The Alpine stitch makes a beautifully textured blanket. This one is written as a baby blanket, but keeping to the correct stitch multiple you can easily make it as wide as you like.
The pattern uses approximately 1500 yards of yarn.
What the Alpine stitch is
A textured pattern built from front post double crochet stitches worked around the posts of stitches two rows below, alternating position from row to row.
The raised posts stand proud of the background and offset each other, producing a dense woven-looking surface with real depth. It is considerably more striking than the technique suggests, and it is not difficult – if you can work a double crochet you can work a front post double crochet within a few minutes.
Resizing it
This is the useful thing about the pattern. The Alpine stitch repeats over a fixed number of stitches, so as long as your foundation chain is the right multiple, you can make the blanket any width.
Work out the multiple from the pattern, decide the width you want, and chain accordingly. Nothing else changes.
That makes the same pattern a pram blanket, a lap blanket or a full throw.
Yarn quantity
1500 yards for the baby size. If you widen it, consumption rises faster than you might expect – post stitch textures use noticeably more yarn than flat stitches for the same area.
Buy generously and in matching dye lots. A dye lot change across a textured blanket is very visible.
Yarn choice
A smooth yarn with good stitch definition. The texture is the entire design, and anything fuzzy will hide it.
A solid colour shows it best. Variegated yarn fights the texture – the colour changes pull the eye away from the raised posts.
For a baby blanket, soft and machine washable without exception.
Working it
Go up a hook size from what the yarn suggests. Post stitches pull the fabric in considerably, and at a normal hook size the blanket comes out stiff rather than drapey.
Count at the end of every row for the first ten rows. The stitch pattern depends on the posts landing in the right place, and a count that has drifted throws the texture off visibly.
Keep the post stitches loose. Worked tight they gather the fabric and the blanket puckers.
Finishing
A simple border of a few rounds steadies the edges, which textured fabric tends to pull unevenly.
Block it gently – enough to square it up, not enough to flatten the texture you spent the time building.
