Easy Book Blanket Idea - Free Tutorial

In 2025, I completed my first book blanket and it was one of my most favourite projects of all time. It was definitely a challenge to keep up with a yearlong project but oh so worth it. I loved it so much that I am committing to doing another one for 2026!

Whenever I've shared my book blanket progress online I've had DMs and comments asking for a pattern. Now I won't say that there is a strict pattern for my book blanket but I am going to outline what I did last year and what I plan to do this year so that you can do the same if you would like to.

As with all crochet patterns there is a lot of room for customisation and making it something that reflects your personality. After all, you will be working on this for a whole year and so you want it to be something that you enjoy doing.

I will share some ideas for how you could do things, whether you choose to do the same as me or something different. The possibilities really are endless though.

What is a book blanket?

Before we dive into discussing making a book blanket let’s first take a look at what a book blanket actually is.

A book blanket is a yearlong project, similar in style to temperature blankets which have been super popular over recent years. The idea is that you make a square or crochet a row or two for every book that you read during the year. You are therefore, creating a kind memory map for the year, something you can look back on in years to come and think about all of the amazing books you read. It really is a special project to work on.

You do not need to read an exorbitant amount of books to be able to make a book blanket. It can still be done even if you only read 20 books in the year. I’ll give for tips for that below too!

There are lots of ways to go about making a book blanket and that’s where the real personalisation aspect comes in. It’s up to you if you want to do a granny square per book or crochet two rows of a blanket per book. You can choose whether you want to include books you DNF (Did Not Finish) or just those you did. It’s completely up to you.

In this blog post I will be sharing how I approached my 2025 book blanket and the tweaks I am making for 2026 along with some alternative suggestions that you could use.

My biggest bit of advice for your first book blanket, is to keep it simple and to use colours you love so that you want to keep working on it throughout the year.

Choosing your Yarn

Selecting the yarn for your book blanket requires careful consideration of a few different factors including:

• Yarn brand

  • is it one that you can source easily?

• Yarn weight

  • you can use any but think about how it will effect the overall size of your finished blanket

• Fibre

  • use whatever you prefer be it acrylic, cotton, a wool-blend. It;s personal choice

• Colour palette

  • I'll go into this in more detail below but it's possibly the most important aspect.

In 2025, I used Yarnsmiths Create DK which is a 100% acrylic yarn. This was a great choice as Yarnsmiths is a brand that's readily available from Wool Warehouse, it has 120 shades to choose from, being acrylic means that it's durable yet soft enough for a blanket and it's easy on the price point too.

This year, I'm using Yarnsmiths Merino DK. Again, this yarn is easy for me to get my hands on should I run out of any colours at any point, it has 120 shades to choose from and is a super soft, beautiful yarn. It is a little pricier than an acrylic yarn but I know that this is going to be a project that I will treasure long after it' completed so to me it's worth it.

Selecting your colours

When it comes to choosing your colours, you need to consider how you will be using colour in your blanket. For both of my blankets, colour is used to denote the star rating that I have given a book.

Below you will can see the colours I chose last year vs this year.

I have chosen less colours this year for two main reasons; one because I'm hoping the blanket will feel more cohesive with less colours, I'm not a huge fan of super colourful pieces (personal preference!). Two, it's easier to remember which colour I should be using when there are less of them!

Other ways you could use colour:

• Different colour for the genre of the book read

• Colours to represent the book covers (great stash buster!)

• Each colour relates to the format e.g. Physical, audiobook, kindle, library etc

• Colour per month - great if you want to track how much you're reading at specific times throughout the year.

Once you have chosen your colour palette you are ready to think about the layout or pattern for your book blanket.

The Design

For each of my blankets I have chosen to use granny squares (so that is what my directions will be for) but you could opt to do a ripple blanket, a granny stripe blanket, hexagons, C2C patchwork - whatever you like! I opted for granny squares because they are quick and easy to make, easy to store as I make a few at a time and also really easy to join together to create the overall blanket.

It really is up to you what you choose but I do think a simple granny square blanket is the ideal option for beginners. Below you will find the written pattern that I use for a simple 4 round granny square using one colour. If you plan to use multiple colours then a pattern for that can be found here.

Last year, I used the CJAYG method to join my squares as I made them and I will do the same again this year. It is my preferred method for joining squares together because it’s quick and easy, can be done a bit at a time and it looks great when using a contrast colour. If you wish to use a different method to join your squares then you absolutely can, it's whatever your preference is for the overall design.

I'd set a goal of reading 75 books last year (I ended up reading 99!) so I had a rough idea of how to arrange my squares. I decided that each row would be 10 squares long. If you're planning to read more or less books then you could have the row be more or less squares. This is where the weight of yarn that you use comes into play too, a DK weight warn will create a smaller granny square than a chunky yarn would.

