or: The Bible Panel Crochet Baby Blanket
Learn how to crochet the puff stitch! Then learn three variations when you make this puff stitch panel crochet baby blanket.
I love panel-style blankets for a number of reasons. They are still mindless, because you repeat one stitch for several rows. And just when you start to get a little tired of the same stitch, you learn a new one!
I also think the color-blocked aesthetic is really lovely.
These particular stitches reminded me of a variety of biblical motifs, which is where the Bible blanket subtitle comes in! We have grapes, wheat, vines, and an alternative to the stone lodge stitch which made me think of the cornerstone.
Made by Gootie, The Loophole Fox, and Knitting with Chopsticks (among many others!) have done gorgeous panel-style afghans, which were an inspiration for this project. You can see their collaborative projects here:
- Serenity Throw Blanket Free CAL
- The Harmony Blanket Free Crochet Along
- Blossoming Blanket Crochet-a-long (CAL)
You can find another panel-style baby blanket I’ve done here: Pretty in Panels Stitch Sampler Baby Blanket.
Materials
- Big Twist Value Weight 4 Medium (100% Acrylic, 380yds/347m, 6oz/170g)
- Color A: Fig 1 skein
- Color B: Mustard 1 skein
- Color C: Olive Drab 1 skein
- Color D: Dk Coral 1 skein
=1520yds total
- Hooks:
- Size H/8 5mm crochet hook
- Size I/9 5.5mm crochet hook
- Size 7mm crochet hook
- Notions:
- Scissors
- Stitch markers
- Tapestry needle
Abbreviations (US)
- ch(s): chain(s)
- dc(s): double crochet(s)
- pm: place marker
- rep: repeat
- rs: right side
- sc(s): single crochet(s)
- sc2tog: single crochet 2 together
- st(s): stitch(es)
- ws: wrong side
- yo: yarn over
Special Stitches
Puff: Yo, insert your hook into the designated st, pull up a loop. You should have 3 loops on your hook. Yo, insert your hook into the same st, pull up a loop. You should have 5 loops on your hook. Yo, insert your hook into the same st, pull up a loop. You should have 7 loops on your hook. Yo and pull through the first 6 loops. Yo and pull through the final 2 loops. Note: your puffs will push to the back of your work, so any puffs are worked during ws rows in the first panel.
Puffdctog: Working the puff beneath the third stitch back from your hook, complete the puff st but stop when you have 2 loops left on your hook (after you’ve pulled through the first 6 loops). Yo, insert your hook in the next st, pull up a loop. You should have 4 loops on your hook. Yo and pull through the first 2 loops on your hook. Yo and pull through the last 3 loops on your hook.
Stacked dc: Insert your hook in a st and pull up a loop. Yo and pull through both loops (completed sc). Insert your hook back into the st you just created, “piercing” it, and pull up a loop. Yo and pull through both loops. Note: the stacked dc creates a clean edge, which is ideal since this blanket does not have a border. If you have any questions about working this stitch, I highly recommend Marly Bird’s stacked double crochet video tutorial.
V st: (Dc, ch 1, dc) in the same st.
V puff: (Puff, ch 1, puff) in the same st.
Finished Size
27″ x 40″ | Each individual panel measures 27″ x 10″
Gauge
Offset Puff Stitch Gauge: 16 sts x 16 rows = 5″ x 5″
Harvest Stitch Gauge: 14 sts x 6 rows = 5″ x 4.5″
Slanted Puff Stitch Gauge: 16 sts (including 4 dcpufftogs) x 8 rows = 5″ x 4″
Alternative Stone Lodge Stitch Gauge: 13 sts x 6 rows = 4″ x 4″
Notes
You can get an ads-free, easy-to-print PDF of this pattern over at Ravelry!
For step by step tutorials of any of these stitches, I recommend the following:
- The Harvest Stitch by Nordic Hook
- The Spiked Diagonal Puff Stitch by Nordic Hook – note the changes I made in the pattern
- The Stone Lodge Stitch by Truly Crochet – note the changes I made in the pattern
- Stacked Double Crochet by Marly Bird
To adjust the width of this pattern, ch a multiple of 84+3.
Acknowledgements
Thank you so much to my wonderful testers!
Michelle Donato, @mtd1026 on Instagram
MaryBeth McConnell, @iambloodymary26 on Instagram
Hanna Cuellar, @craftinglouisiana on Instagram
Puff Stitch Panel Crochet Baby Blanket Pattern
Offset Puff Stitch Panel
“The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard…” -Matthew 20:1-16
Using an H/8 5mm hook and yarn color A (Fig), ch 87.
