Heyooooo! Today’s post is about you and everything you dislike about chevron crochet blanket patterns. The stuff you don’t like about them is the same stuff I aimed to resolve for myself when I set out to design the perfect chevron blanket. Let’s get to it!
The two blankets we will talk about today are Chevron2.0 and Soulful Sierra. The basics of these two designs are the same, but Chevron2.0 is a normal height chevron, and then Soulful Sierra is a deeeeep chevron.
Chevron2.0
Find this classic crochet blanket pattern on Etsy or Ravelry. Find inspiration in a gallery of all of the Chevron Blankets I have made on my portfolio site.
Popular for Making and Selling/Gifting
The Chevron2.0 is so popular among custom-blanket-making crafters that I have added it in my pattern bundle on Etsy that is specially curated for folks who want to make a sell or gift blankets. Essentially, the patterns are simple and classic, and they’re crowd-pleasers. Chevron2.0 fits the bill!
3 Blankets to Make and Sell (etsy link). I have done the research and these are the top three CypressTextiles patterns that people use for making and selling/gifting custom blankets. You can see Chevron2.0 is there looking pretty!
5 Blankets to Make and Sell (etsy link) – This bundle includes two more very popular crochet blanket patterns for gifting and selling.
Soulful Sierra
Soulful Sierra is a more updated and modern version of the Chevron2.0 pattern. It is available on Etsy and Ravelry, as well as in my CypressTextiles Shop. This blanket sample is made in Scheepjes Colour Crafter , which you can purchase through WoolWarehouse as individual balls, or in a convenient Soulful Sierra yarn kit at Deramores -( affiliate links).
So What’s Wrong With Other Crochet Chevron Blankets???
Okay, here is a short list of things you may not have even realized you don’t like about chevroning, but these things grind your gears, trust me.
- First (this is a biggie) – Chaining a zillion to start the blanket. Chaining a zillion, and then working across the chains, while your eyesight blurs, and your hands cramp is just no fun.
- Second – Working 5dc all into one chain – or 2dc, ch2, 2dc, or whatever increase your pattern calls for – to start the foundation of your “peaks”. It never comes out neat enough. That chain stretches out to an unholy size, and it just looks messy. Also, if you have to frog your first row, you can forget about working into those giant stretched out chains again. you’re forced to frog back the whole chain and start over. What a mess!
- Third – The unruly snake that your blanket is after just 3 rounds or so. That curled up, snakey mess that your blanket looks like at first – it’s just not desirable…
- Fourth – Some folks think of the holes at the increases as a design element, but I really prefer a solid chevron for a more modern look. Holes at the increase or decrease bugs me! This one is personal preference, I guess.
You may think I am making a big deal, but chaining over a hundred can stop me from even starting a project, y’all!! That baby is going to be born already by the time I hype myself up to make that long chain and work across it. The struggle is real, and I have a sneaking suspicion I’m not the only one!
For a baby shower gift, you can just abandon the chevron and switch to a different style of blanket, but what if you want to sell blankets and you get requests for chevron? What if your gift recipient asks for a chevron blanket specifically? What if you’re just really in love with the look of that gorgeous zig-zag and you really want to make one?
A Better Chevron with Base Triangles
How do I eliminate the first three things on the list above? Two words: Base triangles. Base triangles will change your life. You’ll never go back to the long unruly chain!
On the Soulful Sierra deep chevron example below, I have outlined in purple where the base triangle is. There are only 3 triangles for this blanket and it is 50in square! That is because the base triangles are so large, and that’s what also causes the chevron height to be so deep/tall.
I really love the look of the deep chevron. It’s just so modern and simple looking, and has a more mature, sophisticated look than the regular short zig-zag chevron, I feel.
This is an old photo taken with a potato in 2013, but the base triangles are those adorable little blue pieces with the tails hanging down. The chevron is then worked off from there as you can see, and since the triangles are small, the chevron height is short.
In both of these patterns, the top edge of the blanket is squared off so that the blanket has 4 straight edges. Lovely!
Side note: Base triangles also solve the unruly snake problem – life is good!
No More Holes at Peak and Valley
In 2012, I was already making base triangles. You can see the pretty colored pieces in the photos below. BUT, as you can see, I had not quite yet figured out how to make a chevron have increases and decreases without any holes.
Then I worked it out in 2013 and started making beauties like this. (And years later I upgraded from the potato camera lol) The increases and decreases I added in Chevron2.0 and Soulful Sierra are hole-free so that you can enjoy the look of a solid blanket and not worry about little baby toes and fingers poking through.
The decreases I now use involve working a dc 5 together, instead of the previous way which was to just skip 2 or 4 stitches at the “valley”. The increases that I use now are just 5 dc worked into the peak stitch of each chevron, versus the old way of making (2dc, ch2, 2dc) at the peaks. The old methods create holes, while the new way makes a nice solid “fabric”.
Recap
Solve your crochet chevron blanket frustrations!
- Make base triangles as instructed in my Chevron2.0 and Soulful Sierra patterns to avoid having to make a long foundation chain. This eliminates a plethora of crochet chevron struggles (okay 3 or 4 at most, but still).
- Use the increases and decreases provided in these two patterns which create a more modern solid look, instead of having a chevron blanket with holes at the peaks and valleys.
Bonus WIP: Making Soulful Sierra in Our Tribe Yarn
Lately I have really been feeling the Soulful Sierra pattern as a design I can make as a gift to be proud to give. My mom got married recently, and I have a Soulful Sierra in progress using the Jellina Creations colorway of Scheepjes Our Tribe yarn. You can find Our Tribe by browsing through my (affiliate) links: WoolWarehouse and Deramores, or find a Scheepjes retailer near you!
Above you can see how I used the larger base triangles to make the foundation of this blanket.
This colorway is so pretty; I just love the regal and romantic colors. Perfect for a newlywed couple!
Thank you for stopping in to see how to improve your crochet chevron blanket experience with my two patterns, Chevron2.0 and Soulful Sierra. You really will never want to go back to making that loooooong starting chain, I promise.
Happy crafting to you!
Rachele C.
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