Fall Foliage Afghan

I’m so excited to share my latest pattern with you all — Fall Foliage Afghan! This blanket has been almost a year in the making. I started it last year with the intention of taking beautiful pictures of it with the Autumn leaves, which were my color inspiration.

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Check out the matching throw pillow pattern called the Fall Foliage Pillow!

As it turns out, I was working on this in between other projects and by the time I was half way finished, the leaves were all brown and had fallen from the trees. We were in the less attractive gap between fall and winter. So I made the decision to hold onto the blanket and release the pattern the following year.

I wanted to get this pattern out early as well so that you would have plenty of time to make it before Autumn set in. It was one of my goals for this year — to get patterns out before the actual season so you’d have time to make them. And even though I don’t have the colorful leafy photographs right now, I have a fully finished blanket, ready and waiting for the perfect Fall day to go out and get those photos!

I’ll update this blog post once those pictures are ready. For now, I’m pleased with the ones I took on my front porch. I finally got new furniture for out there this year and it happens to be one of my most favorite places to crochet! Even my sweet crochet buddy, Teagan, loves it!

That’s enough backstory for now. Let’s get into the details of the pattern.

The stitches that you need to know for the Fall Foliage Afghan are single crochets, half double crochets (only for the final row) and double crochets. Yep, that’s it. The only part that takes a little getting used to is crocheting over top of the chains from the previous row and working your double crochets into the stitches that are two rows below the row you’re working on. It felt a little awkward at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s smooth sailing! I’ve included some photos to help illustrate the written instructions.

I love the staggered look of the stripes, which gives this afghan more visual interest than a standard striped blanket. My husband is the one that chose the fringe. After I got so far into the blanket and let him see it, he pretty much claimed it as his own. He loved how thick and warm it was. (He doesn’t care for the blankets with a lot of holes in them.) So right now, it is draped over his recliner and he couldn’t be happier!

It was brought to my attention that the lovely Tamara Kelly from Moogly blog has a similar baby blanket pattern called the Leaping Stripes and Blocks blanket. You can see her pattern at the link. She offers many sizing options and a different border!

Add this project to your Ravelry queue here…

YOU CAN PIN THIS PATTERN HERE

Fall Foliage Afghan

Materials Used:

• 2.5 skeins of I Love This Yarn in Sungold – 7 oz/199g – 355 yds/325 m
• 2.5 skeins of I Love This Yarn in Burnt Pumpkin – 7 oz/199g – 355 yds/325 m
• 1.5 skeins of I Love This Yarn in Brown – 7 oz/199g – 355 yds/325 m
• 3.5 skeins of I Love This Yarn in Cranberry – 7 oz/199g – 355 yds/325 m
• Or any medium weight yarn.
• J (5.75 mm) hook — My favorite hooks! I use them daily!
• I/9 (5.25 mm) hook
• Tapestry needle

Finished Size Approximately:

52 ½” Width x 61” Height

Gauge:

13 double crochet stitches and 6 rows in a 4” (10cm) square.

Abbreviations:

FC – foundation chain
st(s) – stitch(es)
ch(s) – chain(s)
sc – single crochet
hdc – half double crochet
dc – double crochet
sl st – slip stitch

Notes:

• You will use the larger hook for the foundation chain and then switch to the smaller hook for Row 1. This keeps the blankets foundation chain from being too tight.
• You can make any size blanket you desire if you use a foundation chain with a multiple of 4 chains plus 2.
• The pattern is made up of four rows per stripe of color.
• If you work four rows per color, all of your ends will be on one side of the blanket. You have the option to crochet over them or weave them in. The sides of the blanket come out neat and don’t require a border unless you’d like to add one. The fringe is optional.

*** American crochet terms used throughout.

Instructions:

With Cranberry and J hook

FC: Ch 182

Switch to I hook

Row 1: In 4th ch from hook, dc. Dc in next ch. *Ch 2, skip 2 chs, dc in next 2 chs* Repeat from * to * across. Dc in last ch. Turn.

Row 2: Ch 2, hdc in same st the ch 2 comes out of, ch 2, skip next 2 sts. *Crocheting into the open FC below (the stitches will cover the 2 chs from the previous row), dc in the next 2 FC’s. Ch 2, skip next 2 sts.* Repeat from * to * across. Hdc in the top of the ch 3 from the previous row. Turn.

Row 3: Ch 2, hdc in same st the ch 2 comes out of. Crocheting into the open sts from 2 rows below (the stitches will cover the 2 chs from the previous row), dc in those next 2 sts. *Ch 2, skip next 2 sts, dc in next 2 sts from 2 rows below* Repeat from * to * across. Hdc in last st. Turn.

Row 4: Ch 2, hdc in same st the ch 2 comes out of, ch 2, skip next 2 sts. *Crocheting into the open sts from 2 rows below, dc in those next 2 sts. Ch 2, skip next 2 sts.* Repeat from * to * across. Hdc in the last st. Turn.

Finish off if changing colors. Continue to alternate Row 3 and Row 4 for pattern for a total of 188 rows (47 stripes). There are 4 rows per stripe.

Final Row (to close the gaps) will be a modified Row 4. If working the stripes, for your final stripe complete 3 rows following the instructions above. For the final row of the Fall Foliage Afghan:

Ch 1, sc in the same st the ch 1 comes out of, sc in the next 2 sts, *hdc in the next 2 unworked sts from 2 rows below, sc in next 2 sts* Repeat from * to * across. Sc in last st. Finish off. Weave in ends.

Color Pattern

Cranberry
Sungold
Burnt Pumpkin
Cranberry
Sungold
Burnt Pumpkin
Cranberry
Brown
Cranberry
Sungold
Burnt Pumpkin
Cranberry
Sungold
Burnt Pumpkin
Brown
Repeat

Finishing

Using a hardback book, wrap your yarn around the exterior of the closed book over and over. Insert your scissors into the gap created by the hard cover of the book and the indented pages. Cut along the yarn that is raised just above the pages. This shouldn’t damage the book in any way. You will now have many equal length strands ready for fringe.

Holding three pieces of fringe together, insert your hook through the stitch at the end of the blanket and draw the center of the fringe back through the stitch. Don’t pull the entire way through. (The six ends of the fringe will be sticking out one side of the stitch and the 3-strand loop will be sticking out the other side of the stitch.) Insert all 6 ends through the loop of fringe you pulled through the other side and pull tight. It will be wrapped around the stitch from the blanket. Repeat this process for every other stitch across the bottom of the blanket and then repeat on the opposite side of the blanket. Trim ends to make them even.

Don’t forget the matching throw pillow pattern called the Fall Foliage Pillow!

YOU CAN PIN THIS PATTERN HERE

I hope you’ve enjoyed the Fall Foliage Afghan pattern!

***Click here for the ad-free, large print PDF from Etsy***

***Click here for the ad-free, large print PDF from Ravelry***

Please note: If you purchase the PDF from either Ravelry or Etsy, you will receive 2 PDF’s. One will have the pattern shown on this page and the other will contain the photo tutorial. They are separate to make it easier to print if you aren’t interested in printing the photos.