Hey makers, I made this crochet baby blanket for my 6-month old nephew. I wanted to make something unique for him and have a jungle theme so was conflicted with a lot of jungle-related ideas for a while but finally settled on this baby lion. It came out so cute that even adults loved it and wanted a bigger sized blanket – which is a work-in-progress while I write this post. But I am sure you can’t resist making this cute little blanket so what are we waiting for?
Before we get to the pattern, you can also head over to my store HERE and purchase a ad-free copy of this pattern and get started.
Alright then lets start with the list of supplies we would need to make this beautiful baby blanket :
Supply List
Yarn (click on the yarn name below to checkout the shade):
1. Lion Brand Basic Stitch Skein Tones in color Ivory (099) ::: this is the background color of the blanket so you will need at least 2 skeins of 3.5oz / 185yds (169m) – mentioned as Color A in the pattern.
2. Lion Brand Basic Stitch Skein Tones in color Peachy (184) ::: this is the body color of the baby lion – you will need about 1 skein of 3.5oz / 185yds (169m) – mentioned as Color B in the pattern.
3. Lion Brand Basic Stitch Skein Tones in color Ebony (128) ::: this is the color of the outline – you will need about 1 skein of 3.5oz / 185yds (169m) – mentioned as Color C in the pattern.
4. Lion Brand Basic Stitch Skein Tones in color Adobe (135) – this is for a darker contrast to the body – the chest, tail, toes etc – you will need about 1 skein of 3.5oz / 185yds (169m) – mentioned as Color D in the pattern.
5. And you will need a little bit of red colored yarn – I used something I had in my stash – don’t
worry if it’s a different brand – as long as it’s the same weight and material (medium weight acrylic ) it will work. This is just for the eyes, nose and tongue of the lion. – mentioned as color E in the pattern.
6. Caron Simply Soft in color Dark Sage – I used this for the border so feel free to use any other yarn or color of your choice.
Other than the yarn you would need
** These were the yarn brands and colors that I used – you can use any color combination/ brand/weight you wish to and create your own breed of the baby lion 😀😀😀 – I would, however, recommend to use any yarn that has a good coverage – which means it doesn’t create gaps when you crochet so any medium weight acrylic yarn would best suit this pattern.
** If you wish to purchase yarn at discounted rates, I would recommend checking out lovecrafts.com – they are my go-to online store for all yarn purchases majorly because of their wide variety of yarns and discounts – one strategy I use is to hold-off buying until I reach the $120 limit beyond which I get free shipping so that ways I get all the yarn I need for my projects and don’t pay for shipping as well.
Stitch Abbreviations Used
sts – stitches
ch – chain stitch. (yarn over | pull through)
sc – single crochet. (insert your hook | pull up a loop | yarn over | pull through both loops on the
hook)
dc – double crochet. (yarn over | insert your hook | pull up a loop | yarn over and pull through first 2
loops on the hook | yarn over and pull through the next 2 loops on the hook) – this stitch is used for the border only.
Gauge
19sc stitches – 20 rows ~ 4 inch (10 cm)
Measurements
Finished blanket size (with border) ~ 27.5 inch (length) x 27 inch (width)
* Finished size is of the blanket made using the materials listed above. The size may vary if a different yarn, hook, or gauge is used.
* You will not be able to alter the dimensions of the core – the baby lion part, but you make the blanket bigger by adding more rows of the border if you wish to.
Notes
→ This is a graphghan – Graph + Afghan and made using single crochets only. The emphasis in these kinds of patterns is more on the color work than the stitches.
→ Other than the base color (Color A), it’s not recommended to carry any other colors over – instead use smaller pieces of yarn called bobbins wherever needed. This will also increase the chances of
your yarn strands getting entangled so keep an eye on that. As a rule of thumb you can carry yarn if you need it 2-3 stitches later but not more than that – also if you carry a dark color behind a lighter color it will show up more prominently and it may not look as good so it’s best to not carry yarn – drop the strand once you change into the next color and pick it up again when you are back on the row.
