Panel by Panel Afghans Book: Crochet Lovely Blankets With These Patterns

This is a book review of Panel by Panel Afghans: 44 Mix and Match Crochet Panels by Becky Stevens.

The Important Details You Need to Know About This Crochet Pattern Book:

Author: Becky Stevens

Publisher: Leisure Arts

Copyright Date:

ISBN 13: 978-1601404398

ISBN 10: 1601404395

Book Formats:

This book is available in the following formats:

Number of Pages: 56

Skill Level: The patterns in this book are rated as beginner-level, easy and intermediate-level patterns. This is book I would definitely recommend to beginners, but also to intermediate and more experienced crocheters, too.

The Focus of This Book:

There’s a massive amount of appeal packed into this short, 56-page booklet:

You’ll get 3 patterns you can use for crocheting beautiful textured blankets and afghans. You can use these exactly as the author designed them, or you can customize them to make them the way you want them — or the way your blanket recipient would want them, if you choose to make any of these blankets as gifts.

You’ll also get instructions for crocheting 44 different crochet stitches, which are organized into panels. The panels are designed to work together with each other, so you can mix and match them together as you like.

Besides that, you get an easy and safe mini crash course in very basic-level introductory crochet blanket design.

This book also offers you a very detailed and helpful crash course in how to do Tunisian crochet. If that technique is of interest to you, and you don’t want to invest in one of the more comprehensive references on the topic, this book offers you an affordable introduction to the technique.

This book offers you instructions for crocheting a selection of 44 different crochet stitch patterns, some of which are Tunisian crochet stitches and some of which are traditional, textured crochet stitches.

The author has taken each of these stitches and organized them into “panels” that can be used together.

When you design crochet projects, one of the major frustrations is that a lot of crochet stitch patterns don’t “play nicely” together.

So, the “panels” in this book solve that problem for you. They’re designed to work together, and the book’s author has already worked out all the messy math that would give you a headache if you were to try to take a bunch of different, random crochet stitches and throw them all together in the same project.

From the back cover of the book:

Add variety to your crochet with 44 exciting pattern stitches. Follow the easy instructions to re-create Becky Stevens’ three amazing sampler afghans, or choose stitch patterns to create your own original projects!

Topics Covered in This Book:

Crochet blanket and afghan patterns, including one baby blanket pattern;
Crochet instructions for beginners, including brief illustrated tutorials for all the basic crochet stitches.
Instructions for crochet stitches, including Tunisian crochet stitches; this book includes very detailed photo tutorials for Afghan stitch, Tunisian Single Crochet,
The Tunisian crochet technique and how to do it;

Crochet Projects Included in This Book:

The Easy Stitches Baby Afghan Pattern

All the Basics Afghan Pattern

Fisherman & Tunisian Crochet Sampler Afghan Pattern

How I Have Been (Mis)Using This Book:

This book isn’t set up to be a stitch dictionary, where the stitches could be used for any type of project. The panels are specifically created for the purpose of becoming panels in blankets and afghans, and they don’t necessarily easily lend themselves to being used in smaller projects.

But, that hasn’t stopped me from figuring out how to adapt these stitches to be used in smaller projects.

So I’ve essentially been using this book as a stitch dictionary, even though this is not its most straightforward use. I’ve been using the stitches in all kinds of things other than blankets — in particular, I’ve been making fingerless gloves and dishcloths with these stitches.

With some effort, other experienced crocheters could likely misuse this book in the same way.

The Best Things About This Book

This book has broad appeal, and I think it could be useful to every crocheter who has a need for blanket patterns.

I’ve worked multiple crochet stitch patterns from this book, and I found the instructions clear and easy to follow.

Things to Be Aware of Before You Buy This Book

Some of the stitches included in this book are very basic; if you’ve been crocheting for awhile, you will already be familiar with some of them.

At least 7 pages of this book are devoted to presenting basic, introductory crochet stitches and techniques. If you’re a beginner to crochet, or you’re brushing up after taking a long hiatus from crochet, you’ll surely appreciate this — but if you’re an expert crocheter already, and you don’t need to rehash the basics, you should be aware of this in case it would cause you disappointment or annoyance that so many pages in a 56-page book are devoted to the basics. Personally, I still find this book very valuable as an advanced crocheter, but your mileage may vary.

This isn’t a newly published book (it was released in 2010), but overall, it has aged well. The graphic design of the book is classic enough that it remains usable in 2026.

