Creativity Crochet Pip-Life

Weekend Project: How To Crochet A Free-Style Log Cabin Blanket

May 19, 2017
Meet Me at Mikes Log Cabin Crochet

If you follow me on Instagram – and for gawd’s sake, don’t feel that you must – you might have seen this a log cabin style blanket that I’ve been crocheting?

It’s super easy to do – and super fast – once you get get started and get your head around where to join your next colour. It’s based on a log cabin quilt, of course, and there are many precise patterns online which will teach you how to make one.

My version is much more free-style and forgiving, designed to be made in front of a good Box Set without any agonising over stitch count and the like.

Here is how to do it! (I’ll be over here finishing mine and snipping the loose ends!)


MEET ME AT MIKES LOG CABIN CROCHET blanket

 

 

The Basics

+ Stitches used in this project: chain stitch and half treble stitch (UK/Australian terminology!)
+ Hook used: 3mm hook from the op shop
+ Yarn used: 8ply DK acrylic yarn – some Stylecraft (via Yarn Barn) and some random odds and sods from Spotlight and Lincraft too. If you are buying yarn for this – 8 assorted 100g balls of 8 ply/DK will give you a good mix of colours and enough to make a good sized throw rug.

+ Note: I used my yarn stash for this, hence the random colours. It’s a great way to use up half balls and oddments and the beauty is in the randomness, I think!
+ I 
crocheted the ‘loose ends’ of yarn into the blanket – to hide them and secure it all – as I went, by holding the long, loose thread against my work and stitching my new coloured row over the loose thread.

+ AND – if you need help keeping your edges straight – here is a great how-to by Heart, Hook, Home.


Let’s begin!

  • Foundation chain: Chain 15.
  • Half treble crochet once into each foundation chain stitch.

Meet Me at Mikes Log Cabin CrochetMeet Me at Mikes Log Cabin CrochetMeet Me at Mikes Log Cabin Crochet

  • When you get to the end of the row, turn your work and chain one.
  • Then half treble crochet into each stitch.
  • Continue on like this until you have made a ‘square’ shape.
  • Fasten off.

Meet Me at Mikes Log Cabin CrochetMeet Me at Mikes Log Cabin CrochetMeet Me at Mikes Log Cabin CrochetMeet Me at Mikes Log Cabin CrochetMeet Me at Mikes Log Cabin CrochetMeet Me at Mikes Log Cabin Crochet

 

  • Swivel your work around, as shown. (90 degrees!)
  • Join your new colour in the top right corner as shown. 
  • You’re going to begin to crochet your first ‘strip’ into the side of your square in this new colour (I used green!)
  • Know that some of the stitches in the first row of your new colour will be a little whack, but just do your best and be as neat as you can. So let’s do that. (more images of this below!)
  • Let’s go: Half treble crochet once into each stitch in the side of your original square – as I have done with the green yarn. Make sure you’ve got enough stitches to sit nicely and evenly along the square’s side (see below!)
  • When you get to the end of the row, turn your work, chain one and half treble crochet into each stitch again.
  • Continue on like this until you have a STRIP that’s the width you intend all your future strips to be. Does that make sense? Look at my pics to see the size I made my first (very short, green) strip. 
  • You can count your rows, if you like, but I just judged by ‘eye’. I’m crazy like that. I didn’t want to have to count my way through this blanket, I wanted it to be loose and freestyle.
  • You can see from the image below that the first square we made, PLUS the new strip of colour will form a long rectangle – and the stitches in each colour are made in different directions – because we turned our square before we added the new colour.
  • I promise this gets super easy as we go on, too! We’re laying the foundation for EASE!

Meet Me at Mikes Log Cabin CrochetMeet Me at Mikes Log Cabin Crochet

 

  • Now we turn our work again.
  • Attach our new colour at top right again.
  • Half treble crochet into each stitch again.
  • Turn our work when we’ve reached the end of the row.
  • Chain one.
  • Half treble crochet into each stitch in the row.
  • Continue on until we’ve reached our required ‘strip’ width. It’ll be the pretty much same width as the second colour we joined. Match the way your work looks to mine and you’ll be SORTED. It doesn’t have to be the exact same number of rows as mine, though. Just the basic structure needs to mimic mine.

