A Crochet Afghan Square From the “Pattern Sampler” Series of Designs That Can All Be Used Together for Making Blankets and Other Crochet Projects
Want to crochet a blanket, or some other type of project that’s made out of squares? If so, this mini checkered crochet square is a fantastic design to have in your pattern stash. The free crochet pattern and chart are available here on our website. Not only that, this square is part of a series of designs that are all the same size — so you’ll find plenty of other matching patterns to go along with this square, which means that you’ll be able to plan out a well-matched blanket or project easily.
I’ve crocheted this square in multiple yarns and colorways and used it in a couple of different blanket designs. Check out some of the possibilities:
First we have a couple of different mini checkerboard squares that I crocheted in Caron’s Simply Soft yarn in the Bone, Blue Mint and Sage colors:
If you want to work this version of the design as intended, you crochet the main chart in 2 colors and then you use the third color to outline around the checkerboard pattern using surface crochet slip stitch in the third color.
I incorporated these squares into my Pattern Sampler baby blanket:
Next, we have a Valentine’s Day colorway of the Mini Checkered Square that I crocheted using worsted weight wool yarns. If you want to make a version similar to this, I recommend using worsted weight Cascade 220 yarn.
There are many different ways you could use this square in finished projects. One option is to alternate it with other squares from the Pattern Sampler series to create a blanket or throw.
Here’s an example of how it could look if you were to pair it with a heart square, and then whip stitch all your squares together and finish the blanket with a pretty shell stitch edging.
Materials Needed:
- Crochet Hook
- Tapestry Needle
- Yarn, Crochet Thread or Fiber in 3 or More Different Colors
Needlework Techniques You Will Need for Making This Square:
1. Tapestry Crochet:You’ll need to know how to carry unused yarns inside your stitches, and how to work mid-row color changes; this technique is known as “tapestry crochet.”
2. Surface Crochet Slip Stitches: You’ll also need to know how to work surface crochet slip stitches.
How to Crochet the Square:
Use either of the following charts to crochet this design; feel free to re-color if you don’t like any of these color choices.
Chain 26 to begin. Then work the corresponding chart in 3 colors using the tapestry crochet technique, following the chart for color changes. One square on the chart = 1 single crochet stitch. When it’s time to change colors, be sure to do so by working up to the last step of the last stitch before the color change, then completing the stitch with the new color.
Coordinating Crochet Edgings:
It can be tricky to pair up the perfect combination of crochet squares and crochet edgings. Sometimes the proportions aren’t quite right, and you probably don’t figure that out until after you’ve spent a lot of time crocheting the edging — only to find that it’s not what you wanted. Most aggravatingly, the math doesn’t always work out quite right.
For this particular pattern, I’ve had fantastic success using the simple shell edging pattern you see pictured above. I’ve found the math to be compatible in most cases, and the proportions generally look good together too. I can’t guarantee your success with this combination because everyone’s crochet is a little different, and also because your success will depend quite a bit on the colors, textures and fibers you choose to work with. However, the odds are better than average that you’ll have favorable results with this pairing of square motif and edging.
Related Resources:
- Find a list of coordinating squares that match this one in the pattern sampler series of free square patterns.
- Squares to Knit and Crochet: Find a whole bunch more fantastic patterns for knitting and crocheting squares.
- Check out our list of the best crochet granny square pattern books.
- See our suggestions for the best crochet blanket pattern books.
- Take a look at our suggestions for the best crochet stitch dictionaries.
Learn More About Crochet:
- Click Here to Learn How to Crochet; This Link Takes You to a Total Beginner’s Guide to Crochet.
- Click here to find crochet stitch tutorials and instructions.
- Click here to learn more crochet techniques.
- Click HERE to Find Fabulous Yarn for Crochet and Knitting
- Click here to learn about crochet hooks.
- Click here to find my favorite crochet project bag.
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Posted By: Amy Solovay
Page last updated on 6-25-2021.