here and throughout), 1 dc in same sp, *1 dc in each st to corner,** (2 dc. Ch 2. 2 dc) in ch-2 sp; rep from * twice, then from * to ** once,  2 dc in beg sp. Join. Break A. 10 dc.

Tip: For crisscrosses, if you end up with an odd stitch left over, chances are you skipped over something. If you run into this, count the side before the side you are having trouble with and count the crisscrosses. This will help you get back on track. Squeeze in an extra crisscross if you need to, or skip the last st before a corner to get your counts to be even as the previous side(s). There are always ways to cheat the system with this.

4th rnd: With B, join to ch-2 sp corner. Ch 3 (counts as dc here and throughout), 1 dc in same sp, *criss cr to next corner.** (2 dc. Ch 2. 2 dc) in ch-2 sp; rep from * twice, then from * to ** once,  2 dc in beg sp. Join. Break B. 5 crisscrosses and 4 dc. 14 dc total.

5th rnd: With A, join to ch-2 sp corner. Ch 3, 1 dc in same sp, *1 dc in each st to corner,** (2 dc. Ch 2. 2 dc) in ch-2 sp; rep from * twice, then from * to ** once,  2 dc in beg sp. Join. Break A. 18 dc.

Next Repeating

6th rnd: With B, join to ch-2 sp corner. Using BLO. Ch 1, 1 sc in same sp, *1 sc in each st,** (1 sc. Ch 2. 1 sc) in ch-2 sp; rep from * twice, then from * to ** once, 1 sc in beg sp. Join. 20 sc.

7th rnd: Ch 3, 1 dc in same sp, *1 dc in each st to corner,** (2 dc. Ch 2. 2 dc) in ch-2 sp; rep from * twice, then from * to ** once,  2 dc in beg sp. Join. Break B. 24 dc.

8th rnd: With C, join to ch-2 sp corner. Ch 3 (counts as dc here and throughout), 1 dc in same sp, *criss cr to next corner.** (2 dc. Ch 2. 2 dc) in ch-2 sp; rep from * twice, then from * to ** once,  2 dc in beg sp. Join. Break C. 12 crisscrosses and 4 dc. 28 dc total.

9th rnd: With B, join to ch-2 sp corner. Ch 3, 1 dc in same sp, *1 dc in each st to corner,** (2 dc. Ch 2. 2 dc) in ch-2 sp; rep from * twice, then from * to ** once,  2 dc in beg sp. Join. Break B. 32 dc.

Next Repeating

10th rnd: With C, join to ch-2 sp corner. Using BLO. Ch 1, 1 sc in same sp, *1 sc in each st,** (1 sc. Ch 2. 1 sc) in ch-2 sp; rep from * twice, then from * to ** once, 1 sc in beg sp. Join. 34 sc.

11th rnd: Ch 3, 1 dc in same sp, *1 dc in each st to corner,** (2 dc. Ch 2. 2 dc) in ch-2 sp; rep from * twice, then from * to ** once,  2 dc in beg sp. Join. Break C. 38 dc.

12th rnd: With A, join to ch-2 sp corner. Ch 3 (counts as dc here and throughout), 1 dc in same sp, *criss cr to next corner.** (2 dc. Ch 2. 2 dc) in ch-2 sp; rep from * twice, then from * to ** once,  2 dc in beg sp. Join. Break A. 19 crisscrosses, 4 dc. 42 dc total.

13th rnd: With C, join to ch-2 sp corner. Ch 3, 1 dc in same sp, *1 dc in each st to corner,** (2 dc. Ch 2. 2 dc) in ch-2 sp; rep from * twice, then from * to ** once,  2 dc in beg sp. Join. Break C. 46 dc.

Repeat 2nd to 13th rnds once. Then 2 to 5 once.

Stitch Counts for the repeating

14th rnd: 48 sc.

15th rnd: 52 dc.

16th rnd: 26 crisscrosses and 4 dc. 56 dc total.

17th rnd: 60 dc.

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18th rnd: 62 sc.

19th rnd: 66 dc.

20th rnd: 33 crisscrosses and 4 dc. 70 dc total.

21st rnd: 74 dc.

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22nd rnd: 76 sc.

23rd rnd: 80 dc.

24th rnd: 40 criscrosses and 4 dc. 84 dc total.

25th rnd: 88 dc.

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26th rnd: 90 sc.

27th rnd: 94 dc.

28th rnd: 47 crisscrosses and 4 dc. 98 dc total.

29th rnd: 102 dc.

30th rnd: With B, join to ch-2 sp corner. Using BLO. Ch 1, 1 sc in same sp, *1 sc in each st,** (1 sc. Ch 2. 1 sc) in ch-2 sp; rep from * twice, then from * to ** once, 1 sc in beg sp. Join. Break B. 104 sc.

31st rnd: With C, join to ch-2 sp corner. With C, join to ch-2 sp corner. Ch 3, 4 dc in same sp, *1 dc in each st to corner,** 5 in ch-2 sp; rep from * twice, then from * to ** once. Join. Break C. 104 dc along the sides with 5 dc in each corner sp.

32nd rnd: With A, join to any corner sp. Sl st in each st around the blanket. Join. Fasten off.

Stitch Count Tips

If you are increasing the stitch rounds or using a different yarn they will do many more rounds. There are 4 rounds that make up a repeat. In the repeating, the stitch counts will increase by the follow per repeating.

1st rnd: + 2 sc.

2nd rnd: + 4 dc.

3rd rnd: + 4 dc. You will have increased crisscrosses by 7 additional crisscrosses from the last time you did it.

4th rnd: + 4 dc.

I don't know the yarn quantities if you go out on your own to change the yarn or hook size.

Other Couple Designs to Consider

The Tester's Delight Crochet Blanket is written in rectangle and square format.

You may love the transitions of this Thick Conversation Crochet Blanket. If you noticed, it's the same stitch sequence as the Birch Please Crochet Blanket but done in rows.