 

Meet Me at Mikes Log Cabin CrochetMeet Me at Mikes Log Cabin Crochet

 

  • Note in the image above that our yellow strip is around the same ‘height’ as our green strip’s ‘width’. Nice. We’re going for strips that are similar widths – and slowly growing in length as our log cabin gets bigger.

 

Meet Me at Mikes Log Cabin Crochet

 

  • At this point, your work should look like the above image.
  • Position your piece in the same way – with one long strip on the right and two shorter patches on the left.
  • Now fasten on the new colour, as shown. It’s in the top right corner, right? Fastened to the top right corner of the longest strip.
  • Your colours might be different, but just make sure the shapes look the same and you fasten the new colour in the same spot as I have. Just matchy-matchy it. Okay?

 

Meet Me at Mikes Log Cabin Crochet

 

  • Let’s do that again. Check out the shapes in the above pics and match your work (so far) to those.
  • The image above shows colour FOUR (dark pink) being completed.
  • Then it shows how I’ve turned the rectangle and fastened a new colour on, completed row one and turned it. (again above)

From here on in, things get easy and there are just THREE RULES to follow.

  1. Which side of your rectangle do you crochet into? You just join your new colour to the side that has THREE colours on it.
  2. Where on that side do you join your colour? You join your new colour to the top right corner of your work. 
  3. How many crocheted rows per strip? Half double crochet enough rows to match the width of the previous strip – check my pics to see this play out. I didn’t count my rows – I just judged by eye – but you can count yours, if you fancy making it perfect-o!

 

Meet Me at Mikes Log Cabin Crochet

 

The images below shows what I mean by – ‘You just join your new colour to the side that has THREE colours on it.’ – you can see the three colours along the edge and also where you join your next colour. As we go on, only ONE side of your rectangle will ever feature three colours – so that’s where the next strip’s crochet party begins!

You can also see – in the pics below – that the strips of our log cabin blanket are around the same width – but grow in length as we grow our blanket.

So you literally just keep on like this! Begin the new colour on the top right corner of the side that features THREE colours. Crochet enough rows to make that ‘strip’ match the width of the others. ontineu on. La, la, la!

Make ONE huge blanket – or a number of small log cabin pieces that you can crochet or sew together. It’s up to you!

 

Meet Me at Mikes Log Cabin CrochetMeet Me at Mikes Log Cabin CrochetMeet Me at Mikes Log Cabin CrochetMeet Me at Mikes Log Cabin Crochet

Note – the bigger log cabin above was started a little differently, but with similar results!

Meet Me at Mikes Log Cabin CrochetMeet Me at Mikes Log Cabin Crochet

9 Comments

  • Reply Lucy July 3, 2018 at 10:29 PM

    I’d like to share a photo of the blanket I made using your guide/tutorial! Is there a way to do this? It turned out beautifully!

  • Reply Coffee&CrochetGoals May 22, 2018 at 1:00 PM

    What a great stash buster! I have been dreaming about a log cabin blanket…it might just be next on my hook! Loved your post!

  • Reply Caros Cheeselover March 3, 2018 at 3:14 PM

    That’s some damn fine inspo – very pretty! How big a blanket do you think you’d get from about 8 x 100g balls (8 ply)?

  • Reply Katrina October 22, 2017 at 12:23 PM

    I love the colours you have used. Started mine yesterday. Love it! I’m also doing the Larksfoot blanket for a friend.

  • Reply Stacy Z. May 23, 2017 at 3:42 AM

    Love this………. do you think a beginner dyslexic could make one ?

  • Reply Kate May 21, 2017 at 2:18 PM

    Wouldn’t it be the most gorgeous pram blankie.
    I would totally stop someone in the street if I saw that blanket and possibly some little tootsies sticking out of the front of a pram. Just gorgeous! You’re tempting me over to crochet, it’s been forever. xx

  • Reply Camille May 20, 2017 at 1:55 AM

    Love it! So simple and colorful, just my style. Debating whether to finish a project I just started or to rip it out and just do this instead, hehe! 🙂

  • Reply Wendy of the Rock May 19, 2017 at 7:17 PM

    I’m generally a knitter, but I just started one of those awesome crocheted egg-collecting aprons for a friend, but after that, I’m gonna get into one of these for sure… starting with the stash I brought with me from Australia to London for occupying grey days…

  • Reply Kate May 19, 2017 at 2:55 PM

    Awesome can’t wait to start one now.

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