The Hugs and Kisses Crochet Blanket Pattern is an easy beginner pattern for those that want to stretch their graphical skills. It uses superfine yarn (weight 1) so is soft and light – perfect for baby!
Anchor Yarns originally published the pattern by Heather Gibbs and calls for 7 balls of Anchor cotton yarn. However, for our US audience we’ve done some homework and the following are excellent alternatives:
- Yarn and Colors Must-Have (most popular – 80 shades and approx $2.00 each)
- King Cole Giza 4Ply
- Stylecraft Classique Cotton 4 Ply
There are many other options HERE. These range from about $1.50 to $7.50.
Basic and easy to adapt
However, you can of course use any yarn of your choice, just make sure to use the recommended hook for the type of yarn you decide on. If you intend using a thicker yarn and bigger hook, then your finished item will be a bit larger than the pattern states.
There are no special stitches – the Hugs and Kisses Crochet Blanket Pattern uses just half-double crochet and double crochet stitches but be aware that the pattern is written in UK terms and this means that a UK “treble” is a US “double”. The only other stitch used for the raised X’s $ O’s is the Popcorn stitch. A Popcorn Stitch is basically 5 dc’s into the same stitch/space. The “Popcorn” is formed by pulling the top of the last dc through the top of the first dc. Popcorn Stitches can also be made with 3, 4, 6, or 7 stitches, depending on how skinny or ‘puffy’ you want them to be.
There are 25 panels of alternating “X” and “O” motifs. These are then joined before doing the border.
