Wistful Wave Crochet Blanket
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Soft waves. Toes sinking into sand. A big sigh of contentment. And this. This Wistful Wave Crochet Blanket. The perfect, soothing balm in a sea of crazy times.
I’ve spent the happiest parts of my life on a boat. Not a slow, leisurely, chat it up with family kind of boat ride. Oh no. I prefer the wild. Fast. Hair whipped back by wind that smells of the sea. Boat skipping on the tops of waves, only to crash down now and then to spray water in a cool surprise that brings squeals of delight. No point in talking as the wind whistles past. Eyes closed, deep, soul cleansing breaths in and out. I’ve done my best dreaming on a fast boat ride. And if I had to pick only one guilty pleasure in life, this would be it.
And so in this year of the unexpected. The unsettled. What I really needed was the soothing balm of a fast boat ride. But the crochet variety, of course. The kind of crochet project where you kick up your feet, snuggle under your work and mindlessly crochet away all the disturbing things in life you’d just as soon forget. And be present in the good of the moment.
The Wistful Wave Crochet Blanket is all that. ‘Wistful’ means ‘full of yearning and desire; melancholy’. And so ‘Wistful Wave’ perfectly captures my feelings in the moment as this unusual year ends and a new one beckons… full of uncertainty, but hopeful too as those waves slowly roll in and out, constantly changing the landscape.
If you’ve been with me for a bit, you know that the past few years I’ve offered a free scrap afghan project to welcome in the new year. You can get the completely free, printable version of the scrap afghans in the Vault, a special password protected area of my website exclusively for my newsletter subscribers.
Two years ago we were packing up and moving into our big house in the country. And so… the Onward and Upward Crochet Scrap Afghan captured all the feels. It’s a great post to visit because I also talk about yarn selection and auditioning colors for a scrap afghan. A scrap afghan, after all, has a certain vibe and if you have enough yarn in your stash it can flow to a certain color scheme.
Last year we made the Happy Lark Crochet Scrap Blanket. It was a time of happiness.. moving from one year to the next with good, beautiful things on the horizon. I chose my favorite purples, grays and delicious stash yarns for that project.
This year is different and so, too, is the 2020 Scrap Afghan Project. I’ve worked this pattern two ways, so you can pick what suits you best. In one, I’ve chose two delectable color ways of Caron Cake Yarn—3 of one color and 2 of the other. If you’re loving all those blues in my afghan, I used 3 cakes of Caron Cakes Lovely Layers in Iced Mint and 2 cakes in Sugared Blueberries. I’m working all the way through one cake before moving to the next, letting the colors fall as they naturally occur.
If you’d like to see the color transitions in another afghan, the Fields and Furrows afghan is worked with 2 different color ways of Caron Cake yarn. It’s the perfect mindless crochet project and I love seeing the colors transition as I crochet.
If you want to try the Caron Cake method for your Wistful Wave Crochet Blanket, just find 2 color ways that blend well together. It usually works best if there is at least one common color in both so that they transition nicely. Then pick 3 of one and 2 of the other and your yarn picking out job is done! Crochet on!
Or use the same pattern to crochet a scrap afghan, working 2 rows in each color.
This year I started with this gorgeous bouquet of flowers for inspiration:
Isn’t this just about the prettiest bouquet ever? A few months ago, I met a personal goal on this blog and my advertising partner sent me this bit of deliciousness! (If you’re curious, you can read about that goal here.)
I’m not kidding. I didn’t even want to unwrap this gorgeous bouquet at first!
When I did, I thought it would be amazing to somehow translate those beautiful, unexpected colors into a scrap afghan that would just make me happy all over. Perfect for finding beauty in this unexpected year!
And so.. this:
These beautiful shades, hidden in my stash, just waiting to come out and play together! Aren’t they just lovely?!
I plan to finish up this cheerful afghan and keep it in my blogging/craft space to make me all kinds of happy!
The blue version of the wave crochet afghan will likely find a home in my living room for more elegant ‘under an afghan’ snuggling.
Wistful Wave Crochet Blanket
Here is what you will need:
Materials:
- US H8/5 mm crochet hook (these are my absolute favorite hooks I recommend to everyone!)
- Worsted weight yarn. Pattern is adjustable for other weight yarns, but it is best to be consistent (use all one type of yarn)
- Tapestry needle and scissors
Resources and tutorials you may find helpful in following this pattern: Crochet Abbreviations, US to UK Crochet Conversion Chart. Find links to stitches on the “Tutorial” menu: Getting Started will show basic stitches used in many patterns and Crochet Stitch Dictionary shows our growing collection of crochet stitch tutorials. I really like to use the invisible seamless join when finishing pieces that get sewn together.
Size:
You decide! The stitch pattern is a multiple of 16 + 3 stitches. So chain any multiple of 16 to start and then ADD 3 stitches to that.
50″ Wide Wave Crochet Blanket:
Chain 179 (or a multiple of 16 + 3 more stitches for preferred width)
R1: dc in 4th ch from hook, *dc in next 5 ch, [(dc 2 tog) twice], dc in next 5 ch, [(2dc in next ch) twice]. Repeat from * across chain. End with 2 dc in last chain. Ch 3 and turn.
