Hello, there! Welcome to my first 101 Class: Texture 101, where I’ll discuss how to incorporate textured stitches into your crochet items, as well as offer you 9 free crochet stitches that can be used in any project to get you started. I wrote 3 free crochet patterns to accompany this class: the Sugar Frost Blanket, the Winter Bird Shawl, and the Berry Textured Cushion Pair.
All patterns mentioned in this post which are published free on my site have both US and UK versions available.
PDF Ad-Free Version
As always, you can find the PDF ad-free version for the 3 crochet patterns mentioned above at the following sites.
- Sugar Frost Blanket: Etsy / Ravelry / CypressTextiles Pattern Shop
- Winter Bird Shawl: Etsy / Ravelry / CypressTextiles Pattern Shop
- Berry Textured Cushion Pair: Etsy / Ravelry / CypressTextiles Pattern Shop
Let’s get started with the class! Enjoy Texture 101!
Texture and Color
My favorite things to design are blankets, or bags and shawls, and basically anything that is two dimensional. I think of a 2D space as a canvas where I paint beautiful colors and textures with yarn. Texture is a critical aspect of crochet design because it adds a completely new dimension to the piece, working alongside color to deliver a full visual and tactile experience.
It is very important to consider the stitch texture when designing a project, but how does one begin to decide how to incorporate different stitches? Well, I let the texture fill in each color space.
- Small squares: Play with a different stitch pattern on each square
- Stripes: Each color stripe can be a different stitch pattern
- Solid / Semi-Solid Color / Ombre: You can use one texture story across the entire design, or mix it up!
- Variegated Yarn: Use one texture story – too much will be very busy, unless that’s what you’re going for! Art has no bounds!
The important thing is to not let the colors fight with the texture elements, or you will end up with something that is too busy and hard on the eyes. Start with the colors, and then let the textures naturally fill in the color spaces.
Choosing Stitch Patterns
So, what is the best way to fill in your color spaces? I like to begin with an inspired idea. All of my blanket designs begin with a non-crochet inspiration seed. Translating a garden, a painting, a tile floor into a crochet design enhances the craft and shifts preconceived notions of a blanket in a new and unexpected direction.
For my Happy Little Tree Blanket, I started with the thought of a field of wildflowers, and with the soothing voice of Bob Ross in my mind telling me that happy accidents are okay, I decided to place textured 3D flower hexagons in a completely random configuration across the blanket. What I ended up with was a rainbow color fade, filled in with solid hexagons among a cascade of wild-and-free flowers. Random never felt so good!
Click here to find the FREE pattern for my Happy Little Tree Blanket.
With my Surftime Blanket, I started with undersea inspiration. Coral, waves of bubbles, and sea anemones lent themselves to the stitch patterns for each square. So, in that blanket, there are bobbles, clusters, and eyelet holes that work together to suggest the underwater elements.
My Sugar Frost Blanket began with the inspiration of combining winter frost with candy colors. I created a fun pentagon tessellation, and filled each pentagon motif with bobbles and lace. And this piece also includes one type of texture that I haven’t talked about yet: the negative space of lace as a texture. The flat braid join that I used to create the blanket body, and the lacy border that frames the piece both create a tactile feel, just in the negative spaces of the lace itself.
Click here to find the FREE pattern for my Sugar Frost Blanket.
Non-Crochet Inspiration
Sorting out what textures to add into your project can begin with a seed of inspiration from outside the crochet realm. For my Botanica Blanket, I started with a photo of the Copenhagen Botanical Garden as the white filigree spiral staircase winding up through the larger-than-life greenery sparked thoughts of a panel of lacy textured square motifs flanked by lush green leafy motifs. Soon, I was sketching ideas of how to incorporate all of those textures into my piece. Leaves become crochet clusters and popcorns, and filigree work becomes simple lace repeats that vary to add visual interest.
Click here to find the FREE pattern for my Botanica Blanket.
