Afghan Lapghan- Free Crochet Pattern

Following a number of enquires from my husband about the size of my stash and it presence in almost every cupboard in the house I thought it was time to try and reduce it.
My local wool shop Sewcraft often has a basket of bargains that I can never resist, I’m sure many of you will recognise the urge to add to the stash when faced with a bargain. On this particular day they had Wendy Pampus mega chunky in the basket. I had already purchased a number of balls in different colours and have made some beanies for friends and family and my beach bag, watch out for a future post on beach bags. The original intention was another beach bag but I have never quite got back to it. I couldn’t resist and bought some sage and dark green, I took the only remaining balls.
My mother in law is house bound, she has a degenerative illness and and she often sits on the sofa with a fleece or blanket to keep her warm. She moved back to her house a couple of months ago after a long spell living with her daughter. I love that my mother in law likes her house to look good. She is renowned for the many sofas that come and go and when she was well was the best decorator I’ve ever met. My husband doesn’t quite match her decorating skill!
Christmas is just around the corner so I offered to make her a blanket just for her, we discussed colour and viewed the many options, green is the theme to bring some life into her room. I had spied a number of blankets that I wanted to try, Checkout my pins on Pininterest to see if you can find inspiration too.
The calling was to do something to please everyone. Reduce the stash for my husband, make something with love for my mother-in-law to keep her safe over winter and add colour to her room so it’s pleasing on the eye.

I settled on a chunky lapghan, not quite big enough to be an Afghan but just the right size for your lap that keeps your toes warm and will also look good folded on the sofa arm or over the back, a lapghan.

There are lots of sizes to choose from and on researching I found this great post from mamainastitch for a Christmas in summer blanket  she has some great stuff on her blog and this really simple pattern is super easy if you are new to crochet. The big hook and chunky wool are easy to work with and the stitches are the basics. I’ve have converted the  written the pattern into English crochet terms but cannot claim it as my own please do repost maminastitch as this is her pattern.

I went for a chain measuring 36 inches long and had 7 balls of Wendy pampus mega chunky to use up from the stash. You can’t get Wendy Pampus mega chunky any longer, the danger of the bargain bin at the wool shop, I’ve searched high and low but James Brett do a mega chunky at a reasonable price in different tweed shades that would look great as a blanket. I added six balls of James C Brett Amazon super chunky in cream to make the blanket wide enough and doubled it up to make it mega chunky weight.

The trick to making this blanket look great is keeping your tension regular and getting your first stitch right when you turn each row. I’ve guided you through this below;

Last stitch of row 2

Chain one

Turn your work to start row 3

Dc in the first stitch

 

your next stitch is a Trc and continue as per the pattern alternating between Dc and Trc for the row finishing on a Dc

Resources

YOU WILL NEED:

12mm Crochet Hook

10 balls of a mega chunky yarn and 6 ball of a super chunky yarn doubled up

Scissors

Tapestry Needle to weave in ends

Afghan Lapghan Chunky Blanket Pattern:

Chain to your desired length, use a tape measure if your going for a particular size.

Row 1 Dc in 2nd ch from hook, dc in each st across, ch 1 turn

Row 2 Dc in 1st 2 stitches, *Trc in next stitch, dc in next stitch. Repeat from * across. dc in last stitch, ch 1, turn.(If you don’t get a single crochet at the end unpick one stitch and change it to a dc)

Row 3 Dc in 1st  stitch, *trc in next stitch, dc in next stitch. Repeat from * across row, ch 1, turn.

All remaining rows are rows 2 and 3 repeated, watch that you alternate your stitches and keep the single crochet at the start and end.

Final row, Dc in each stitch and cast off.

Please send me your pictures if you make a blanket I would love to see them.