Crochet and Cross Stitched Veterans Lap Blanket Pattern

I am making this pattern public due to the volume of vets now returning from active duty in a war zone and for all those who have
returned home, this is my way of saying to all of them "Welcome Home, My Deepest Gratitude and We Love You"

Before making this item please be aware of the Flag

Code of the United States.
"No disrespect should be shown to the flag
of the United States of America."

"The flag represents a living country and is

itself considered a living thing."

I made it for a US Veteran friend and strongly

recommend it only be made to honor a veteran.
If someone is willing to fight under and for it, they
should be allowed to be covered by it in life.

Please confirm with the recipient that they would

love to have this work of art before making it.

Additional information regarding the Flag Code.

Wikipedia:
The United States Flag Code establishes advisory rules for display and care of the flag of the United States. It is Section 1 of Title 4 of
the United States Code (4 U.S.C. § 1 et seq). This is a U.S. federal law, but there is no penalty for failure to comply with it and it is not
widely enforced — indeed, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that punitive enforcement would conflict with the First Amendment right
to freedom of speech. (A Flag Desecration Amendment has been proposed from time to time and, if ever passed into law, would
override Supreme Court rulings on this matter.) This etiquette is as applied within U.S. jurisdiction. In other countries and places,
local etiquette applies.

This veterans lap blanket is made using the basic Tunisian crochet stitch, cross stitch and basic crochet.

Size: 31” X 25”

Materials:

Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice Size 7 crochet hook

(A) Blue Field – (Color 107 Sapphire), 1 skein Size H double ended crochet hook
(B) White Stripes – (Color 100 White), 3 skeins Large metal embroidery needle
(C) Red Strips – (Color 113 Scarlet), 3 skeins Small metal embroidery needle
Lion Brand Cotton Ease Optional
(D) White Stars – (Color White, 4 ply), 1 skein
Sulky Metallic Gold Thread (#145-8003)

Tip: Order the yarn direct from Lion Brand website to ensure that all skeins are from the same lot. www.lionbrand.com

Gauge

18 sts and 15 rows = 4”

©2009 Gypsy In The Castle, LLC Page 1 of 5

Corrections: gypsyinthecastle@ gmail.com
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40745158
Veterans Lap Blanket Pattern
Making the blanket

Use the double ended H crochet hook and the basic Tunisian crochet stitch

Foundation row, blue field and first red stripe:

With (C) chain 84, pick up (A) and continue chain 42 more (total 126 chains),

Pick up (working right to left): With (A) Insert hook into 2nd chain, *yarn over and draw one loop through
chain, hook into next chain*, repeat * to * for 41 stitches. Change to (C), repeat * to * till end. (126 sts on
hook)

figure 1: Joining colors:

Cast off: (working left to right): Do not turn. With (C) yarn over and draw through two loops on hook, repeat
83 sts. Pick up (A) yarn over and draw through 2 loops until only one loop remains. (125 sts)

Working each row: Complete a pick up and cast off row = 1 row basic Tunisian stitch.

Pick up: (working right to left): From first chain. With (A) *Insert hook from right to left through first upright
thread of previous row, yarn over and then draw through one loop, repeat from * into each upright thread
working along the row to the left 41 sts. Pick up (C) and repeat from * to * to end. (126 sts on hook)

Cast off: (working left to right): Do not turn. With (C) yarn over and draw loop through two loops on hook,
repeat 83 sts. (**photo**) Pick up (A) yarn over and draw through 2 loops until only one loop remains. (125
sts)

Work rows 3-6 in (C)

First white stripe:

Rows 7-12 using (B) in place of (C). Repeat pick up and cast off rows above.

Remaining Stripes next to blue field

Alternate between (B) and (C) for 7 stripes ending on a (C) stripe.
Rows 13-18 switch back to (C)
Rows 19-24 (B)
Rows 25-30 (C)
Rows 31-36 (B)
Rows 37-42 (C)
Break yarn(s)

End of blue field and corresponding stripes.

©2009 Gypsy In The Castle, LLC Page 2 of 5

Corrections: gypsyinthecastle@ gmail.com
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40745158
Veterans Lap Blanket Pattern

Full stripes

Pick up (B)
Working in the same pick up and cast off pattern as above all rows are now one color as follow:
Rows 43-48 (B)
Rows 49-54 (C)
Rows 55-60 (B)
Rows 61-66 (C)
Rows 67-72 (B)
Rows 73-78 (C)

Break yarn

Crochet border:
Begin with (C) in the lower left hand corner of the blanket and work in a counter-clockwise direction. Crochet one row in
SC around entire parameter of blanket.

Moving counte-clockwise
Row 1: Pick up 287 stitches along bottom border to corner
(Right lower corner) 2 SC in last chain, CH 1, turn corner, 2 SC in same stitch,
SC 221 stitches up the right side of blanket to corner
(Right top corner) 2 SC in last chain, CH 1, turn corner, 2 SC in same stitch,
SC 286 stitches across the top of blanket to corner
(Left top corner) 2 SC in last chain, CH 1, turn corner, 2 SC in same stitch,
SC 221 stitches down the left side of blanket to corner
(Right lower corner) 2 SC in last chain, sl st to first SC, Turn.

Leaf Stitch
Row 2: Color (C) and working in clockwise around the border
Ch 1, sk 1 SC, *2 SC in next SC*, repeat * to * to the corner, Ch 1, turn corner, SC in same chain, sk1, repeat (3 times)
Sl st to first ch1 stitch at the lower right corner. Turn.

Row 3: Change to Color (B) and repeat Leaf Stitch, working in counterclockwise direction.
Row 4: Change to Color (A) and repeat row 2, working in clockwise direction.

Break yarn. