Crochet Shell Baby Blanket – Free Pattern
Hello everyone, today I have a crochet shell baby blanket pattern for you.
This crochet blanket is made up of a series of stitches that creates a beautiful shells. This pattern is ideal for baby blankets, especially newborn girls, as the shells give the blanket feminine features.
For the blanket pictured, I only used 1 skein of Lion Brand’s Feels like Butta Yarn in Pale Grey. With just 1 skein you can make a good sized stroller or carseat blanket, but you wouldn’t be able to wrap a newborn in it.
For a typical newborn blanket (which is usually about 36 in x 36 in), you’ll need two skeins of Lion Brand’s Feels like Butta Yarn in Pale Grey.
I’ve used this specific yarn before to make burp cloths and winter hats, and I have to say, this is probably the softest acrylic yarn that I’ve worked with. Many acrylic yarns have a scratchy feeling that makes it less than ideal for crochet baby items (washing can soften it up, but it just isn’t the same!).
Lion Brand’s Feels like Butta Yarn is incredibly soft and gives the blanket a nice “squishy” feel. I absolutely love the colors that come from this yarn line. Obviously you don’t have to use the Pale Grey color, but the other colors available are of a softer palette and are great for making baby blankets.
The crochet shell baby blanket is made with one color of yarn and from the center out. If you’ve never made a blanket like this before, don’t worry! It’s not too complicated, and if you don’t like using a magic circle to start, you can always chain 2 and insert your hook into the first chain.
I like making many baby blanket from the center out because no matter when you run out of yarn, you’ll always have a fairly even square!
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Size:
- With 1 skein of Feels like Butta Yarn, the size will be about 26 in x 26 in.
- With 2 skeins, you can crochet a normal sized baby blanket, about 36 in x 36 in.
Materials Needed:
- 5 mm crochet hook
- 1-2 skeins of Feels like Butta Yarn by Lion Brand in Pale Grey
- Tapestry Needle
- Scissors
Abbreviations Used:
- St – stitch
- Sl st – slip stitch
- Mc – magic circle
- Ch – chain
- Sc – single crochet
- Dc- double crochet
- Shell – 3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc all in the same st
Crochet Shell Baby Blanket
- Round 1: Mc (alternatively you can ch 2 and work in the 1st ch), ch 3 (counts as a dc and ch 1), *dc, ch 1 in mc* repeat from *to* 7 times, sl st to 2nd ch of first ch 3 (you will have 8 dcs and 8 ch 1s).
- Round 2: Sl st into next ch 1 space, ch 3 (counts as dc), 2 dc in same ch 1 space, ch 1, 3 dc in same ch 1 space (first shell complete), *sc in next ch 1 space, (3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc) in next ch 1 space* repeat from *to* until last shell completed, sc in last ch 1 space, sl st to top of ch 3.
- Round 3: Ch 4 (counts as a dc and ch 1), dc in the sc behind the ch 4 (the last sc of the previous round), ch 3, (dc, ch 1, dc) in same sc. *Ch 5, skip the next shell, (dc, ch 1, dc, ch 3, dc, ch 1, dc) in next sc* repeat from *to* until the last corner completed, ch 5, sl st to top of ch 3.
- Round 4: Sl st into next ch 1 space, ch 3 (counts as a dc), 2 dc in same ch 1 space, ch 1, 3 dc in same space. Sc in ch 3 space, (3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc) in next ch 1 space (first corner complete). *Grab the ch 5 from previous row by sc into next ch 1 space of the shell while crocheting over the ch 5 at the same time, (3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc) in next ch 1 space, sc in ch 3 space, (3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc) in next ch 1 space* repeat from *to* until last corner made, grab the ch 5, sc in next ch 1 space, sl st to top of ch 3.
- Round 5: Ch 4 (counts as a dc and ch 1), dc in the sc behind the ch 4 (the last sc of the previous round), *ch 5, skip the next shell, (dc, ch 1, dc, ch 3, dc, ch 1, dc) in next sc (first corner complete), ch 5, skip the next shell, (dc, ch 1, dc) in next sc* repeat from *to* until last corner made, ch 5, sl st to top of ch 3.
- Round 6: Sl st into next ch 1 space, ch 3 (counts as a dc), 2 dc in same ch 1 space, ch 1, 3 dc in same space, grab the ch 5 from previous row by sc into next ch 1 space of shell while crocheting over the ch 5, (3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc) in next ch 1 space, sc in ch 3 space, (3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc) in next ch 1 space (first corner complete). *Grab the ch 5 from previous row by sc into next ch 1 space of shell while crocheting over the ch 5, (3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc) in next ch 1 space, grab the ch 5 from previous row by sc into next ch 1 space of shell while crocheting over the ch 5 again, (3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc) in next ch 1 space, sc in ch 3 space, (3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc) in next ch 1 space* repeat from *to* until after last corner made, grab the ch 5, sc in next ch 1 space, sl st to top of ch 3.
Continue growing your blanket in this fashion, by repeating Rounds 5 and 6, but growing the sides between the corners longer.
Remember to place (dc, ch 1, dc) in the scs on the long side, ch 5 and (dc, ch 1, dc, ch 3, dc, ch 1, dc) in the corners of Round 5.
Stop at desired size on a Round 6 repeat, cut yarn with scissors and weave in end with tapestry needle.
That’s it! Please let me know in the comments below if you enjoyed this pattern or have any questions!
Thank you for reading this post on how to make a Crochet Shell Baby Blanket.