→ I have a video tutorial on my YouTube channel showing how to change colors and carry/drop yarn strands easily – check it out here 👇👇👇👇
→ Every row should have a total of 101 stitches.
→ Pattern is written for right-handed crocheting.
→ All terms are mentioned in US crochet terms.
→ All odd rows would be on the right side of the blanket and even rows would be on the wrong side.
→ The pattern is written in a tabular format, the background color of every cell represents the yarn color you need to use and the number represents the no. of single crochets you need to make.
a. Color Scheme :
b. Reading the table :
Example :
Row 25 will be on the right side of your work since it’s an odd numbered row – you will start with 18 sc in Color A / Ivory → 1 sc in Color C / Ebony → 10 sc in Color B / Peachy → 1 sc in Color C / Ebony → 1 sc in Color A / Ivory → 3 sc in Color C / Ebony → 5 sc in Color D / Adobe → 1 sc in Color C / Ebony → 9 sc in Color B / Peachy → 1 sc in Color C / Ebony → 3 sc in Color B / Peachy → 1 sc in Color C / Ebony → 21 sc in Color A / Ivory and end the row with a chain stitch in Color A / Ivory and turn and continue to make the stitches for Row 26.
→Read every row in the table from left to right.
→ If you have any questions at all on the pattern shoot me an email on admin@yarnoculous.com or catch me on any of my social media handles I will help you out right away. 🙂🙂🙂🙂.
Okay then, let’s start making this beautiful baby blanket with the cute baby lion ! 😃😃😃
Pattern for Core
Start with Color A / Ivory and a slip knot.
Pattern for Border
Border rows are worked all around 4 sides without turning the work. Make sure that the right side of the blanket is facing you while you work on the border.
The border rows are usually an opportunity for you to customize the size of your blanket and you can use any stitch you wish – I made a few rows of the moss stitch until I was happy with the size, here’s what you need to do to get the same look.
Row 1, 2 : With Color A / Ivory, sc in every stitch on all 4 sides – when you get to the corner stitch
make (sc | chain 2 | sc) to get clean edges and start working on the next side.
Row 3 : With Color A / Ivory, dc in every stitch on all 4 sides – when you get to the corner stitch make (dc | chain 2 | dc) to get clean edges and start working on the next side.
Row 4 : With the green color (or your border color) do sc|ch1| skip a stitch | sc – all around the 4 edges – when you get to the corner stitch make (sc | chain 2 | sc) to get clean edges and start
working on the next side.
Row 5 : sc | ch1 |sc in the next ch – all around the 4 edges – when you get to the corner stitch make (sc | chain 2 | sc) to get clean edges and start working on the next side.
Subsequent rows : Repeat Row 5 until you are happy with the size of the border and your blanket.
In the end make a row of chain stitches in every stitch. This last row of chain stitches gave my work very clean edges and then of course weave in all the loose ends and block your work to make it look absolutely stunning.
Hope you enjoyed making this blanket as much as I did and come back for more fun projects and crochet goodies. Do let me know if you have any questions on the pattern or anything related to crochet in general – I would be happy to help.
Thanks a ton for supporting me by trying out my pattern – it means the world to me 💗💗💗💗
I am all ears for any kind of feedback / comment / suggestions you might have for me and my work so please shoot an email to me at admin@yarnoculous.com and hey I would really love if you tag me on instagram if you make a beautiful project using my pattern – my handle is @yarnoculous, or if you would like to see me make more such beautiful projects I have tons of video tutorials on our YouTube channel – check it out for more crochet inspiration and free patterns.
All of my social media hangout places are listed here, let’s get together and make awesome crochet projects.
Lastly I think I have got you excited enough to try grapghans and I am sure you are looking to make more of these beautiful blankets so how about doing an unicorn next? – the free pattern for my unicorn blanket is right HERE.
See you there!!!
Take care, happy hooking!!!
-Anjana
Give me a shout on any of my social media hangout places