If you were hoping to read 50 books in a year, then I would perhaps use an aran weight yarn with a 5.5 or 6mm crochet hook and work 5 rounds for each granny square instead of 4. I would then organise it as 7 or 8 squares per row, accepting that I would maybe have to add in some filler squares to even out the final row. I do include squares for any DNFs (Did Not Finish) so this alters the number of squares I have overall. The good thing with granny squares and the CJAYG method is that it's super easy to add squares to each row meaning you can make the blanket both wider and longer as you go if you need to.

If the number of books you read in the year is not ‘enough’ to create a whole blanket then you could make filler squares in a neutral shade and alternate between a book square and a filler square. Another option would be to continue your project into the next year and keep adding to it until it’s the size you want. Alternatively, you could make your motifs bigger by adding more rounds or using chunkier yarn. This is your blanket, there is no right or wrong way to do it!

Also it doesn’t have to be a blanket. Make it a granny square scarf or cushion cover instead!

Granny Square Options

If you do opt to use granny squares for your book blanket then there are a few different ways that you could do this. The easiest would be what I did last year - a 4 round granny square in one solid colour per book. Super easy to do, minimal ends to weave in, not too much thought involved and it gives a great overall finish.

This year I am taking it up a notch and I'm making two different types of granny square.

• 5 round granny square for audiobooks

• Sunburst granny square for physical/kindle books

All squares will be a singular colour showing its star rating. My reason for this is that last year I listened to A LOT of audiobooks and I would just like to see a visual representation of how I am consuming books this year.

If you wanted to do something similar you could add in a third type of granny square (maybe a solid one) to differentiate between physical and kindle books. This isn't necessary but if you are someone who does read in multiple formats then it may be a fun way to record your reading habits.

Granny Square Pattern

Stitch Abbreviations

(US Terms)

MR - magic ring/magic circle

DC - double crochet

Sl st - slip stitch

Ch - chain

RS - right side

WS - wrong side

Pattern Notes:

• For both of my blankets I have used a DK weight yarn with a 4.5mm hook. You should use a hook size that compliments your chosen yarn.

• Ch2 at the start of the round does count as a stitch.

• You will be turning your work after every round.

The Pattern:

Make a magic circle.

Round 1 (RS):

Into the magic circle, ch2 (counts as a stitch here and throughout). Work 2 DC and ch1. Then work 3DC, ch1 repeating from to 2 more times. Sl st to top of ch2 to join.

Turn your work.

Note: At the end of this round you will have 4 clusters of 3DC and 4 ch1 spaces. The ch1 spaces are your corner spaces.

Round 2 (WS):

Ch2 and work 2 DC into the chain space at the base of the ch2. (This is the start of our first corner)

[3DC, ch1, 3DC] into each of the next 3 ch1 corner spaces.

3DC into the final corner space (where you worked your initial ch2, 2DC) and ch1. Sl st to top of ch2 to join. (This completes the first corner)

Turn your work.

Note: At the end of this round you will have 8 clusters of 3DC and 4 ch1 corner spaces.

Note: These photos only show a 3 round granny square but all rounds are worked in the same way.

Round 3 (RS):

Ch2 and work 2 DC into the chain space at the base of the ch2. 3DC into the space between clusters from previous round and work [3DC, ch1, 3DC] into the corner space Repeat from to 2 more times.

3DC into the space between the clusters from the previous round. 3DC into the final corner space and ch1. Sl st to top of ch2 to join.

Turn your work.

Note: At the end of this round you will have a total of 12 clusters and 4 ch1 corner spaces.

Round 4 (RS):

Ch2 and work 2 DC into the chain space at the base of the ch2. 3DC into each of the spaces between clusters from the previous round. [3DC, ch1, 3DC] into the corner space Repeat from to two more times.

3DC into each of the spaces between the clusters from the previous round. 3DC into the final corner space and ch1. Sl st to top of ch2 to join.

Fasten off.

Note: At the end of this round you will have a total of 16 clusters and 4 ch1 corner spaces.

Next week I will share a pattern for the Sunburst Granny Square should you wish to use that (when the pattern is available I'll link it here too).

Remember, you can find a detailed tutorial for joining your granny squares here.

Books and Crochet

If you love both books and crochet, which I'm assuming you do, then be sure to follow me on social media

@Brambles.and.Hart I'll be sharing regular Book Blanket updates throughout the year including the books that I have been reading, which ones I'm loving and those not so much. I'll be doing a monthly wrap up post both on instagram and here on the blog.

I track my reading on the Fable App and if you are interested in using that too then you can sign up and join me there! If you have any book recommendations for me then do let me know, I'm always looking to add to my TBR!

If you decide to make a book blanket too then do tag me in your photos on social media @Brambles.and.Hart and use #BookBlanket

If you would like to support me further and help me to keep creating free patterns and tutorials to share with you then do consider buying me a coffee on Ko-fi!

Happy crocheting!

Shelley ♡