Taking inspiration from crochet works feels very finite to me, so I prefer to peruse the seemingly infinite sources of non-crochet visuals out in the world, and fuse those ideas together with established crochet elements to further evolve the craft. Playing with different textures is a great way to start mixing in those ideas and inspirations.
Texture as a Design Element
Color and texture go hand in hand. When I designed my Good Vibes Blanket, I drew inspiration from a tropical themed painted door on a house in Miami, Florida, which had big blocks of color across the front, and huge, leafy, colorful vegetation painted all around it. Instantly, my mind started buzzing. I began thinking of ways to convey the idea of straight lines carving out color blocks down the center, and plant life down the sides, and the first sketches of Good Vibes were officially in my notebook.
Click here to find the FREE pattern for my Good Vibes Blanket.
The color block center became a geometric linen stitch panel, and the foliage became textured square motifs filled with clusters and popcorns to represent leaves and petals. Sometimes, it’s a great idea to take one color space and fill it with a certain texture, and sometimes you just have to take it round by round and have some fun. There is nothing wrong with breaking the “rules” in art!
The Winter Bird Shawl that I designed for this class uses elements from my first Masterclass, like starting with blocks of color, and then filling in those color blocks with an overall texture or repeat. My inspiration was birds who nest in the Wintertime, so my head filled with ideas of how to convey that idea in my crochet shawl. With only three balls of yarn to work with, one in the first color, and two in the second color, I decided to create a repeated texture for the first section, and then a simple overall repeat for the second, larger section.
Click here to find the FREE pattern for my Winter Bird Shawl.
The first color is lighter, and so I decided to play with thoughts of twigs, berries, and small leaves. I incorporated popcorns and puffs as “berries” and small, wide clusters mixed with taller, narrow clusters for the “leaves.” The rows of texture represent the neatness with which a bird creates her nest. For the second color section, I used a rich color, and so I decided it would be perfect to invoke the winter bird herself with an overall repeat of narrow clusters that call feathers to mind. The colors and textures unite to create the nature-scape.
Begin with a non-crochet element and start dreaming of the textures that will convey that element. Soon you will have a crochet space filled with rows of different textured stitches that tell a story, straight from the world, through your mind, transmitted through your hook and yarn, into your crochet piece.
Choosing a Textured Stitch Pattern
The first step is to pick out some lovely stitch patterns. Take a dive in your stitch directories to find some great textured stitches. So, what makes a stitch pattern “textured”? Look for a stitch design that has the power to make you want to reach out and touch it. For instance, one of my favorite patterns to use is Linen Stitch, but I would not necessarily say it has that magnetic ability to make you want to touch it. On the contrary, Bobbles, Front Post stitches and the like, really draw your hand to them. Keep this trick in mind when choosing textures, as the “touch test” will help eliminate many of them.
This leaves you only with the task of choosing patterns that combine well together. For my Dutch Rose Blanket, I selected stitches that went along with my cozy and rosy theme. From 3D petals to granny stitch, and even to some textured stripes, every element was chosen to fit the cozy theme. Whether your theme is flowers, bobbles, ripples, or even completely random, there are stitches that will communicate that message. With some patterns picked out, you can move on to the steps for making them fit together in your design.
Click here to find the FREE pattern for my Dutch Rose Blanket.
Creating the Foundation
If you want to use many different textures in your design to make a “stitch sampler” piece, there is a trick to make it work. For my Vibrant Vintage Blankets (VVCAL), to make sure all of the varied squares would fit together, I manipulated the stitch count. Once you have this process down, it will be easy to choose any combination of textures to mix and match.
The first thing you need to know is how many stitches are needed for the base, or what is the foundation row rule. For example, a pattern might read, “this stitch pattern is made over a multiple of 4 stitches plus 3.” That means your first row must have a multiple of 4 stitches plus 3 for the stitch pattern to fit properly across it. For this example, a first row of 27 sts will work, because 6 times 4 is 24, plus 3 is 27. A first row of 35 will also work, because 8 times 4 is 32, plus 3 is 35. Once you have that foundation row rule, you can manipulate your design to include many textures. Just ensure a similar enough stitch count for each pattern that you only have to add or subtract a few stitches on the first row/round to achieve the proper foundation. With that trick, you’re on your way to texture love!
