Easy Crochet Square Motif – Free Square Crochet Blanket Pattern

Until recently the thought of making the same crochet square over and over generally filled me with dread. I’ve now found that there’s a sense of mindfulness and peace that can come with the repetition of an easy crochet motif with this crochet blanket pattern.

I’ve always been a huge fan of crochet afghans, blankets and throws and so I’m delighted to share with you the free pattern for the Hot Square Crochet Blanket.

It’s a really easy crochet square motif blanket that is great for beginners or for those wanting an escape with some gentle and soothing crochet. The extra bonus is that it’s perfect to use up your yarn stash too!

You can carry on reading to find the free pattern here in this blogpost or purchase the premium ad-free PDF version of the easy crochet square motif blanket pattern in my pattern store.

About the Hot Squares Crochet Blanket Pattern

This super easy square crochet blanket is a fabulous burst of colour and energy perfect to suit any home or garden. We use ours in the children’s playroom and it regularly gets taken outside for picnics and for den making too!

The clever placement of both the colours and the direction of the crochet square motifs makes a stunning geometric design with an ombre feel that is hugely customisable to make it perfect for your colour scheme and favourite colours.

Alternatively, you can go to town with your yarn stash and use up all of your odds and ends as each crochet square uses a main colour and then three others to create the mitred square corner so you hardly need any yarn at all for that part.

The pattern is in both US and UK terms and includes a helpful colour coded chart to print out and keep track of your colour changes. I’ve also made a step by step video tutorial of the crochet square motifs if you enjoy learning that way too – link below near the pattern!

Pattern Options

The Hot Squares Blanket is a free crochet pattern in both UK and US terms on the blog for everyone to enjoy, just scroll down to find it. If you’d prefer an ad-free version you can find them here:

Find the premium ad-free PDF of the Hot Square Crochet Blanket Pattern in my Etsy Pattern Store.

Find the premium ad-free PDF of the Hot Square Crochet Blanket Pattern here in my LoveCrafts Pattern Store.

Add the Hot Square Crochet Blanket Pattern to your Ravelry queue.

Pin the crochet blanket for later using this image (or any image you like on this post!) to your crochet board:

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I’d absolutely love for you to join me at HanJan Crochet so that we can connect and stay in touch! Sign up to receive a free PDF pattern and exclusive access to all of my patterns, offers and news. I can’t wait to hear from you!

I’ve also just launched my Flora Quilt which is a detailed flower crochet blanket pattern made with motifs that I hope you love!

Yarn

I used Scheepjes Cahlista which is an Aran natural cotton yarn to make my crochet blanket. It’s 100% natural cotton and 50g/85m and most importantly comes in a huge range of colours!

I used the following colours:

10 balls of :

Yarn A – Bridal White (105) 

3 balls of :

Yarn H – Watermelon (252)

 Yarn I – Candy Apple (516) 

Yarn J – Shocking Pink (114) 

2 balls each of:

Yarn E – Poppy Rose (390) 

Yarn F – Rich Coral (410) 

Yarn G – Apricot (524)

Yarn K – Garden Rose (251) 

1 ball each of:

Yarn B – Lemon (280) 

Yarn C – Yellow Gold (208) 

Yarn D – Tangerine (281) 

Yarn L – Lavender (520)

In case you would like to use your stash or change the colours, you will need approximately 2500m. I needed a total of 31 balls of yarn to make my blanket, 10 balls of which was the Main Colour, 3 balls of 3 other colours, 2 balls of 4 other colours and 1 ball of 4 other colours.

If you’d like a great alternative then you could use Paintbox cotton Aran yarn, which is exactly the same yardage of 85m/50g and also comes in a beautiful range of colours too!

Finding the right yarn for your projects can be tricky sometimes and depends on so many things like fibre content, yarn weight, budget, colour choices and more. I’ve put together a guide for the best yarn for crochet blankets to help you discover the things I’ve learnt over the years as both a designer and maker that help me choose the perfect one.

Tension and Sizing

The finished square crochet blanket measures 139cm by 139cm.

Each completed crochet motif measures 15cm by 15cm.

Materials

Along with the yarn to make your blanket you will also need:

5mm (US 8/H) crochet hook – my favourites are Furls Streamline Swirl crochet hooks or Clover Amour crochet hooks.

Tapestry needle

Scissors

Stitch markers if desired

Notes

Make a total of 81 squares following the chart for colour changes.

Each square is made of a small square in Yarn A with a 3 colour border on two sides.

The blanket is constructed in 9 rows of 9 square motifs.

You can seam your motifs however you would like but I have 3 favourite ways of joining crochet squares together that you might enjoy learning.

