Hooked on the Holidays: Crafting an Ugly Christmas Sweater Blanket- Part 1- Peppermint Candy

Season's greetings no matter when, crochet enthusiasts! If you're itching to embark on a creative journey that's as exciting as unwrapping presents on Christmas morning, you're in for a treat! Get ready to delve into the world of cozy yarn, vibrant colors, and several captivating patterns. In this blog series, we're going to transform the classic ugly Christmas sweater into an awe-inspiring crochet sampler blanket. Let's kick things off with the deliciously sweet Peppermint Candy section!

🎄 Imagine snuggling under a blanket that includes one of your favorite holiday treats – peppermint candies! This section boasts a textured red and white motif that evokes the joy of the season.

🎄 Choose what "flavor" peppermint is your favorite by changing up your colors! You're the artist of your masterpiece!

🎄 Want the full pattern now? Don't want to deal with ads? You can get it all by upgrading to the premium PDF. You'll gain access to easy-to-follow graphs, bonus video tutorials, multiple color/supplies lists for several yarn weights, and both UK and US crochet terms to ensure your journey is seamless and enjoyable.  The premium PDF is available through Ravelry or my website. Just click on one of the pictures below:

"Ugly Christmas Sweater" Sampler Blanket

by Elizabeth Mareno © 2018

Materials for Entire Blanket:

Worsted Weight/10 ply/Aran yarn- I Love This Yarn (Solids- 7oz/355yds, Metallic- 5oz/252yds)
Colors: White- 4-1/2 skeins
              Metallic Red- 1-1/2 skeins
                Red- 1 skein
                Green- 2 skeins
                Blue- 1-1/2 skeins
                Yellow- ¾ skein
                Orange- ¾ skein
                Brown- 3 oz
Scrap amounts of dark brown for reindeer faces

Colors used in the original blanket:

Center Peppermint Candy- Uses white, sparkly red, and green.

Christmas Lights- Uses white, blue, yellow, and orange.

Argyle- Uses blue and white.

Candy Stripes 1 & 2- Uses Sparkly red and white.

Snowballs & Icicles- Uses green and white.

Colored Blocks- Uses white, blue, yellow, and orange.

Reindeer Bobbles- Uses regular red, green, and brown.

Marshmallows- Uses white.

Holly Berry Edge- Uses blue, green, and sparkly red.

#7/4.5mm hook

Large eye needle for sewing ends

Gauge is not important in this pattern. However, if  you would like to make sure you match me, here is the gauge swatch: 

ch21, sc in 2^nd ch and each one across (20)
R2-20- ch1, turn, sc in each.
16sc x 18 rows= 4” x 4”
with a #7-4.5mm hook

General Abbreviations and Special Stitches/Notes:

Ch- chain
sc- single crochet
hdc- half double crochet
dc- double crochet
trc- treble crochet
Fptr- front post treble crochet
MR- Magic Ring
ar – around
rnds- rounds

PC- Popcorn- 5dc in the stitch indicated, drop the loop from your hook, reinsert hook into the first dc and in the dropped loop, pull a loop through all.

Picot: ch3, sl st in 3^rd ch from hook

Ch2 counts as hdc unless otherwise noted
Ch3 counts as dc unless otherwise noted
Ch4 counts as trc unless otherwise noted
Ch6 counts as dc and ch3 unless otherwise noted

Pattern for Part 1: Video Tutorial Available Here

Peppermint Candy- start with white

Rd1- MR, ch3 (not a dc), 12dc in ring, join w/first dc. (12dc)

Rd2- ch3, dc in same sp, 2dc in each. Join. (24dc)   

Rd3- ch3, 2dc in next, dc in next 2, FPtr ar post between rnds 1 & 2, (dc in next, 2dc in next, dc in next 2, FPtr ar post between rnds 1 & 2) 5 times, join with ch3. (36st) 

Rd4- ch3, dc in next, 2dc in next, (dc in 2, 2dc in next) around. Join with ch3. (48dc) 

Cut white, join with sparkly red

Rd5- with sparkly red, ch3 in join space, dc in 3dc, FPtr ar dc 2 rnds below, (dc in 4dc, FPtr ar FPtr 2 rnds below, dc in 4dc, FPtr ar dc 2 rnds below) around, dc in 4dc, FPtr ar fptrc 2 rnds below. Join with ch3. (60st) 

Do not cut color.

Rd6- ch3, dc in 3dc, 2dc in next, (dc in 4dc, 2dc in next) around. Join in ch3. (72dc) 

cut color, join with white.

Rd7- with white, ch3 in join space, dc in 4, 2dc in next, (dc in 6, FPtr ar FPtr, dc in 5dc, 2dc in next) around, dc in 5, FPtr ar FPtr. Join with ch3. (84dc) 

do not cut color.

Rd8- ch3, dc in 5, 2dc in next, (dc in 6, 2dc in next) around. Join with ch3. (96dc) 

cut color, join with sparkly red.

Rd9- ch1, sc in join space, sc in next 7dc, FPtr ar dc 2 rnds below, (sc in 8, FPtr ar FPtr, sc in 8dc, FPtr ar dc 2 rnds below) around, sc in 8dc, FPtr ar FPtr Join in first sc. (108sc)

 cut color, join with green.

Rd10- work in BLO, ch4 (cts as tr), tr in same space, ch3, 2tr in same space, [*tr in next, dc in 3, hdc in 5, sc in 8, hdc in 5, dc in 3, tr in 1,* (2tr, ch3, 2tr) in next] 3x, repeat from * to * once. Join with ch4. (30/side)

Rd11- sl st to corner, ch4, (tr, ch3, 2tr in corner), [*tr in 9, dc in 12, tr in 9,* (2tr, ch3, 2tr) in corner] 3x, repeat * to * once. Join in ch4. (34/side)

Rd12- sl st to corner, ch1, [(sc, ch3, sc) in corner, sc in each st across] 4x. Join with first sc. (36/side) 

cut color.

Click the picture below to go to Part 2!!

© Bizzy Crochet and Designs 2018