Click here to find the MEGA PACK for my 2016, 2018, and 2020 VVCAL Blankets.
The Berry Textured Cushion Pair that I designed for this class is a great place to start playing with varying textures in one project. You can see how I manipulate the stitch count on the first row of each section to make sure the foundation is correct for the next textured stitch pattern. For this cushion set, I chose nine stitch patterns that definitely have the “touch factor,” and all with similar foundation row rules. One cushion has a different pattern for each section, and the other has the patterns mirrored for a different look. Both techniques provide for an engaging project, and once you take the leap to dive into texture, you will see there are an infinite number of ways to use it.
Click here to find the FREE pattern for my Berry Textured Cushion Pair.
This technique will provide endless hours of crochet inspiration from stitch sampler blankets to cushion covers, wall hangings, and even garments. Begin with a variety of textured stitch patterns, and then get to work making sure you build a great foundation for each stitch design to have a space in your project.
This concludes first 101 Class: Texture 101! I hope it could help you gain some insight into how textured stitches can enhance your work, and how to incorporate them into your designs.
Here are 9 free textured crochet stitches that are written to be used in any design! Enjoy!
9 Free Textured Crochet Stitches
Stitch 1: Alpine Stitch
Row 1 (WS): Make an even number of chs, 1dc in second ch from hook and in all sts across, turn.
Row 2: Beg tr, 1tr in all sts across, turn.
Row 3 and all WS Rows: 1dc in all sts across, turn.
Row 4: Beg tr, [1FPtr, 1tr] to end, turn.
Row 6: Beg tr, [1tr, 1FPtr] until 2sts rem, 1tr in final 2 sts, turn.
Rows 7 to end: Rep Rows 3-6.
Final Row (WS): 1dc in all sts across, cut yarn.
Stitch 2: Bobble Stitch
Row 1 (RS): Make a number of chs that is a multiple of 4, 1dc in second ch from hook and in all sts across, turn.
Note: 4trcl sts show up as bobbles on RS of work.
Row 2: [1dc in 3 sts, 4trcl] until 3 sts rem, 1dc in 3 sts, turn.
Row 3 and all RS Rows: 1dc in all sts across, turn.
Row 4: 1dc, [4trcl, 1dc in 3 sts] until 2 sts rem, 4trcl, 1dc, turn.
Rows 6 to end: Rep Rows 2-5.
Final Row (RS): 1dc in all sts across, cut yarn.
Stitch 3: Woven Basket Stitch
Row 1 (RS): Make a number of chs that is a multiple of 3 plus 1, 1dc in second ch from hook and in all sts across, turn.
Rows 2 to end: Beg tr, [1tr, make alt puff st around post of previous tr, sk 1 st, 1tr] until 2 sts rem, 1tr in final 2 sts, turn.
Final Row (RS): 1dc in all sts across, cut yarn.
Stitch 4: Lattice Stitch
Row 1 (RS): Make a number of chs that is a multiple of 4, 1dc in second ch from hook and in all sts across, turn.
Row 2 and all WS Rows: 1tr in all sts across, turn.
Row 3: 1dc in next 3 sts, FPdtr2tog over 2nd dc and 6th dc from Row 1, [sk 1 st, 1dc in next 3 sts, FPdtr2tog over same dc st as prev and 4th dc from prev from Row 1] until 4 sts rem, sk 1 st, 1dc in 3 sts, turn.
Row 5: 1dc, FPdtr around 2nd leg of next FPdtr2tog from 2 rows below, [sk 1 st, 1dc in 3 sts, FPdtr2tog over 1st leg of prev FPdtr2tog and 2nd leg of next FPdtr2tog from 2 rows below] until 6 sts rem, sk 1 st, 1dc in 3 sts, FPdtr in 1st leg of final FPdtr2tog from 2 rows below, sk 1 st, 1dc, turn.
