I’m joining Sunflower Cottage Crochet for the 2025 Preemie Crochet Challenge today with an easy crochet preemie blanket pattern. The Esperanza Preemie Blanket uses an easy one-row repeating pattern to create a gentle texture. This also works as a stroller or car seat blanket, and I’ve included instructions for adjusting the size. The Esperanza Preemie Blanket is forever free on my blog, but you can get the Ravelry PDF version for free through September 30, 2025 at 11:59pm Eastern in exchange for a pledge to donate one, so read on for details!
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I’m happy to be invited back to the annual Preemie Crochet Challenge with Sunflower Cottage Crochet. Every day during September 2025, there is a different featured pattern for preemies. In exchange for your pledge to make the pattern to donation to a local neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) or similar organization during Preemie Awareness Month in November, you can download the PDF version of the each day’s featured pattern for free. My pattern for the Esperanza Preemie Blanket is also forever free on my blog.
My dear friend’s son was born prematurely and spent quite a while in the NICU before going home. Now he’s happy and healthy, playing sports and growing tall and about to be a teenager! (He’s the namesake behind Tadley’s Diagonal Blanket, a free Tunisian crochet pattern.) But there were some scary times at the start, which is why I continue to make preemie crochet patterns on my blog. If you’re looking for more free preemie crochet blankets, check out some of my other patterns:
- Pepita Blanket, a sampler baby blanket pattern,
- Lucila Preemie Blanket, worked in the round as one piece,
- Lullabies Blanket, part of the charity spotlight series,
- Gentle Stripes and Textures Baby Blanket, available in 6 sizes from micro preemie blanket through child blanket,
- Teeny Ripples, a chevron blanket, and
- Intensive Love Blanket, made with circle-in-the-square motifs.
Scroll down for the free pattern for the Esperanza Preemie Blanket. If you’re reading this blog post before 11:59pm Eastern on September 30, 2025, you’re in luck! The Esperanza Preemie Blanket is the featured pattern for Day 5 in the Preemie Crochet Challenge.
You can grab the Ravelry PDF version of the Esperanza Preemie Blanket for free with coupon code ESB2025, or click the “Download the free PDF pattern here” button below to add the pattern with coupon code to your cart. Make sure your cart is set to $0 before checking out as there will be no refunds for accidental purchases.
Don’t forget to head back to this post on Sunflower Cottage Crochet to get the rest of the patterns in the blog hop!
If you make your own Esperanza Preemie 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!
Add the Esperanza Preemie Blanket to your favorites or queue, or buy the ad-free PDF on Ravelry.
Esperanza Preemie Blanket
Easy Crochet Preemie Blanket Pattern by Underground Crafter
Esperanza is an easy crochet preemie blanket pattern that has a gentle texture. The blanket itself is made with a simple one row repeat and the border uses a different common stitch combination. Make yours with multicolored yarn or with a solid color yarn for different looks.
Finished Size
- Preemie Blanket: 22.5” (57 cm) height x 37” (94 cm) width.
Materials
- Caron Cinnamon Swirl Cakes yarn (100% acrylic, 8oz/227 g, 407 yd/372 m) – 3 skeins in Hibiscus, or approximately 970 yd (887 m) in any medium weight yarn.
- US Size J-10/6 mm crochet hook, or any size needed to obtain correct gauge.
- Yarn needle.
Gauge
- 12 sts in pattern = 4” (10 cm) across. Exact gauge is not critical for this project.
Abbreviations Used in This Pattern
- ch – chain
- dc – double crochet
- hdc – half double crochet
- sc – single crochet
- sl st – slip stitch
- st(s) – stitch(es)
- [] Repeat instructions within brackets as indicated.
- () Work instructions between parentheses into same stitch.
Pattern Notes
- Blanket is crocheted widthwise flat in rows with border crocheted in the round.
- To adjust size:
- Stitch multiple is 3 ch, + 3 ch. To adjust width, add multiples of 3 ch (for a wider blanket) or subtract multiples of 3 ch (for a narrower blanket).
- Blanket height can be adjusted by crocheting more or fewer repeats of Row 3.
- This pattern can also be used as a car seat or stroller blanket.
- A helpful video demonstrating how to crochet around the side of your project is available below.
- If you can’t see the video demonstrating how to crochet around the side of your project above, click HERE to watch it on YouTube.
Pattern Instructions
Blanket
- Ch 141.
- Row 1: Turn, skip 1 ch, sc in next ch and each ch across. (140 sts)
- Row 2: Turn, ch 1, sc in first st, [(sc, hdc, dc) in next st, skip 2 sts] across to last st, sc in next st.
- Row 3: Turn, ch 1, sc in first st, [(sc, hdc, dc) in next dc, skip (hdc + sc)] across to last st, sc in next st.
- Repeat Row 3 until blanket measures approximately 21” (53.5 cm), or approximately 1.5” (4 cm) shorter than desired finished height.
- Next Row: Turn, ch 1, sc in first st and each st across.
- Border Round: Turn to wrong (back) side, ch 3 (counts as first dc), [sc in next st, dc in next st] across row to last st, (sc, dc) in next st, turn to short edge (see Pattern Notes), ch 1, sc in side of each row to foundation chain, turn to foundation row, ch 2, [dc in next st, sc in next st] across to last 2 sts, dc in next st, (sc, dc) in next st, turn to short edge, ch 2, sc in side of each row to final round, ch 1, join with sl st to top of first dc.
- Fasten off.
Finishing
- With yarn needle, weave in ends.