Polka Dot Baby Blanket {crochet pattern}

Today’s project is a crocheted polka dot baby blanket, and instead of making the polka dots with a crochet stitch we are using pom-pom yarn to do the work for us. We will carry along a strand of pom-pom yarn as we crochet.

Do you ever get in the mood to step out of your comfort zone? You’re ready to try something new. Something that is not one of the many stitches you’ve used countless times before?

That is how this blanket was birthed, and I mentioned it a few months ago when I wrote about “all the things” I was working on. You can read about all those things here. I’ll also explain, further down, about my mishap!

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. — George Bernard Shaw

I have tons of pom-pom yarn back when I thought it would become a trendy yarn — it didn’t. In fact, was it even ever trendy?? Anyway, I bought it in all the colors including variegated colors. And while I did make fringe-y style scarves out of it (do NOT wash multiples of those together!!!! It ends up in one massive knot!?!), it basically sat.

Yarn Reorg

When I did a yarn reorganization, I decided I wanted to find some projects to use it up. Yeah, I could make a big blanket from just pom-pom yarn. And I did find a few other projects that looked neat. But I thought I’d try my hand at this one – it was just enough of something new and different without having to read a pattern row by row.

I saw an article about carrying yarn, and thought, well, why not carry pompom yarn?! I have a couple different kinds of pom-pom yarn and this one had plenty of space between the pom-poms.

Today’s polka dot baby blanket is a simple half-double crochet stitch throughout. While doing that you simply carry the pompom yarn and crochet “around” where the pompom ball falls. The pompom yarn is hidden underneath the stitches of the main color, and only the pompom poofs out. And I didn’t do anything special to line them up, or count stitches between pompoms, or anything. Like a golf game, I played it as it lied.

**My Italicized Mishap!**

Starting with some variegated, complementary 4-weight yarn, I doubled it up, and started crocheting. I worked rows of half double crochets, and thought I’d jazz it up (LOL) by adding a row of single crochets every so often — fearless, I am!

The end result was a blanket that looked like it was crocheted in italics! That’s right. The whole blanket shifted to one side! It looked terrible and I was probably 50 rows in, when I had to just scrap it. I pulled it all out and started back over.

I’m guessing my tension was off with carrying the pom-pom yarn, and something about switching between half doubles and singles, but I wasn’t willing to risk it again. Oddly, I’ve never had this issue. I’ve accidentally increased or decreased on one side or the other, but the pompom blanket slanted on BOTH sides. No, I did not take a picture of it….though I should have.

This time, I stayed with just using half double crochets, while carrying the pom-pom yarn and that worked.

After crocheting “around” the pompom, the pompom will show up on the side of the blanket facing AWAY from you.

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. —Albert Einstein

In addition to a simple half-double crochet, and carrying the pompom yarn, I also decided to double-up on the main yarn, working two strands at a time.

Supplies for Polka Dot Baby Blanket

L Hook
Scissors
9 skeins of Deborah Norville Premier Yarn, 180yd skeins; color: Cold Mountain (it’s easier to do 10 skeins since you work 2 skeins at a time, but I only had 9 so I rolled the last skein into 2 equal-ish sized balls)
2 skeins of Red Heart Spark-a-Doodle yarn, 54yd skeins, color: Capri

Instructions for Polka Dot Baby Blanket

And now for the pattern….the un-italicized version!

Finished Dimensions: 55″ x 33″

Using 2 skeins of 4-weight yarn, chain 99. Turn.

Row 1 – Single crochet in the 2^nd chain from hook, and then single crochet in each chain across. Turn.

Row 2 – Chain 2. Begin carrying the pompom yarn, leaving a tail to tuck later. Half double crochet in each stitch from the previous row. You will start seeing how many stitches you can complete in between pompoms. Do NOT skip any stitches. Simply push the pompom away from you and continue crocheting around it.

Also, be aware of your tension. It’s very easy to crochet a little tighter while you’re trying to place the stitches around the pompom. But don’t. Your blanket will likely turn out wonky. Or look like it was worked in italics…just sayin’. Just take a deep breathe, relax, and crochet as if the pompom yarn isn’t even there. There you go…

Row 3 – Repeat row 2 until you reach your desired length. Drop pompom yarn. Turn.

I worked the first row of single crochet, a total of 58 rows of half double crochets, and then a final row of single crochet.

Last Row – Chain 1. Single crochet across and fasten off.

I didn’t border this one, but you could. I simply tucked the ends, tying some of the pompom yarn to better secure it before tucking.

And voila, my ‘stepping out of my comfort zone’ blanket turned into a polka dot baby blanket. Now I’m ready to go back to my comfort zone. LOL!

Concluding thoughts

Have you worked with pompom yarn before? If so, what did you make? I have plenty more I need to use up so I could use some fresh ideas! Drop me a note in the comments. I’d love to hear from you!

Happy crocheting!