I’m sharing a striped chunky crochet blanket pattern today that is perfect for a back-to-school gift for a student moving out to campus or an apartment, or as a comfort blanket for your kiddo heading off to day care for the first time. The Back to School Blanket works up fast in a super bulky chenille-type yarn (also known as a blanket yarn) and the pattern is available in two cuddly sizes. I’m also sharing a giveaway for your chance to win 7 skeins of King Cole Warm & Toastie yarn to make the Baby Blanket size, so read on for details!
This post contains affiliate links. I may receive compensation (at no added cost to you) if you make a purchase using these links. I am a King Cole Brand Ambassador and this post is part of our ongoing collaboration.
When King Cole sent me a box of its new Warm & Toastie yarn to try, I knew it would have to become a blanket. Warm & Toastie is a super bulky (super chunky/#6) 100% polyester chenille-type yarn. If you’ve been around as long as I have, you’ve seen chenille-type yarns trend up and down over the years. In the past, they were hard to work with, shed a lot, and often fell apart while you were working. Not so with Warm & Toastie! This is a super soft but also sturdy yarn to work with, and the colors are fabulous. Warm & Toastie is available at your local yarn shop or online at LoveCrafts | Wool Warehouse UK.
As a college professor, I work with a lot of first year students living away from home for the first time. I know that having some comfort from home can often make a difference in how the student gets settled in. Since we are heading into the back-to-school season, I thought it would be great to design a throw sized blanket using simple stitches. The Back to School Blanket is a chunky crochet blanket pattern that you can crochet while you’re watching streaming, waiting on line, in the passenger seat for your summer road trip… you get the picture. And, when it’s finished, it’s cozy enough to sit underneath and would even cover most of a dorm-size/extra long twin mattress.
The super squishy yarn make it a portable touch of handmade, enough to remind your student of home. I know not everyone is seeing a teenager off to college, a new job, or a training program, so I also included a baby blanket version in the pattern.
Scroll down for the free pattern for the Back to School Blanket. Do you love chenille-type yarns, polyester yarn, or super soft yarns? Then you’ll probably love King Cole Warm & Toastie! I’m hosting a giveaway for 7 skeins, including 3 skeins in 5985 Pink and 1 skein each in 5980 White, 5981 Cream, 5982 Natural, and 5984 Lilac as shown below. This is enough to make the Baby Blanket size of the Back to School Blanket (though you’ll need to change the striping sequence).
Enter the giveaway below by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, July 28, 2024 for your chance to win the 7 skeins of King Cole Warm & Toastie shown above. While the yarn was provided by King Cole, the giveaway is organized by Underground Crafter. Enter using any of the options on the Rafflecopter widget below. One winner will be chosen from the entries at random to win the yarn. Winner will be contacted approximately 1 week after the entries close. Winner will have 3 days to claim the prize. If winner does not respond within 3 days, prize will be awarded to an alternate. By entering this giveaway, you are agreeing to share your contact information with Rafflecopter and/or Underground Crafter. You can read the Rafflecopter Privacy Policy and the Underground Crafter Privacy Policy here to understand how this information is used. This giveaway is open to people with an address in the United States, except where prohibited by law. Good luck!
If you make your own Back to School Blanket, I’d love to see it! Share your progress and questions by tagging me on Bluesky as @UndergroundCrafter, Facebook as @UndergroundCrafter, or on Instagram as @ucrafter. You can also share a picture in the Underground Crafters Facebook group. Sign up for my weekly newsletter and get a coupon code for your choice of one of my premium patterns and private access to my vault of subscriber goodies. Plus, you’ll never miss one of my free patterns again!
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Back to School Blanket
Chunky Crochet Blanket Pattern by Underground Crafter
This striped chunky crochet blanket pattern works up quickly in super bulky chenille-type yarn (also known as blanket yarn). It’s made with simple stitches for “mindless” crocheting. This pattern makes a great back to school gift in school colors.
Finished Sizes
- Baby Blanket (Throw). Photographed sample is size Throw.
- Baby Blanket: 36” (91.5 cm) wide x 35” (89 cm) long.
- Throw: 42” (106.5 cm) wide x 69” (175.5 cm) long.
Materials
- King Cole Warm & Toastie yarn (100% polyester, 7.05 oz/200 g/109 yd/100 m) – (3) 4 skeins each in 5989 Royal (CA) and 5983 Grey (CB), 2 (4) skeins in 5986 Sky, and 0 (1) skein in 5980 White, or approximately 250 yd (370 yd)/228.5 m (338.5 m) each in CA and CB, 125 yd (370 yd)/114.5 m (338.5 m) in CC, and 0 yd (105 yd)/0 m (96 yd) in CD in any super bulky weight, chenille-type polyester yarn.
