Do you enjoy crocheting blankets, afghans and throws? Or, if you’re new to crochet, would you like to jump in and try crocheting a new blanket? When you’re ready to get started crocheting your next afghan or blanket, would you enjoy having an impressive collection of forty different blanket patterns to choose from (plus 5 different pillow patterns that coordinate with some of the blankets)?

Perhaps you’d enjoy crocheting an easy blanket that doesn’t require you to try out any special techniques. Or maybe you want to be daring and try out a new technique — perhaps crocheted cables, Fair Isle crochet, chevrons, woven crochet, granny squares or mosaic crochet. Whichever type of blanket you’re in the mood to make next, there’s a lovely pattern book you need to know about. It’s called Crochet Afghan Revival: 40 Classic Patterns Made to Inspire.

More Details About This Crochet Pattern Book:

Author: Multiple designers contributed the afghan patterns in this book. A few of the pattern designers are Melissa Leapman, Sharon Silverman, Anne Halliday, Tammy Hildebrand, Lisa Gentry and Mary Beth Temple. This is not a complete contributor list.


Publisher: Leisure Arts


Copyright Date: 2019


ISBN 13: 978-1464777967


ISBN 10: 1464777969


Book Formats:


This book is available in the following format(s):

• Softcover With Perfect Binding
• Kindle ebook

Number of Pages: 160


Skill Level: The patterns in this book are all rated as either easy or intermediate level patterns. However, in my opinion there is at least one pattern that should have been rated as “beginner” rather than “easy”. In general, I would definitely recommend this book to beginning crocheters, because of the large number of easy patterns in the book — plus there are some excellent tutorials in the back of the book that could help beginners advance their crochet. However, this book will NOT teach you how to crochet from start to finish.

The Focus of This Book:

This book is focused on giving you 40 magnificent choices for crochet blanket patterns. You also get a small number of coordinating pillow patterns. Thanks to the presence of the pillow patterns, the total project count is a bit above the promised 40 afghans. I counted 45 projects all together.

The Blanket Patterns Included in Crochet Afghan Revival:

The following are a few of the blanket patterns you’ll find in Crochet Afghan Revival:

Peppermint Pinwheels Christmas Blanket Pattern by Carole G Wilder

This charming blanket is an intermediate-level crochet pattern. To crochet this design, you’ll need red and white worsted weight yarn plus a size H / 5.0 mm crochet hook. The book lists a finished dimension of 56 inches (142 cm) — I am guessing the absence of a second measurement in the pattern means that it is roughly square?

Nordic Snowflake Crochet Blanket Pattern by Melissa Leapman

You can use the Fair Isle crochet technique to make the Nordic Snowflake Afghan. The pattern includes a simple graph. Don’t let the colorful look of this afghan scare you; there isn’t an excessive amount of end weaving to deal with here. That’s because you leave the yarn ends loose at the beginning and end of each row, so you can transform them into fringe for finishing off the afghan. Pretty clever, huh?

The finished dimensions of this blanket: 58 x 62 inches (147.5 x 157.5 cm), not counting the fringe.

To crochet this blanket, you’ll need 6 different colors of medium weight yarn and a size J (6 mm) crochet hook. This is an intermediate-level crochet pattern.

Hearthside Mosaic Afghan Pattern by Melissa Leapman

Have you learned the mosaic crochet technique yet? If you have, this afghan is probably going to be a piece of cake for you — and if you haven’t, this design gives you the perfect opportunity to learn and practice the technique.

If you need a refresher on mosaic crochet, you’re covered; There’s some helpful info in the back of the book on how to do it, plus a step-by-step photo tutorial on how to do color changes. Plus, the pattern is pretty self explanatory.

The truth is, the color changes in this particular design are almost stupidly easy (although you wouldn’t guess that from looking at the picture of the finished afghan, would you?)

The easy factor comes about because you only work with one color per row. When you do need to change colors, you do it at the end of a row, same as you would with crocheted stripes. The technique is really a whole lot simpler than you’d imagine just by looking at the finished afghan pictured above.

The finished afghan measures 51 x 70 inches (129.5 x 178 cm).

To crochet this afghan, you’ll need 2 colors of medium weight yarn and a size J (6 mm) crochet hook. This is an intermediate-level crochet pattern.

• Click here to shop for the pattern book at Amazon.

Shannonbrae Crochet Blanket Pattern by Melissa Leapman

If you’re interested in crocheting a sumptuously textured afghan that resembles aran knitting, the Shannonbrae Afghan is an excellent choice to consider. The rich textures on Shannonbrae’s surface are created using post stitches and popcorns. Fringe and tassels create the finishing touches. The finished blanket measures 50 x 60 inches (127 x 152.5 cm).

You’ll need medium weight yarn and a size I (5.5mm) crochet hook to make this blanket. The sample blanket was crocheted using 9 skeins of Lion Brand® Fishermen’s Wool® in color #123 Oatmeal.

“Old Glory”, an American Flag Crochet Blanket Pattern by Kay Meadors

“Old Glory” is an easy crochet pattern requiring red, white and blue medium-weight yarn and a size H / 5.0 mm crochet hook. The finished blanket measures 46 inches by 61 inches (117 cm by 155 cm).

Really Ripples” Crochet Lapghan or Baby Blanket Pattern by Renee D. Chapman

This is a fast, easy crochet pattern that’s ideal to have in your pattern stash for those times when you need to make an impressive, gift-worthy item quickly. Crocheting this blanket requires super bulky weight yarn and a size N / 9 mm crochet hook.

