Hello, lovely crafter! Today I wanted to share with you my top ten free patterns, and a little bit about what I think makes them appealing to makers. I would say these designs are a great way to step into my work, as they are a pretty good spread or representation of what my patterns look like.
There are standard motif blankets, mixed motif blankets, and CALs with loads of varying blocks. There’s even my most popular joining method! Hope you enjoy!
First, I’ll start with the top three runners up, and then we’ll dive into counting down the top ten. Note: All yarny links are affiliate links – thank you for your support!
Runner Up No. 3: Island Wildflower Blanket
Made in Stone Washed Yarn (Jimmy Beans Wool, WoolWarehouse), this piece is designed in my signature style of taking a normal array of motifs, and “cutting into it” with back-and-forth stitch patterning. You can see the placement of the half square triangles allows for the addition of striped triangle panels.
I think this unexpected bit of whimsy is what draws crafters to the Island Wildflower design as it changes up the normal patchwork-style blanket layout of rows of motifs, and makes it interesting.
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Runner Up No. 2: 2020 VVCAL Blanket
Made in the Catona Yarn Colour Pack (WoolWarehouse) with Catona 50g balls for the background (JimmyBeansWool, WoolWarehouse), this piece one of my favorite CALs that I’ve ever done. Creating this blanket was the first time I used the Catona 10g Colour Pack for the VVCAL, and it’s a match made in heaven. One square per ball/color is just divine, and there is such a stunning array of colors here.
I believe crafters love the VVCAL blankets because they enjoy coming every week for the square patterns during the CAL, and they enjoy getting 35 different square patterns, plus a few joining methods and a wide lace border. There is so much in these CALs that they get to be my largest projects.
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Runner Up No. 1: Mateo’s Granny Square Blanket
Made in Softfun Yarn (WoolWarehouse), Softfun Denim (WoolWarehouse), and Softfun Aquarel (WoolWarehouse), this piece is a great adaptation of the classic granny square blanket. The way I construct the squares makes the holes very small and I added a solid border around each square for a little bit of sophistication.
I think that small upgrade of the blanket from the cozy and sometimes messy-looking granny square blanket to this slightly elevated look of cozy, but neat, is what draws makers to this design.
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Top 10 Freebies, No. 10: Desert Bloom Blanket
Made in Colour Crafter Yarn (JimmyBeansWool, WoolWarehouse), this piece is designed in a different signature style of mine, where I juxtapose different visual patterning panels against each other. These blankets are inspired by fabric quilts in which many different patterns are in the same piece.
This particular design, I think, is fun and whimsical enough to be attractive as a blanket, and it also includes flowers. The southwest vibe is also pleasing, and that lacy border is irresistible. I just love this one, and so many others do as well.
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Top 10 Freebies, No. 9: Hexagon Burst Blanket
Made in now discontinued Colour Carfter Velvet Yarn (but any yarn can be used), this piece came from my absolute love for the hexagon motif shape. My goal for this design was to make a burst center with the most possible “petals” that I could physically manage in one motif. There are 24 petals, and so the motifs are quite large!
Many crafters seem to love hexagon blankets which are completely “rectangularized” by adding half-hexagon shapes and triangle fill-in shapes for the sides. The flower burst is also quite a familiar visual concept to crochet artists! I think this also makes it a desirable pattern.
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Top 10 Freebies, No. 8: Gloria Blanket
Made in Whirl (JimmyBeansWool, WoolWarehouse) and Whirlette Yarn (JimmyBeansWool, WoolWarehouse), this piece is inspired by a mix of floor tile in a large hotel. The quarter mandala square tiles were very randomly placed and oriented, and the star pattern squares were periodically placed as an interruption of the design, and a focal point.
This design is very unexpected, visually, and turns some folks off due to the chase of perfection (which I believe is a myth), but most crafters are drawn to the creative spirit of the piece. I love this one. It helps that Whirl is a color-changing yarn, and I can fade it from corner to corner – so pretty.
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Top 10 Freebies, No. 7: Heirloom Collection Blanket
Made in Scrumptious Yarn (JimmyBeansWool, WoolWarehouse), this piece is an homage to my collection of delft ceramic-ware, and the plants that surround it. Any colors can be used for this blanket, and I even made one in reds and white, for a holiday look, but the blues and white really makes for a lovely piece. The border is intentionally leafy, and the half hexagon motifs are whimsically designed to make a creative edging.