You really shouldn’t judge this book by its front cover. I secretly thought the book’s cover looked dated and underwhelming even in 2010 when the book was brand new, but that’s because they styled it with colors and home furnishings reminiscent of the 1970s. Perhaps this look will resonate with people who lived through the 1970s (Boomers and Gen Xers, I’m looking at you –although I’m a Gen Xer, too, and I feel strongly that a lot of 1970s design was atrocious. But I’m aware how not everyone shares that opinion.)

But if you focus on looking JUST at that lovely afghan presented on the front cover, and you ignore the other dated-looking accessories surrounding it, perhaps it’ll dawn on you that the afghan itself is not only a timeless classic; but that it’s right on-trend for home decorating in 2026. Even the light aqua yarn color is on-trend for 2026 (although that exact yarn color has been discontinued, so you’ll need to use something else if you crochet that blanket.)

I don’t honestly love the font Leisure Arts’ editorial team chose for the book’s minor section headers; it’s a fancy calligraphy font that is pretty but slightly distracting.

However, the majority of the book’s text is written in a classic font that’s readable and usable.

You don’t need to use the yarns originally suggested in these patterns; the editorial team at Leisure Arts has designed this book in a way that makes it easy for you to substitute yarns, and they’ve given you all the info you’d need to do so. I bring this up because some of the yarns originally used to make these blankets have been discontinued.

Conclusion

I’m delighted to recommend this book to other crochet enthusiasts, particularly to beginning crocheters, aspiring crochet pattern designers, and crocheters who are interested in crocheting interesting afghan and blanket designs.

I also think the book is a excellent investment for crocheters who are specifically interested in learning how to do Tunisian crochet or make Tunisian crochet projects.

However, there are better Tunisian crochet books than this one. So if Tunisian crochet is your primary reason for being interested in this book, you might want to look through this list of my top picks for the best Tunisian crochet pattern books before you make a decision about whether this is the book that would best meet your needs.

From my point of view as a crochet pattern designer, this book is one of the most-used references in my pattern library. I think it’s absolutely worth its cover price, many times over, just because it’s a huge time saver, having a ready-made library of panels that work well together.

If designing your own projects is one of your goals, this book will likely become very valuable to you. It’s one of the mainstays in my crochet reference library.

But if crochet pattern design isn’t a high priority in your life, this is really just another blanket pattern book. And if that’s your situation, this book might be exactly what you want — but it’s also possible that other books might meet your needs better than this one does. If you want to look around at other options, I invite you to read on to the end of this page to find suggestions for other books you might want to consider instead of, or in addition, to this book.

Where to Buy This Book:

Thanks for checking out this book review of Crochet Panel-By-Panel Afghans. I appreciate your interest!

You’re Invited to Stay Awhile, and to Come Back Again Soon!

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By Amy Solovay

Please Visit My Ko-Fi Shop HERE to Find My Sample Sale, Destash Sale and Digital PDF Pattern Downloads for Sale.

Delicate Crochet Book by Sharon Silverman, Published by Stackpole Books; The book is pictured with my planner and craft supplies including yarn, Susan Bates crochet hooks and an assortment of pens and markers. — I’m excited about this book, Delicate Crochet by Sharon Hernes Silverman, published by Stackpole Books. I hope you will LOVE the 2 patterns I contributed to this pattern collection; out of the hundreds of crochet patterns I’ve designed, I think these two are the all-time loveliest. I hope you’ll **check out the fingerless gloves** and the **beaded crochet necklace I designed for this book.** Thanks for taking a look at them.

About Your Book Reviewer:

Amy Solovay is a real, live, human content creator and educator who holds an Associate of Arts degree in Textile Design from FIDM LA (The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Los Angeles) and a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from Sweet Briar College. She is NOT a robot and does not use artificial intelligence (AI) to write book reviews or articles for this website.

Amy learned to crochet as a small child, and she still enjoys crocheting all these years later.

As an educator, Amy Solovay used to teach in-person college courses in trend forecasting, marketing and surface design at California Design College in Los Angeles. Nowadays she uses online platforms for sharing her knowledge about textiles, crafts, current color trends and current design trends.

Craft Supplies That Complement the Panel by Panel Afghans Crochet Pattern Book

If you’re new to crochet, perhaps you’ll need new crochet hooks to complete the patterns in this book or others. I recommend trying the Susan Bates Bamboo Handle crochet hooks (pictured at the top of this page) or the Clover Soft Touch crochet hooks (pictured above.) You can find more information in my detailed crochet hook product reviews.

I recommend using a discbound planner to plan out your craft projects (and the rest of your life, too, while you’re at it.) You can find my favorite planner recommendation HERE.

More Crochet Pattern Books You Might Enjoy

This book is included on our list of best crochet patterns. Click here to see the entire list.

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Posted By: Amy Solovay

This page was last updated on 10-25-2024.