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I’m so excited to share a free pattern with you today for a really easy, beginner-friendly, blanket granny square cardigan! This crochet cardigan has such a long story and history and I’m so happy it’s finally found its forever purpose.
Scroll down for the free instructions to make a cardigan from a blanket in a few easy steps!
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About the Blanket Granny Square Cardigan
This granny square cocoon cardigan started life as a humble granny blanket that I made years ago and have always struggled to know what to do with. I know that might seem crazy to say, I mean, it’s a blanket right?!
We used it as a blanket on the sofa for a while until we got the dog then it had to go away for its own safety! Then we used it at the end of our bed but then little people would pull it off every five minutes.
Then it got stapled onto a canvas and hung above our bed as a piece of artwork (it looked so cool like that!) but when we moved it didn’t look quite right so I had to think again.
I wrapped it around my myself and the penny dropped – turn it into a cardigan!
I’m so excited to share this technique with you to transform any blanket into a shrug type garment that is so easy to wear and will showcase all of that hard work you put into making the blanket in the first place!
The main thing I want to say here though is that I know this isn’t rocket science! I realise this isn’t groundbreaking and I wondered whether I should even share it or not. But I really hope you enjoy this granny square shrug pattern and use this tutorial as inspiration to make something fabulous for yourself.
The best thing is that with just 2 simple seams, your blanket can become a garment and so absolutely anyone can achieve this!
How to Crochet a Granny Square
For this pattern, the first thing you need to learn is how to make a granny square. I’m sure many of you can do them blindfolded (I tried it once and it almost worked!), but if not, I’ve put together a really simple step by step tutorial. It teaches you how to crochet a granny square and also a tip to keep it straight and stop it from twisting.
If you’re a bit of a crochet boffin like me you might also like to have a little read of the history of the granny square – it’s fascinating!
Other Stitches You Could Use to Make a Crochet Blanket Cardigan
The blanket I chose to transform happened to be a granny square blanket and I’m over the moon with the granny square cardigan it became. But there many other possibilities for using this technique!
So long as you make a blanket big enough to stretch over your arm span and reach from the nape of your neck to somewhere over your bottom then you can use any blanket you like.
Here are some other stitch patterns that I think would work really well for a project like this:
- Oyster Shell Stitch – really soft drape to this one
- Granny Block Stitch – you could have great fun with colours here
- Simple Cable Stitch – so simple but so beautiful
Yarn
My original blanket used Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk which is unfortunately not widely available anymore. A great alternative is Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino which comes in similar colours.
Any yarn with cashmere in it will make the project quite an investment so a great alternative (that I’ve colour matched as closely as I can) is Paintbox Yarns Simply DK which is really affordable and comes in so many beautiful colours too.
Another great idea is to raid your yarn stash! I bet we’ve all got enough yarn lurking in the house to make a blanket cardigan or two!
To make the blanket I used approximately 400g of the main white colour and then about 50g each of 10 other colours as a guide.
Tension and Sizing
Each of my granny squares measures 3.5 in (9cm) across but tension isn’t essential for this project. One sizes fit most for this crochet project, and you adapt yours by adding or subtracting granny squares to make it how you’d like it.
As a guide though, my blanket measured 33 in x 52 in (84cm x 132cm) and is a really big, slouchy fit on me as a UK size 12 (ish!) / medium size person.
Materials
Along with your yarn, you will need the following:
- A 4.5mm/G+ crochet hook or hook size that meets the pattern gauge
- Scissors
- Tapestry needle
- Stitch markers
Glossary/Abbreviations (US terminology)
- sc -single crochet
- dc – double crochet
- ch(s) – chain(s)
- ss – slip stitch
- sk – skip
- st(s) – stitch (es)
- RS – right side
- WS – wrong side
- rep – repeat
- sp – space
- beg – beginning
Pattern Notes
Turn your work after each round to make sure that the granny squares do not twist.
A ch2 at the beginning of a round does not count as a stitch.
I use the single crochet/ double crochet join method for this project but you can can seam your motifs however you would like to. I have 3 favourite ways of joining crochet squares together that you might enjoy learning.
Use whatever colour combinations you like to create your granny squares. I used white for the final round of each and to join them too. No two squares in my version are the same but I’d love for you to have fun and experiment to make yours truly unique!
Don’t forget to join HanJan Crochet to receive regular discount codes (and more free patterns!) and Pin this blanket granny square cardigan crochet pattern to your crochet Pinterest board!
Granny Square Cardigan Pattern
This free pattern is in standard US crochet terms.
Make 126 squares using the following pattern:
Make a magic ring.
Round 1: *3dc, ch2, rep from * three more times, ss in 1st to join. Turn work for next round.
Round 2: Join yarn to any ch2-corner, ch2, *(3dc, ch2, 3dc) in ch2-sp, ch1, rep from * three more times, ss in 1st to join. Turn work for next round.
Round 3: Join yarn to any ch2-corner, ch2, *(3dc, ch2, 3dc) in ch2-sp, ch1, 3dc in ch1-sp, ch1, rep from * three more times, ss in 1st to join. Turn work for next round.
Round 4: Join yarn to any ch2-corner, ch2, *(3dc, ch2, 3dc) in ch2-sp, ch1, (3dc in ch1-sp, ch1,) twice, rep from * three more times, ss in 1st to join. Turn work for next round.
To join the squares:
The granny squares are joined with a single crochet seam to the top of the throw to add some lovely texture – it also gives a lovely firm seam but you can whip stitch, back stitch or slip stitch them if you like.
To get the single crochet seam on the RS then arrange the squares in a random pattern of 14 x9.
With WS facing each other, join White in an end ch3 corner sp, 1ch, 2sc in this space, 1sc in each other stitch and space along, 2sc in last 3ch corner sp.
When working the other seam join in the same way but for the joint of 4 squares, 1ch to go over the top of the seam running in the opposite direction.
Creating the Seams and Finishing
To finish your crochet granny square cardigan, turn your blanket to WS facing and fold in half lengthways. Work a sc/dc seam along three granny squares on either of the short sides (leaving the middle 3 unworked for the armhole).
You should have 14 granny squares along the top and bottom of the cardigan, 3 granny squares for each armhole and 6 granny squares seamed together each side to form the sleeves.
Join HanJan and Share Your Crochet!
It’s an honour to be able to create and share my free crochet patterns with you. I’d love to stay connected and send you regular discount codes and free patterns! Please sign up for my subscriber list to get a free gift right now!
I look forward to seeing your finished crochet projects, especially this easy crochet pattern, so please share them with me in the HanJan Crochet Facebook group or on Instagram and tag #hanjancrochet.
More Granny Square Patterns
Here are a few more granny square patterns you might like to try:
Or if you have the garment making bug then you’ll also love this collection of easy crochet cardigan patterns for beginners!
