Presenting…Peggy’s Pocket Afghan!

Do you know someone who is always cold?

My husband’s eighty-something-year-old grandmother is on blood thinners and chronically cold. When she went into the hospital for surgery, I decided she needed a warm crocheted afghan—something to just brighten up her day a little.

My husband told me about how selfless his grandmother had been his entire life, never thinking about herself, and how much she would appreciate such a gift.

Recently, she had told him a story about the time she needed a cast for her foot. She chose green for the cast because it was her late husband’s favorite color. He wore it every day. As it turns out, she soon regretted the choice because every time she looked down at her leg, it made her sad to think of her husband.

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So I knew green was definitely out!

When my husband told her that I was going to make her a blanket, he asked her what her favorite color was.

Blue!

She practically shouted at him. I guess she wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.

I wanted to design an afghan that she could use while in her recliner watching TV, but it was my husband who came up with the idea of pockets. At first, I had no idea what he was talking about. Pockets? In a blanket? Whaaa?

My husband said they wouldn’t be true pockets, but Granny could still have the use of her hands while being covered up at the same time. There was also the option of having her arms on the inside, so her chest was covered and her arms could peek out the front to hold her diet root beer.

Well who knew? Pockets…in a blanket. It works.

Don’t worry. If you don’t care for the pockets, you can always leave them out and have a simple throw blanket instead. I’ve included alternate instructions for this in the pattern below.

As far as I know, at the time of writing this, I haven’t seen any other blankets done in the herringbone double crochet stitch. (Please don’t bite my head off if I’m wrong) And I absolutely loved it. Once you get going, it becomes as easy and as fast as a regular double crochet. There’s only a slight difference that feels somewhat odd at first, but keep going. I promise it becomes like second nature.

I thought the color combination, softness and size were amazing and secretly wanted to keep it, but Granny needed it more than I did. And I could just make another one later… 😉

When Granny received her gift, she teared up. She insisted on showing everyone in the Rehabilitation Center the blanket that her grandson’s wife had made her. It was an amazing feeling to make her so happy! Hopefully she gets better soon and back to watching TV in her recliner with her diet root beer.

Would you make Peggy’s Pocket Afghan with or without the pockets? Let me know in the comments below!

Peggy’s Pocket Afghan

Materials Used:

• 2 skeins of I Love This Yarn – Ivory – 7 oz / 199 g – 355 yds / 325 m
• 2 skeins of I Love This Yarn – Denims Ombre – 7 oz / 199 g – 355 yds / 325 m
• 3 skeins of I Love This Yarn – Dark Country Blue – 7 oz / 199 g – 355 yds / 325 m
• 3.5 skeins of I Love This Yarn – Light Gray – 7 oz / 199 g – 355 yds / 325 m
  Or any medium weight yarn.
• Boye Aluminum 6-Inch Crochet Hook, H8/5mm
• 6.00 mm (J/10) hook – used only for foundation chain
  Adjust your hook size if needed to obtain required gauge.
• Tapestry needle
• 2 stitch markers

Finished Size Approximately:

77”L x 61” W

Gauge:

12 stitches by 7 rows is 4” (10 cm) square.

Special Stitches:

Herringbone Double Crochet (hbdc)

YO; insert hook into next st; YO; pull back through the st and through the 1st loop on the hook; YO; draw through one more loop on the hook; YO and draw through both loops on hook.

Abbreviations:

YO – yarn over
FC – foundation chain
ch – chain
st – stitch
hbdc – herringbone double crochet
ea – each

Notes:

• The blanket can be made without the pockets. Simply skip the section of the pattern that indicates to create pockets.
• Make and Do Crew have a video on how to do the herringbone double crochet stitch. You can see it here http://makeanddocrew.com/herringbone-double-crochet-video/
• At the beginning of each row, the ch 2 counts as 1st hbdc. Do not hbdc in the same stitch the ch 2 comes out of.
• Work the final hbdc of each row into the top of the turning chain to create a smoother edge.
• I Love This Yarn is a yarn brand that is available at Hobby Lobby.

*** American crochet terms used throughout.

Instructions:

With J hook

With Dark Country Blue:

FC: Ch 201

With H hook

Row 1: In 3rd ch from hook, hbdc in every ch to the end, ch 2, turn.

Row 2 – Row 6: Hbdc in ea st across, ch 2, turn. Finish off.

Hint: You can weave in all ends as you go, wait to weave in until the project is complete or crochet the next row right over top of tails.

With Light Gray:

Row 7 – Row 10: Hbdc in ea st across, ch 2, turn. Finish off.

With Ivory:

Row 11 – Row 12: Hbdc in ea st across, ch 2, turn. Finish off.

With Denims Ombre:

Row 13 – Row 14: Hbdc in ea st across, ch 2, turn. Finish off.

With Ivory:

Row 15 – Row 16: Hbdc in ea st across, ch 2, turn. Finish off.

With Light Gray:

Row 17 – Row 20: Hbdc in ea st across, ch 2, turn. Finish off.

With Dark Country Blue:

Row 21 – Row 26: Hbdc in ea st across, ch 2, turn. Finish off.

Color pattern has been made.

Each Color Stripe Will Have:

6 rows of Dark Country Blue
4 rows of Light Gray
2 rows of Ivory
2 rows of Denims Ombre
2 rows of Ivory
4 rows of Light Gray

Repeat pattern until there are 25 stripes. On last stripe, leave your tail out without weaving in so you know which direction you should continue to crochet in order to keep the pattern going in the same direction.

Marking out pockets:

**Skip this section if you want a blanket without pockets and just continue previous pattern from above.

Count in 77 sts from one side of blanket and place a st marker. From opposite side, count in 77 sts and place a second st marker. (Count the ch 2 as a st.)

**In order to keep the herringbone pattern going in the same direction, you will need to continue crocheting in the same direction you left off. Make sure the tail of your blanket you left out is on the right and you are crocheting to the left for each of next 3 sections. (Right handed directions)

Working in the center section between the 2 st markers, continue working pattern (ch 2, 45 hbdc’s) from a gray stripe to another gray stripe. (14 rows) Finish off.

Now, on both sides of new center section you just worked, repeat pattern (ch 2, 77 hbdc’s) from a gray stripe to another gray stripe. (14 rows on ea side) Finish off.

With Dark Country Blue:

Hbdc evenly across the entire row, picking up the 3 pieces as you go along, closing the ends of the openings. (“pockets” made) I used a stitch marker to help hold the two pieces together as I worked.

Continue the color pattern from the Dark Country Blue stripe you just started to the last Grey stripe. Work one last row of Dark Country Blue to finish off the blanket. (26 rows) Finish off.

There will be 37 total stripes.

Trim:

With Denims Ombre:

Round 1: Attach yarn in any st. Ch 1, sc evenly around the entire blanket, 3 sc in corners, sl st in 1st sc made of round. Don’t turn.

Round 2: Ch 1, sc evenly around the entire blanket, 3 sc in corners, sl st in 1st sc made of round. Finish off.

With Ivory:

Row 3: Attach yarn in any st. Ch 1, sc evenly around the entire blanket, 3 sc in corners, sl st in 1st sc made of round.

Finish off. Weave in ends.

Trim around pockets:

With Light Gray:

Row 1: Attach yarn in any st. Ch 1, sc evenly around pocket opening, sl st in first sc of row. Finish off. Weave in end.

Repeat Row 1 for second pocket.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the Peggy’s Pocket Afghan pattern! If you make one, tag me @highlandhickorydesigns on your social media so I can enjoy your work too.

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