R2: dc in 1st st, *dc in next 5 st, [(dc 2 tog) twice], dc in next 5 st, [(2dc in next stitch) twice]. Repeat from * across row. End with 2 dc in last st. Ch 3 and turn.
Repeat row 2 until afghan is 65 inches or desired length.
If using cake yarn, alternate cakes until all 5 cakes are done. If using scrap yarn, work 2 rows of each color for a striped pattern to get a similar look to the multi-color striped sample.
Finishing the Crochet Wave Afghan:
I prefer wave and chevron style afghans to be finished ‘as is’ with no added border. However, you could add a single crochet border, increasing and decreasing to follow the wave pattern on the wavy ends and evenly spacing single crochet stitches on the sides.
I love seeing your finished projects! If you enjoyed making the Wistful Wave Crochet Blanket, I’d love to see yours on Instagram, be sure to tag me @crochet365knittoo. If you are on Facebook, stop over to the Crochet 365 Knit Too Facebook page or pop over to the Crochet365KnitToo Club and share a photo! I’d love to see your work!
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Ahhhhhh I love these! Many scrap buster patterns look like scrap busters but not these. Time to sort all those leftovers into pretty combinations. Thanks!
This is so gorgeous and inspiring! Thank you for the inspo! I headed over from your email, it made me laugh because we too just adopted a dog who I always have to have one eye on lol. Happy New Year!
Gorgeous colour scheme! The first blanket I ever made was a chevron blanket using scraps. I didn’t have a clue how many stitches I’d need so took a wild guess. It looked wide enough when I did the chain. In my inexperience I forgot to factor in that it would pull in as the waves rose, rather like a tsunami. And that blanket became one… it ended up as long as my son’s bed but only just wide enough to sit on top… no drape.
My son still loves that blanket though and uses it to wrap himself up when sitting at his computer desk. I love scrappy projects as it makes me feel less guilty about all the yarn I have.
Thank you for this pattern and for sharing so much of your life with us here and in your brilliant newsletters throughout this crazy year. Hopefully 2021 will be better in every way possible.
Happy New Year to you and your family, including your furry kids.
Thank you for the idea of using a bouquet to select the colors. I learned to crochet because of my mother. A little over a year ago she crossed the bridge to join my father. My coworkers got me a beautiful flower arrangement and I have been trying to decide what to do with my pictures. I just found what I was waiting for. Thank you!
Hey Cheryl, Happy New year to you and your family and fur babies!!! I really love hearing about Winston and Cricket! I have a bigger fur baby, and she is spoiled rotten!! I really love the colors of this new afghan!! It will be on my list as all of your others to make!! Thank you for all the work you put into your news letters!
Hi! I love the Wistful Waves pattern! I have a question though. When the pattern says [(dc 2 tog) twice], does that mean to dc2 tog and then do it again for the next 2 stitches? The same thing for when it says (2dc in next ch) twice]. Does that mean there are 2 stitches that have 2 dc in them? I just did the whole first row and I think I did it incorrectly. Thank you too anyone who can clarify this for me. ?
I’m glad you love this pattern. It is one of my favorites too. When you see (dc 2 tog) twice it is as if you are seeing the instructions written out two times in a row. So double crochet 2 together over the next two stitches. Then double crochet the NEXT 2 together over the NEXT two stitches (4 stitches become 2 stitches). The opposite occurs on the top of the “wave”. Work 2 double crochet in one stitch, then work 2 double crochet in the next stitch.
How do I print the pattern without all the adds and pictures etc.
This particular pattern has a free ad-free PDF for subscribers to my newsletter. If you’re already a subscriber, just scroll to the bottom of the last newsletter you received for details on how to access the Vault and you’ll find the PDF there. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can fill out the form to get signed up. There are other things in the vault too–a crochet journal, a stitch dictionary and other annual scrap afghans such as this one.. plus more. Hope you enjoy it!
cherl, you have one of the best sites for crochet that i have ever seen. your patterns are fantastic and you are generous with your instructions. so glad i found you.
thank you very much!
Does the turning chain count as a stitch? If so, I am about 4 rows in and have some frogging to do. I am using a super bulky yarn so I chained only 147 and started pattern but couldn’t see if it says it counts as a stitch or not. Thanks!
When you start a new row, you chain up and then work a dc in the last dc of the last row. Then at the end of the row, you put 2 dc into the last stitch (which is the chain stitch from the prior row). So, yes it does end up counting as a stitch, but is part of the increasing that makes the stitch pattern grow. Hope that helps.
I am having a problem with row 2 and beyond. I work row one as written. I chain three, turn and work one dc in the first stitch, then follow the instructions for the remainder of the row. By the time I get to the end of the row, I only have four stitches before the two dc in the last stitch. somewhere I’ve lost a stitch. I have frogged and restarted several times. Not sure what is wrong.
It’s really hard for me to pinpoint the specific issue without being there with you and seeing your work. My best suggestion is to focus on where the increases and decreases occur and how they should look over the previous row (looking at the photos). Perhaps that will help you sort out where things went wonky. You could also pop over to our Facebook Group and post a few photos there and the community will jump in and help!