Row 7: 1dc in 3 sts, FPdtr2tog over FPdtr and 2nd leg of 1st FPdtr2tog from 2 rows below, [sk 1 st, 1dc in 3 sts, FPdtr2tog over 1st leg of prev FPdtr2tog and 2nd leg of next FPdtr2tog from 2 rows below] until 8 sts rem, sk 1 st, 1dc in 3 sts, FPdtr2tog over 1st leg of prev FPdtr2tog and final FPdtr from 2 rows below, sk 1 st, 1dc in 3 sts, turn.
Rows 9 to end: Rep Rows 5-8, ending with a Row 5.
Final Row (WS): 1dc in all sts across, cut yarn.
Stitch 5: Leaning Cluster Stitch
Row 1 (RS): Make a number of chs that is a multiple of 3 plus 2, 1dc in second ch from hook and in all sts across, turn.
Row 2: Beg htr, [1ch, pcorn in same st as prev, sk 2 sts, htr] to end, turn.
Row 3: Beg htr, [1ch, WS pcorn in same st as prev, 1htr in next htr st] to end, turn.
Rows 4 to end: Rep Rows 2 and 3.
Final Row: 1dc in all sts/sps across ensuring same st count as Row 1, cut yarn.
Stitch 6: Garden Row Stitch
Row 1 (RS): Make a number of chs that is a multiple of 6, 1dc in second ch from hook and in all sts across, turn.
Row 2: Beg tr, [sk 1 st, (puff st, 2ch, puff st) in next st, 1ch, sk 1 st, 1tr in next 3 sts] to end omitting final 2tr, turn.
Rows 3 to end: Beg tr, [(puff st, 2ch, puff st) in ch-sp bet puff sts, 1ch, 1tr in next 3 tr sts] to end omitting final 2tr, turn.
Final Row: 1dc in all sts/sps across placing 3dc bet puff sts and ensuring same st count as Row 1, cut yarn.
Stitch 7: Rosebud Rows Stitch
Row 1 (WS): Make a number of chs that is a multiple of 3, 1dc in second ch from hook and in all sts across, turn.
Row 2: Beg tr, sk 1 st, [(puff st, ch1, 1tr) in next st, sk 2 sts] to end until 2 sts rem, 1tr in final st, turn.
Rows 3 to end: Beg tr, [(puff st, ch1, 1tr) in ch-sp bet next tr and puff st] to end, 1tr in final st, turn.
Final Row: 1dc in first st, 3dc bet tr and puff st across, 1dc in final st, cut yarn.
Stitch 8: Moss Stitch
Row 1 (RS): Make a number of chs that is a multiple of 2, 1dc in second ch from hook and in all sts across, turn.
Note: Dtr sts show up as tiny bobbles on RS of work.
Row 2: 1dc, [1dtr, 1dc] to end, turn.
Row 3 and all RS rows: 1dc in all sts across, turn.
Row 4: 1dc, [1dc, 1dtr] until 2 sts rem, 1dc in final 2 sts, turn.
Rows 6 to end: Rep Rows 2-5.
Final Row (RS): 1dc in all sts across, cut yarn.
Stitch 9: V-Cluster Stitch
Row 1 (WS): Make a number of chs that is a multiple of 3, 1dc in second ch from hook and in all sts across, turn.
Row 2: Beg tr, sk 1 st, [(2trcl, 1ch, 2trcl) in next st, sk 2 sts] until 2 sts rem, sk 1 st, 1tr in final st, turn.
Rows 3 to end: Beg tr, [(2trcl, 1ch, 2trcl) in ch-2 sp] to end, 1tr in final st, turn.
Final Row: 1dc, 3dc in ch-1 sp across, 1dc in final st, cut yarn.
Thank you as always for reading. I hope this Texture 101 class was helpful, and you enjoy your day! Get some hooky in!
Happy Crafting,
Rachele Carmona
The Art of Crochet Blankets