- Warm & Toastie is available at your local yarn shop or online at LoveCrafts | Wool Warehouse UK
- US Size P/Q/15 mm crochet hook, or size needed to obtain gauge.
- Yarn needle.
Gauge
- 6 dc = 4” (10 cm) across. Exact gauge is not critical for this project.
Abbreviations Used in This Pattern
- CA – Color A
- CB – Color B
- CC – Color C
- CD – Color D
- ch – chain
- dc – double crochet
- sc – single crochet
- st(s) – stitch(es)
- yo – yarn over
Pattern Note
- A helpful video demonstrating how to change color in the last yarn over a single crochet row and crochet over your yarn tails is available below.
- If you can’t see the video above demonstrating how to change color in single crochet, click HERE to watch it on YouTube.
- A helpful video tutorial demonstrating how to change color in the last yarn over of a double crochet row is available below.
- If you can’t see the video above demonstrating how to change color in double crochet, click HERE to watch it on YouTube.
- When possible, crochet over your yarn tails after changing colors.
Pattern Instructions
Throw
- With CA, ch 67 (or any number of stitches, +1).
- Row 1: Turn, skip 1 ch, sc in next ch and each ch across. (66 sts)
- Row 2: Turn, ch 2 (does NOT count as a st), dc in same st and each st across.
- Row 3: Turn, ch 1, sc in first st and each st across.
- Rows 4-7: Repeat Rows 2-3 twice.
- Row 8: Repeat Row 2 once.
- Row 9: Repeat Row 3 once, changing to CB in last yo of final sc (see Pattern Notes). Fasten off CA.
- Rows 10-15: Repeat Row 2, 6 times.
- Row 16: Repeat Row 2 once, changing to CC in last yo of final dc (see Pattern Notes). Fasten off CB.
- Rows 17-22: Repeat Row 2, 6 times.
- Row 23: Repeat Row 2 once, changing to CB (CA) in last yo of final dc. Fasten off CC.
- Rows 24-25: Repeat Row 2 twice.
- Row 26: Repeat Row 2 once, changing to CD in last yo of final dc. Fasten off CA.
- Rows 27-28: Repeat Row 2 twice.
- Row 29: Repeat Row 2 once, changing to CB in last yo of final dc. Fasten off CD.
- Rows 30-31: Repeat Row 2 twice.
- Row 32: Repeat Row 2 once, changing to CC in last yo of final dc. Fasten off CB.
- Rows 33-38: Repeat Row 2, 6 times.
- Row 39: Repeat Row 2 once, changing to CB in last yo of final dc. Fasten off CC.
- Rows 40-41: Repeat Row 2 twice.
- Row 42: Repeat Row 2 once, changing to CD in last yo of final dc. Fasten off CB.
- Rows 43-44: Repeat Row 2 twice.
- Row 45: Repeat Row 2 once, changing to CA in last yo of final dc. Fasten off CD.
- Rows 46-47: Repeat Row 2 twice.
- Row 48: Repeat Row 2 once, changing to CC in last yo of final dc. Fasten off CA.
- Rows 49-54: Repeat Row 2, 6 times.
- Row 55: Repeat Row 2 once, changing to CB in last yo of final dc. Fasten off CC.
- Rows 56-61: Repeat Row 2, 6 times.
- Row 62: Repeat Row 2 once, changing to CA in last yo of final dc. Fasten off CB.
- Row 63: Repeat Row 3 once.
- Rows 64-71: Repeat Rows 2-3, 4 times. Fasten off CA.
- Continue on to Finishing.
Baby Blanket
- With CA, ch 54 (or any number of stitches, +1).
- Row 1: Turn, skip 1 ch, sc in next ch and each ch across. (53 sts)
- Row 2: Turn, ch 2 (does NOT count as a st), dc in same st and each st across.
- Row 3: Turn, ch 1, sc in first st and each st across.
- Rows 4-7: Repeat Rows 2-3 twice.
- Row 8: Repeat Row 2 once.
- Row 9: Repeat Row 3 once, changing to CB in last yo of final sc (see Pattern Notes). Fasten off CA.
- Rows 10-15: Repeat Row 2, 6 times.
- Row 16: Repeat Row 2 once, changing to CC in last yo of final dc (see Pattern Notes). Fasten off CB.
- Rows 17-22: Repeat Row 2, 6 times.
- Row 23: Repeat Row 2 once, changing to CB (CA) in last yo of final dc. Fasten off CC.
- Rows 24-29: Repeat Row 2, 6 times.
- Row 30: Repeat Row 2 once, changing to CA in last yo of final dc. Fasten off CB.
- Row 31: Repeat Row 3 once.
- Rows 32-39: Repeat Rows 2-3, 4 times. Fasten off CA.
- Continue on to Finishing.
Finishing
- With yarn needle, weave in yarn tails.