Autumn Ridge Woven Crochet Afghan Pattern by Sharon Silverman

The Autumn Ridge afghan is an easy crochet pattern made using the woven crochet technique. The finished blanket measures 47.5 x 60.25. To make this project, you’ll need 5 different colors of worsted weight yarn, plus a size H / 5.0 mm crochet hook.

• Click here to shop for the book at Amazon.

The above photos show you just a few of the projects that are included in this book. This is not a complete project list!

All together, I counted…

• 2 Round crochet blankets
• 8 Granny square blankets and other blankets constructed from squares
• 3+ Blankets featuring hexagon motifs
• 3 Striped crochet blankets
• 6 Colorwork blankets including blankets that incorporate Fair Isle, Tapestry crochet or mosaic crochet techniques
• 2 Cabled crochet blanket patterns
• 4 Crochet ripple, zigzag and chevron blanket patterns
• 1 Woven crochet blanket pattern
• 11 miscellaneous crochet blanket patterns
• 5 crochet pillow patterns

Some of these afghans are a bit challenging to categorize, because some of them could possibly fit in multiple categories. For example, I counted the “Daisy Border” afghan as being a chevron design, but it’s also striped — and it has hexagon motifs, too. So please take the above counts as approximate estimates, rather than set-in-stone fact. If you were to perform the same task of categorization, it’s possible you might categorize some of these designs in a different way than I did.

The “Daisy Border” Crochet Afghan Pattern by Pat Gibbons

The “Daisy Border” afghan is an easy crochet pattern requiring 5 colors of medium-weight yarn (one of these colors is variegated in the original photo sample). You’ll also need a size G / 4.0 mm crochet hook.

The Best Things About This Book

There are SO MANY incredible blanket patterns included in this volume — and the blanket patterns and instructions are definitely the most compelling reason you’d want to own the book.

You’ll find a broad variety of design styles and crochet techniques represented in the book. With such a large and diverse grouping of patterns, I’d be surprised if you were to get bored with the experience of crocheting your way through this collection. The project and technique diversity should definitely serve to keep things interesting.

Many of the blankets in this book are gift worthy, and you’re likely to find suitable styles for giving as gifts to your loved ones — no matter what their “decorating personality” is like. Some of the blankets included in this book are romantic; some are classic / traditional; some are contemporary; and all of them are practical and usable in today’s home.

There’s a helpful visual index of projects in the front of the book. This allows you to look at pictures of each project, without having to flip through the entire book — a real time saver when you are trying to choose your next crochet project.

Helpful tutorials in the back of the book will empower you to learn (or remember) the crochet techniques you’ll need to know to succeed with making these projects.

Other Observations About This Book

I recognize some of the afghans in this book from other publications — which leads me to believe this book may be a compilation of patterns that have been previously published. If you’ve been a Leisure Arts customer for awhile, it is possible that you might already own one or more other pattern books that include some of the patterns in this collection. If that’s your situation, you should evaluate whether it’s worthwhile for you to buy this book in addition to the other(s) you already own.

For example, if you already own a copy of Scrappy Afghans, you’ll find 2 of the patterns from that book repeated in this one. If you own a copy of Melissa Leapman’s book called Afghans With Style, you’ll find 4 of the patterns from that book repeated in this one.

This book DOES NOT include international symbol crochet charts. However, it does include graphs and diagrams, where they are warranted, to easily convey the information you need to complete each project. For example, the pattern for crocheting the Nordic Snowflake blanket includes a full-color graph showing you the color placements for crocheting the snowflake motifs using the Fair Isle crochet technique.

Conclusion

When this book was available new, I used to enthusiastically and wholeheartedly recommend it to other crocheters — and I still recommend it if you are able to find a copy of it at a reasonable price. If you’re a Kindle reader, you might find the Kindle version of the book to be a good value for the money; I am not sure about that since I originally reviewed a physical copy of this book. I’m aware that some Kindle editions are fantastic and others aren’t usable at all, and I am not sure how this particular Kindle edition rates.

Buying this pattern collection offers you an incredible value; you get a whole lot for your money when you buy this book.

In the affordability department, this book also compares used to compare favorably against other competing titles. At the time I last checked (4-3-2023), the book was out of print and hard to find. The few sellers who were making it available were asking prices much higher than its original cover price.

Anyone can list anything for sale at any time, so it is possible that you might find a bargain on this title on the secondary market. If you’re interested in this title, I encourage you to check used bookselling sites like Amazon to see if you can find a reasonably priced copy of the book. Or you could download the Kindle version, which is still priced reasonably.

Otherwise, I invite you to take a look at some other wonderful crochet blanket pattern books such as Unexpected Afghans by Robyn Chachula.

Where to Buy This Book:

• Click here to shop for this book at Amazon.

Similar Crochet Books and Related Resources

If this book is more than you want to spend on blanket patterns right now, I highly recommend taking a look at some of the smaller blanket pattern booklets and leaflets Leisure Arts publishes. They’re less of an up-front investment for a smaller number of patterns — but the patterns are just as high quality and lovely as the patterns included in Crochet Afghan Revival. One caveat: There isn’t necessarily much of a savings to buy a smaller booklet if you’re planning on downloading digital editions, but there can be a substantial savings if you’re interested in owning a paperback copy of your pattern book.

I definitely recommend taking a look at Scrappy Afghans, a book featuring blanket patterns that are designed to help you use up your leftover yarn scraps.

Click here to see more of my picks for the best crochet blanket pattern books.

Posted By: Amy Solovay

This page was last updated on 4-3-2023.