I think that the mere visual elements of this one is what makes it so attractive to makers! The varying hexagon motifs, the border, the colors, and so on, are enjoyed. This one was my most popular pattern of the year when it was released.
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Top 10 Freebies, No. 6: Celtic Lace Join
Made in Colour Crafter Yarn (JimmyBeansWool, WoolWarehouse), this pattern is my most downloaded joining method. I think it works best for larger squares because the join is quite wide, but I have seen gorgeous blankets with smaller squares. The corners of the join are particularly pretty, and it’s just a really lovely lace join.
This one is loved because of its inherent vintage nature, I’m sure of it. If you want to really turn heads with it, do the join in a bright bold color as opposed to the traditional white or cream. Squares would look gorgeous against a lacy plum, teal, pink, or coral background. What a treat!
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Top 10 Freebies, No. 5: Color Riot Blanket
Made in Terrazzo 10g Colour Pack (JimmyBeansWool, WoolWarehouse), and Terrazzo 50g Yarn (JimmyBeansWool, WoolWarehouse), this piece is inspired by fabric quilts as you can see! The “sashing” is created with long two-color motifs, and the braided blocks are made with the colour pack.
I absolutely adore this piece, as it’s so artful, and I would say that is probably what draws makers to it as well. The braided blocks can be worked in an assembly-line fashion to make them go by quicker, and the sashing pieces are great to take along with you anywhere to work on.
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Top 10 Freebies, No. 4: 2016 VVCAL Blanket
Made in Stone Washed Yarn (Jimmy Beans Wool, WoolWarehouse), this piece is one of my Vibrant Vintage Crochet-Along patterns. It features about 35 individual square patterns, and joining methods, as well as that pretty border.
The unique border and the varying squares make for a lovely design, and a maximally cozy blanket. The delightful thing has been seeing this border stand the test of time as folks still add it to any blanket (and it always looks great).
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Top 10 Freebies, No. 3: Geometric Lace Blanket
Made in Stone Washed Yarn (Jimmy Beans Wool, WoolWarehouse), this piece is designed as a love letter to hexagons. The colors are just divine – I used the Stone Washed and River Washed, but I also added in random yarns from my stash to get a great range of color.
This work is really generally loved for the color placement. I show so many different ways to arrange the colors to make an artful piece that is most suited to the maker or recipient. That’s the real fun of this piece.
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Top 10 Freebies, No. 2: Dutch Rose Blanket
Made in Stone Washed Yarn (Jimmy Beans Wool, WoolWarehouse), this is another piece designed in my signature style of taking a normal array of motifs, and “cutting into it” with back-and-forth stripes, but this time, I used hexagon motifs. The pattern shows you how to make the blanket any size, and you won’t get bored with this one as there’s so much to work on.
My goal for Dutch Rose was to make the coziest possible blanket in the world. I wanted it to ooze coziness, and I think that goal was achieved! These colors and the elegant pattern make for a popular design.
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Top 10 Freebies, No. 1: Happy Little Tree Blanket
Made using 1 or 2 Stone Washed/River Washed 10g Colour Packs, depending on what size you prefer (Amazon, WoolWarehouse), this piece is dedicated to Bob Ross, and his embracing of the small mistakes that we tend to make as we create. I released this pattern in a group of designs called Relaxghans that are meant to silence your inner crochet meanie.
the shear color array and random flower garden placement are what make this piece sing. It has been an extremely popular pattern over the years.
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Copyright Information
No pattern or other material may be reproduced — mechanically, electronically, or by any other means, including photocopying — without written permission of Rachele Carmona. This applies to all content on CypressTextiles.net, BabyLoveBrand.net, and all other sites used by Rachele Carmona including social media. Paid patterns are for personal use only. You may sell your finished crocheted items, but do not use my photos to sell your items.
RACHELE CARMONA
Crochet Designer & Fiber Artist
Thank you for coming along with me on this overview of my top ten most popular free patterns! Hopefully you found something that you love and would enjoy making.
Happy crafting,
Rachele C.
Buy my pattern book – I wrote a super neat crochet blanket pattern book, published under Penguin Random House. You can buy it here!
You may also enjoy:
- Treble Scallop Edging – Free Crochet Pattern
- VVCAL 2016 – Free Crochet Blanket Pattern
- Happy Little Tree – Free Crochet Blanket Pattern
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