Aranea Afghan
Last year when I was visiting my grandmother for Christmas, she showed me a picture of a blanket in one of her old magazines and asked if I knew where she could find the pattern. She told me she’d looked online, and had even called the magazine publisher, but couldn’t find anything.
I told her I hadn’t seen a pattern like that, but that I could try to create something similar. As we sat and talked, I worked up a swatch with some scrap yarn and wrote down some rough notes. When I got home, I wrote up the first draft & e-mailed her the finished pattern a few days later.
She has since made several for her charity group.
13 blocks x 12 
15 blocks x 10
I’m calling this pattern Aranea, after one of the baby spiders from Charlotte’s Web (an early childhood favorite) since this has a mini web motif similar to Carole Rutter Tippett’s Itsy Bitsy Spiderweb blanket .
The size of this blanket is very customizable, just choose how many blocks wide you want the blanket to be and work until it’s your desired height. Each block measures about 2.5 inches. To make this blanket bigger, go up in yarn or hook size.
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Aranea Afghan Pattern
- G/4.25mm or H/5.00mm crochet hook
- medium weight yarn (I’m using Bernat Satin in Aqua)
- tapestry needle, for weaving in ends
Note: ch 3 counts as a double crochet
Ch any multiple of 12 + 9, (see bottom of post for a list of staring chains)
Row 1: ch 2, dc in 3rd ch from hook and in each chain across, turn.
Row 2: ch 3, dc in each st across, turn.
Row 3: ch 2 (counts as a dc), double crochet in next 2 sts, *ch 3, skip 1 stitch, treble crochet in next 4 sts, ch 3, skip 1 st & double crochet in next 3 sts*, repeat from *to* across, turn.
Row 4: ch 2, double crochet in next 2 sts, *ch 3, sc in next 4 sts, ch 3, double crochet in next 3 sts*, repeat from *to* across, turn.
Row 5: Repeat Row 3.
Row 6: ch 2, dc in next 2 sts, *ch 1, tr in next 4 sts, ch 1, dc in next 3 sts*, repeat from *to* across, turn.
Row 7: ch 2, dc in each st & ch across, turn
Repeat Rows 2-7 until desired height of blanket is achieved.
Border
ch 1, sc around, placing 3 sc in each corner.
Variation:
Crab stitch around blanket.
Edie Eckman has a great tutorial on this stitch (aka reverse single crochet) for both right & left-handed crocheters available for free HERE.
Starting chain guide:
6 blocks = chain 57 (15 inches wide)
7 blocks = chain 66 (17.5 inches wide)
8 blocks = chain 75 (20 inches wide)
9 blocks = chain 84 (22.5 inches wide)
10 blocks = chain 93 (25 inches wide)
11 blocks = chain 102 (27.5 inches wide)
12 blocks = chain 111 (30 inches wide)
13 blocks = chain 120 (32.5 inches wide)
14 blocks = chain 129 (35 inches wide)
15 blocks = chain 138 (37.5 inches wide) (crib size)
16 blocks = chain 147 (40 inches wide)
If you make this, be sure to tag me on Instagram (@yarnbending), I love seeing what you make from my patterns!
**This written pattern is for personal use only, you may not claim this pattern as your own**