Row 1: (ws) Sc in the second ch from hook and in each st across. (86 sts here and throughout panel). Ch 1 and turn.
Row 2: (rs) Sc across. Ch 1 and turn.
Row 3: (ws) Sc in the first st, *Puff in the next st, sc in the next st; rep from * until there is one st left in the row. Sc in the last st. Ch 1 and turn. Note: your puff sts should push to the back of the fabric as you work them.
Row 4: (rs) Sc across. Ch 1 and turn.
Row 5: (ws) Sc in the first 2 sts, *Puff in the next st, sc in the next st; rep from * to the end of the row. Ch 1 and turn.
Rows 6-31: Rep Rows 2-5. You’ll end on Row 3 of the repeat.
Row 32: (rs) Sc across.
Join color B (Mustard). Ch 1 and turn.
Harvest Stitch Panel
“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” -John 12:24
Row 1: (ws) Switch to the 7mm hook. Sc in each st across. Turn, do not ch. (86 sts.)
Row 2: (rs) Stacked dc in the first st. Dc in the next st. *Sk 2 sts. Work (puff, ch 2, puff) in the next st. Sk 2 sts. Dc in the next 2 sts; rep from * across. Turn, do not ch. (74 sts.**)
**Note: You lose stitches in this panel, but we add them back in the final row to get back to 86.
Row 3: (ws) Stacked dc in the first dc. Dc in the next dc. *Work (puff, ch 2, puff) in the ch-2 sp. Dc in the next 2 dcs; rep from * across. Turn, do not ch.
Rows 4-13: Rep Row 3.
Row 14: (rs) Ch 1. Sc in the first 2 sts. *Sc in the puff, 3 sc in the ch-2 sp, sc in the puff, sc in the 2 dcs; rep from * across. (86 sts here and throughout the rest of the blanket.)
Cut yarn. On the other side of your blanket, use your I/9 5.5mm hook and join color C (Olive Drab). You will use the 5.5mm hook for the remainder of the blanket. Ch 1.
Slanted Puff Stitch Panel
“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” -John 15:5
I learned how to crochet this stitch over at Nordic Hook, and the look is so pretty! However the way the stitch is originally written, you’d be doing a lot of counting. I set out to write this stitch in a way that allowed me to skip the frequent counting. Hence using the puffdctog stitch for this panel!
The puffdctog would cause the panel to slant without some adjustment, so we have to add 1 sc to the start of the sc rows, and work a sc decrease at the end. You may have to refer to the written instructions a bit more often with this panel than with the others, but at least you won’t have to count your stitches as frequently (if at all)!
Row 1: (rs) Sc across. Ch 1 and turn.
Row 2: (ws) Sc across. Turn, do not ch.
Row 3: (rs) Stacked dc in the first st, dc in the next 3 sts. Working the puff beneath the third stitch back from your hook and then dc in the top of the next st after your hook work 1 puffdctog. *Dc in the next 3 sts, puffdctog working the puff beneath the third dc back from your hook, and making the dc in the next st from your hook; rep from * until there is one st left in the row. Dc in the last st. Ch 1 and turn.
Row 4:. (ws) Work 2 scs in the first st, then sc across until there are 2 sts left in the row, sc2tog. Turn, do not ch.
Rows 5-20: Rep Rows 3-4. You’ll end on a ws row.
Join color D (Dk Coral). Ch 1 and turn.
Alternative Stone Lodge Stitch Panel
“The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” -Psalm 118:22
I loved the Stone Lodge Stitch Tutorial over at Truly Crochet, and I wanted to use it for this blanket, but I couldn’t get the stitch counts to work out with the other three panels! So, I worked up this alternate version that played nicely. As a result, this is only a 2-row repeat instead of a 4-row, and I think the stitch turned out quite lovely!
Row 1: (rs) Sc across.Turn, do not ch.
Row 2: (ws) Stacked dc in the first st, sk 1 st, v st. *Sk 2 sts, v st; rep from * until there are 2 sts left in the row. Sk 1 st, dc in last st. Turn, do not ch.
Row 3: (rs) Stacked dc in the first st. V puff in the ch-1 sps across. Dc in the last st. Turn, do not ch.
Row 4: (ws) Stacked dc in the first st. V st in the ch-1 sps across. Dc in the last st. Turn, do not ch.
Rows 5-14: Rep Rows 3-4, ending on Row 4 of the repeat.
Row 15: (rs) Ch 1, sc in each st and ch-1 sp across.
Cut yarn, fasten off, and weave in ends.
Pin for later!
