I love the Navajo style of this Southwestern Blanket Square (and to be clear – full credit goes to Alexis Middleton at Persia Lou for the design). I have made mine a little differently, because I’m not using them for afghans, so I wanted the border to be a really tidy rectangle, even before blocking it.

As you can see, the original (left) is quite loosely woven, and the border’s edge doesn’t lie straight by itself, which is fine for a blanket, but not if you’re using the block on its own. On the right you can see how my border lies flat – that’s how it looks before blocking.

The original pattern calls for a 6mm (J) crochet hook, and for most of the stitches to be worked into the back loops only. For a firmer construction, I used a smaller hook, and worked into both loops of the stitches on all the rounds except 5 and 6. I also made my Triple Crochet slightly differently on the border. See the Special Stitches instructions below on how to do that.

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SUPPLIES

• Double knit yarn (Light Worsted / 8ply/ 11wpi)
• 4.5 mm (Size 7) crochet hook
• Maximum of 7 different colours, but you can use fewer
• Scissors
• Yarn needle for weaving the ends in

 

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ABBREVIATIONS (US TERMINOLOGY)

 

R = round

st = stitch

ch = chain

YO = yarn over

BLO = back loops only

SS = slip stitch

SC = single crochet

HDC = half double crochet

DC = double crochet

TRC = triple crochet (instructions below)

DTR = double treble (instructions below)

Quad = quadruple crochet (instructions below)

 

{{…}}= section to be repeated

*…* = stitches to be repeated

[…] = group of stitches worked into the same space

 

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SPECIAL STITCHES – INSTRUCTIONS

 

Triple Crochet (TRC)

YO twice. Draw up a loop. YO, draw through 2 loops on hook. YO, draw through remaining 3 loops. TRC complete.

 

Double Treble (DTR)

YO 3 times. Draw up a loop. *YO, draw through 2 loops on hook* twice. YO, draw through remaining 3 loops. DTR complete.

 

Quadruple Crochet (Quad)

YO 4 times. Draw up a loop. *YO, draw through 2 loops on hook* 3 times. YO, draw through remaining 3 loops. Quad complete.

 

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CROCHET INSTRUCTIONS

 

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Round 1 – 5

Follow the original pattern up to Round 5.

 

Round 6

Worked in the same way as the original pattern instructs, with one small difference in the groups of stitches pictured.

Quoted is the instructions from Persia Lou’s pattern for this particular group of stitches: “…trc in first 3 chs of ch 4 below (work stitches into the chs not over them to create a more defined shape), ch 4, sl st to 4th ch.”

Substitute those stitches with the following: Ch4. TRC in next 3 chs of ch4. SS into top of next ch4.

In the same place at the other end of the block, work those stitches as follows: TRC in 1st 3 chains of ch4 below. Ch4. SS into 4th ch.

Do the same when you get to the same points on the opposite side of the block.

 

Round 7

Join yarn at top of Starting Chain of 4 with a SS. Ch2 (Counts as HDC). {{SC in next 8 sts. HDC in top of ch4. DTR in next st. Skip next st. DTR in next 6 sts, DTR into top of ch4.

Work all of the following stitches into the top of the ch4 from Round 5: [YO 6 times. Draw up a loop. *YO, draw through 2 loops on hook* 5 times. YO, draw through remaining 3 loops. Stitch complete. Ch5. YO 5 times. Draw up a loop.*YO, draw through 2 loops on hook* 4 times. YO, draw through remaining 3 loops. Stitch complete. Ch2. Quad. Ch1. Quad.]

TRC in top of next ch4. [Quad, 2DTR] in top of ch4 from Round 5.

 

SC in top of next ch4. Skip st. In BLO, HDC in next st. Skip st. In BLO, DC in next st. Skip 2 sts. [DTR, TRC, DC, TRC, DTR] in next st.

Now the pattern is basically repeated in reverse: Skip 2 sts. In BLO, DC in next st. Skip st. In BLO, HDC in next st. Skip st. SC in top of next ch4. [2DTR, Quad] in top of ch4 from Round 5. TRC in top of next ch4.

Work all of the following stitches into the top of the ch4 from Round 5: [Quad. Ch1. Quad. Ch2. YO 5 times. Draw up a loop.*YO, draw through 2 loops on hook* 4 times. YO, draw through remaining 3 loops. Stitch complete. Ch5. YO 6 times. Draw up a loop. *YO, draw through 2 loops on hook* 5 times. YO, draw through remaining 3 loops. Stitch complete.]

DTR in top of next ch4. DTR in next 6 sts. Skip st. DTR in next st. }}

HDC in top of next ch4. Repeat {{…}}. Finish with a SS into top of Starting Chain.

Phew – the hardest part is over! Now for the simple stuff…

 

Round 8

Ch2 (Counts as HDC). HDC in next 18 sts. {{[2HDC, ch2, 3HDC] in ch5 space. 2HDC in next ch2 space. 2HDC in next ch1 space. Leaving Quad un-worked and starting in next TRC, HDC in next 19 sts.  2HDC in next ch1 space. 2HDC in next ch2 space. [3HDC, ch2, 2HDC] in next ch5 space.}} Starting in next DTR, HDC in next 27 sts. Repeat {{…}}. Starting in next DTR, HDC in remaining 8 sts. Finish with a SS into top of Starting Chain.

 

Round 9

Ch2 (Counts as HDC). HDC in next 19 sts. {{[2HDC, ch2, 2HDC] in ch2 space. Leaving 1st st unworked, HDC in next 33 sts.}} [2HDC, ch2, 2HDC] in ch2 space. Leaving 1st st unworked, HDC in next 30 sts. Repeat {{…}}. HDC in remaining 9 sts. Finish with a SS into top of Starting Chain. Tie off, weave in the ends and block into shape.

Yay – you did it!

 

I’m making these and a bunch of other things for a craft market that I’ll be attending on first Saturday of every month starting in May. I recently applied to become a seller at the I Heart market in Durban (SA) and got accepted. It’s going to  be my very first market ever so all the newness is scary but I’m quite excited about it. So. I’ll be posting more free crochet patterns and some other cool craft tutorials for the products I’m going to be selling there, over the next few weeks. Here’s a preview of what’s to come…

If you enjoyed the pattern or if you have any questions about it, please let me know in the comments. Feel free to share the pattern with all your fellow crochet addicts!

~https://www.projectarian.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/27-1.jpg