I designed this Christmas Lights Blanket as a gift for my Aunt. Her birthday is just a few days before Christmas, so one of their family traditions is to go and see Christmas lights on her birthday. And isn’t that just the perfect way to celebrate a December birthday?
She lives in Texas and their home was badly flooded in Hurricane Harvey. The first floor was filled with waist high water, damaging everything it touched. They were fortunate enough to be able to leave before it flooded and to save some of their things. But rebuilding was a long, costly and stressful. And they are just one example of the many people who’s homes were damaged in that storm.
They were able to move back into their home just before Thanksgiving. It wasn’t completely finished then, but livable and they were eager to return home for the holidays. I was only too happy to create an extra special gift in the Christmas Lights Blanket.
The lemon peel stitch gives the white yarn a snowy look, and a nice texture. I love the visual interest of this stitch, especially in a single color. This stitch is perfect for a more solid blanket too, without too many “holes.” It works up surprisingly fast too!
The blanket and Christmas lights are worked separately, then the lights are sewn on to the blanket. This pattern is for the blanket and how to add the Christmas light appliqués. You can find the free pattern for the Christmas Light Appliqués here.
I did have one little snafu, so you may decide to omit the coffee when sewing your lights down! Notice how I even had a lid on my cup, a lot of good it did me!
As you can see, I was in the middle of adding the lights so it wasn’t really washable at the moment! I rinsed the spot by hand in cold water and sprayed some Spray ‘n Wash on it until I could wash it. And thankfully, it all came out! Phew!
Get the affordable ad-free pdf of both this blanket & the appliqué pattern in one on Etsy or Ravelry.
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Materials
5 mm (H) hook*, or hook compatible with yarn.
#4 medium worsted weight yarn I used Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Yarn* in white, green, red for the blanket, plus yellow, orange, light green, blue & purple for the Christmas Lights.
Stroller (30”x36”)-4 skeins (1420 yds) for main blanket
Throw Size (52”x 60”)-I used 6 skeins (2130 yds) of Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Yarn in White for the main blanket
Twin Size (59” x 85”)-8 skeins (2840 yds) for the main blanket
Yarn needle*, scissors, t-pins* (or regular pins)
Notes
- The lemon peel stitch is alternating sc and dc stitches. You’ll start each row with a sc and end each row with a dc.
- Stitch multiple is 2 plus 1 for the starting chain.
Gauge
4”x 4” = 6 sc/dc pairs (12 stitches) x 12 rows
Stitches
ch-chain
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Pattern
Stroller (Throw, Twin)
Ch 109 (179, 201)
- Sc in the second chain from your hook, dc in the next ch, *{sc in next ch, dc in next ch} rep from * across, turn. (108, 178, 200)
- Ch 1, sc in the same st, dc in the next sc, *{sc in the next dc, dc in the next sc} rep from * across, turn. (108, 178, 200)
- – 86 (141, 203) Rep Row 2.
Border
Color Changing Note:
I alternated between red and green every 4 stitches, and just carried my yarn under the next color’s dc, picking it back up again when it was time to switch. It’s similar to crocheting over your tails (only you don’t cut the yarn!), so it comes with you and is ready when you change colors again.
Border Pattern:
Join white yarn with a ss to any corner. Ch 1, sc evenly around the blanket, add (sc, ch 1, sc) to each corner.
Now join red yarn to any corner ch 1 sp, ch 3 (counts as a dc), dc 3x more times in the same corner, *{changing to green on the last dc, in green: dc in the next 4 st, change to red on the last dc, in red: dc in the next 4 st} rep from * around, always placing 4 dc in the corner ch 1 sp.
Finish off.
Applique the Christmas Lights
Get the free Christmas Light Applique Pattern here.
I made about 30 Christmas Lights for this throw size blanket, you can find the free pattern and tutorial at the link above. When those were done, I took up my green yarn and crocheted a basic chain.
Lay Out:
Then I laid out the lights on my finished blanket to see how they would fit and to get a feel for the placement.
My lay out helped me to decide how long my chain would be in between lights, and allow for extra here and there for loops and curls in the strand. I spaced my lights about 8″ apart on the chain. The colors and sequence I used were: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue & Purple. When I was happy, I laid out my green chain strand with the lights, and sewed the lights to it.
Next I used my trusty T-Pins to secure the lights to the blanket, regular pins work too. I chose to place them in 5 rows of 6. I kept the spacing pretty even, but not exact. Then I turned some of the lights this way and that. At the edges of the blanket I wrapped the strand back the other way, zig zagging the strand.
I tried to keep them from lining up in color order too much, but they did in a few places. When I had them just how I wanted them, I sewed them down with the yarn needle and long tails. I do wish I’d put in more loops!
Sew on the Appliqués
When sewing on appliqués, just catch the top layer of yarn, don’t go all the way through and around the stitches. This keeps your colored yarn from showing on the back side.
And those tails are easy to weave in and finish off behind the appliqués.
For the final touch I added one of the sweet labels I got from Joann. They have snarky ones too like “You better wear this!” Haha, I used that one for a friend’s hat.
If you look at my red stitches here I had to add an extra red one. You can also see the color change, and the red tail under the green stitches, which is only visible close up.
This was such a fun blanket to design and make! It makes me ready to crochet all the Christmas things!
I’d love to see your #christmaslightsblanket tag me @christacodesign on Instagram if you post a pic. Or share it to my Facebook Group, I love to see your work.
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