Glossary/Abbreviations

ch(s) – chain(s)

st(s) – stitch(es)

ss – slip stitch

rep – repeat

RS – right side 

WS – wrong side

BL – back loop

FL – front loop

Crochet Stitches

UK Terms	US Terms
dc – double crochet	sc – single crochet
htr – half treble	hdc – half double crochet
tr – treble	dc – double crochet

Mitred Crochet Square Video Tutorial

If you enjoy learning by watching then you’re in luck! I’ve created a crochet tutorial video to take you through every step of how to crochet one of the squares that construct the blanket. I really hope you enjoy it and that you find it helpful!

You can pin the image below to your Pinterest crochet board so that you can come back to it another day too:

The Hot Square Crochet Blanket Pattern – UK Terms

Make 81 squares using the chart below the pattern for colour changes:

WHITE SECTION:

Foundation chain: with Yarn A, ch10

Row 1: RS: (dc, tr) in 2nd ch from hook, *skip next ch, (dc, tr) in next ch; rep from *twice more, skip ch, dc in last ch, turn [9sts]

Row 2: ch1 (doesn’t count as a st throughout), (dc, tr) in
first st, *skip next st, (dc, tr) in next st; rep from * two more times, skip st, dc in last st, turn.

Rows 3-9: Repeat Row 2, do not turn at the end of Row 9 

Round 10: RS: ch1, *dc in each row end or st to next corner, ch; rep from * 3 more times, ss in 1st st to join [36dc, 4ch]

Fasten off and weave in ends.

3-COLOUR BORDER:

Change Yarn according to chart. With RS facing join Yarn to first st after any ch1-sp.

Row 11: RS: ch1, dc in each st to ch1-sp (dc, ch1, dc) in ch1-sp, dc in each st to next ch1-sp, turn [20dc, 1 ch1-sp] 

Row 12: FL only – Repeat Row 11 [22dc, 1 ch1-sp]

Row 13: BL only – Repeat Row 11 [24dc, 1 ch1-sp] Fasten off and weave in ends.

Rows 14-19: Repeat Rows 11-13 twice more following the colour sequence for each square.

BORDER THE SQUARE:

With RS facing, join Yarn A to first st after any ch1-sp. 

Round 20: RS: ch1, *dc in each st or row end to ch1-sp, ch1; rep from * around, ss in 1st st to join [72dc, 4 ch1-sps]

Fasten off and weave in all ends.

Block all squares before joining.

JOIN THE SQUARES:

Refer to the chart when laying out your blanket. Using Yarn A, place squares RS together and join using a slip stitch seam through the back loops only.

Colour and Layout Chart

Key:

Yarn A – Bridal White (105)

Yarn B – Lemon (280)

Yarn C – Yellow Gold (208)

Yarn D – Tangerine (281)

Yarn E – Poppy Rose (390)

Yarn F – Rich Coral (410)

Yarn G – Apricot (524)

Yarn H – Watermelon (252)

Yarn I – Candy Apple (516)

Yarn J – Shocking Pink (114)

Yarn K – Garden Rose (251)

Yarn L – Lavender (520)

The Hot Square Crochet Blanket Pattern – US Terms

Make 81 squares using the chart above the pattern for colour changes:

WHITE SECTION:

Foundation chain: with Yarn A, ch10

Row 1: RS: (sc, dc) in 2nd ch from hook, *skip next ch, (sc, dc) in next ch; rep from *twice more, skip ch, sc in last ch, turn [9sts]

Row 2: ch1 (doesn’t count as a st throughout), (sc, dc) in
first st, *skip next st, (sc, dc) in next st; rep from * two more times, skip st, sc in last st, turn.

Rows 3-9: Repeat Row 2, do not turn at the end of Row 9 

Round 10: RS: ch1, *sc in each row end or st to next corner, ch; rep from * 3 more times, ss in 1st st to join [36sc, 4ch]

Fasten off and weave in ends.

3-COLOUR BORDER:

Change Yarn according to chart. With RS facing join Yarn to first st after any ch1-sp.

Row 11: RS: ch1, sc in each st to ch1-sp (sc, ch1, sc) in ch1- sp, sc in each st to next ch1-sp, turn [20sc, 1 ch1-sp]

Row 12: FL only – Repeat Row 11 [22sc, 1 ch1-sp]

Row 13: BL only – Repeat Row 11 [24sc, 1 ch1-sp]

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Rows 14-19: Repeat Rows 11-13 twice more following the colour sequence for each square.

BORDER THE SQUARE:

With RS facing, join Yarn A to first st after any ch1-sp.

Round 20: RS: ch1, *sc in each st or row end to ch1-sp, ch1; rep from * around, ss in 1st st to join [72sc, 4 ch1-sps]

Fasten off and weave in all ends.

Block all squares before joining.

JOIN THE SQUARES:

Refer to the chart when laying out your blanket. Using Yarn A, place squares RS together and join using a slip stitch seam through the back loops only.

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