Trying out new crochet stitches can be a mine field and sampler blankets have been suggested to you – but what are sampler blankets? What type of stitch to choose, do you try and make it with just a stitch guide or do you try and find a pattern that has the stitch in it. What’s the best way? Well if you are wanting to just try out a range of crochet stitches, then why not pick a sampler blanket?

I’ve got 5 different sampler blankets that you can try. Each features dozens of different crochet stitches with easy to follow guides and video tutorials. Best of all, they’re all free! Keep reading to see them all. And I have a sampler crochet along that might catch your interest too.

What Is A Sampler Blanket?

Sampler blankets are a fun and easy way to try out many different crochet stitches quickly and without having to commit to an entire project with a stitch you’ve never tried before. Crochet sampler blankets only use each stitch for a small section before switching to a different stitch and you get an amazing looking project to show off at the end.

Sampler blankets are generally made for those who are ready to stretch their skills and see what crochet has to offer beyond the basic stitches, which means they usually have easily accessible instructions with pictures to show the main points and often there is a video tutorial that you can crochet along with.

Right, lets get into the different sampler blankets you can try and what each one can offer you.

All of the patterns below are also available inside my Pattern Pass which has every pattern I have ever created including all 5 of my sampler blankets. You can discover more about the Pattern Pass here.

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The 50 Stitches

First up we have the 50 Stitches. This was my very first sampler blanket and I originally released it as a crochet along (actually, all the sampler blankets I’m showing you were originally crochet alongs). It is made up of 50 individual squares, each made with a different crochet stitch and then they are all joined together to create the blanket.

There are a range of stitch difficulties involved, but all have easy to follow instructions with both left and right handed videos to follow along to. I wanted this to be the ultimate learning experience for new crochet stitches and I’ve never created another project with this many different stitches in it – at least not yet anyways!

I used 4 different colours of yarn for this blanket, but there’s no reason you couldn’t make it with just 2 colours or more than 4 colours. I chose to use Rico Cotton Creative Aran yarn for my blanket as I love how vibrant cotton tends to be, but you can choose any aran or worsted weight yarn of your choice for your own blanket.

50 different stitches is a big number, but each is only used for a facecloth sized square and it was originally done as a year long project, so only making 1 square a week which broke it down into manageable chunks.

The pattern for the 50 Stitches is still available for free on my blog here, or the ad free version is available on Ravelry for just £5 here.

Ray Of Hope

The Ray Of Hope was first released in 2021, so post pandemic. After the year we’d just had I wanted to create something bright and cheerful. So I went with a stained glass inspired sun design, where each of the rays and the space in between was made with a different crochet stitch. Each piece was outlined in black just like stained glass pieces, and all the pieces fitted around a central mandala.

I still adore this design, it’s just so bright and colourful and never fails to put a smile on my face when I see it. I used 18 colours of Scheepjes Softfun yarn to make this blanket, although you can use far fewer colours if you prefer and any DK or light worsted weight yarn.

This pattern is more challenging than the 50 Stitches due to how some of the pieces are shaped, but again the full step by step instructions are included and video tutorials are provided.

You can find the Ray Of Hope pattern on my blog for free here, or the ad free pdf is available to download on Ravelry for just £5 here.

Country Garden

The Country Garden is the odd one out on this list as unlike the other sampler blankets, it is largely made in a single piece. It was created to look like a country garden scene with a flower strewn lawn, flower beds, trellises and a butterfly filled sky. All of these elements were created by using an assortment of different crochet stitches in an array of colours.

If you don’t want to mess around with having to join lots of individual pieces together or you want a project that doubles up as an art piece, then this is the project for you.

I used Paintbox Cotton Aran Yarn for my blanket, but you can use any aran weight or worsted weight yarn of your choice. I used 16 different colours to give me as big a palette as possible to create the garden scene.

This one is a different kind of challenge to the other sampler blankets because it is so different, but the pattern is free to access on my blog here, or the ad free pdf can be downloaded from Ravelry here.

FrankenScrap

When it came to designing the FrankenScrap sampler blanket, I was looking for a way to use up my yarn stash. I had so many odd balls of yarn and left over yarn from previous projects that I really needed a way to use some of it up. Scrap style quilts were very trendy and I decided to see if I could make a crochet version. That’s how the FrankenScrap came to be.

The pieces are all in different sizes and in different colours and each is a different crochet stitch, all joined together like Frankenstein’s monster was. It is a sampler blanket and ugly blanket combined and I love the chaos of it. This is the perfect project if you’re looking to use up some of that yarn hoard that you never seem to find the right project for.

If you don’t have much scrap yarn to choose from, then this pattern is a great chance to try out some mixed yarn packs. LoveCrafts have some great choices of colour packs that would work well for the Frankenscrap

You can find the free pattern on my blog here, or the ad free pdf is available on Ravelry for just £5 here.

Wall Of Stitches

The Wall Of Stitches is the sampler blanket where I went back to basics – with a twist. I wanted to stick to regular, predictably sized pieces for this one, just like my 50 Stitches blanket, but without it looking the same. At the time I kept seeing Lego blankets pop up everywhere.

When I was little I loved building houses with my Lego and would spend ages building those brick walls. So why not create something like a Lego brick wall? 48 pieces in 2 different sizes, each made with a different stitch in a bright and bold yarn colour, all fitted together like a brick wall. The sides are offset with each row to make it look like you’ve just pulled out a section of wall. It’s fun, quirky and will make everyone smile who sees it.

I chose 9 different colours from LoveCrafts Paintbox Cotton aran range for my blanket, but you can use any aran or light worsted weight yarn. You don’t have to use 9 colours, you can use as few as 2 and as many as you want.

You can access the free pattern on my blog here, or download the ad free pdf on Ravelry for just £5 here.

Join Me For The Study Of Corners CAL

All of my sampler blankets started out as crochet alongs, they’re so fun to do this way. The community that comes together, with everyone learning new stitches at the same time and supporting each other along the way. It just makes the whole pattern feel so much more interactive and it becomes an experience and not just another crochet pattern.

My next sampler blanket will be no exception. My next blanket is called The Study Of Corners and it starts on the 24th of July 2026. This one is back to regular sized squares that are joined together, but all the stitches have a theme – they’re all Corner 2 Corner (C2C) style. C2C stitches have been largely ignored over the years as everyone automatically thinks of the Diagonal Block stitch when you say C2C.

I decided that I wanted to see what else was possible but I couldn’t find many other C2C style stitches that had already been developed into stitch guides – so I developed the stitches I needed into the C2C style myself. In the end I had 20 other stitches that can be made in the C2C style, and that is how this blanket was born.

It will be running for 43 weeks, which means everybody can keep up and not feel like they are missing out when busy lives get in the way of CALs that run for a shorter time. These blankets are big patterns and crocheting them along with a community means that you get kept motivated to see the pattern through and get it finished. We don’t want this becoming just another WIP that’s been thrown into the corner.

And if you’re finding this after the start date, then come and join in anyway. No matter what point we’re at, new starters are always welcome. The community will be there long after the CAL finishes and the blog pattern and videos will always be available for free. You can find out more about how to join in here.

Ready To Get Started?

You can come and join the Study Of Corners Crochet Along community here and if you want to receive the weekly email alerts for when the next part of the pattern becomes available, you can sign up for these here and you’ll also receive a yarn planning sheet when you do.

If you’re looking to keep exploring more crochet stitches in the meantime, then download my list of 7 Overlooked Crochet Stitches That Are Worth Trying here.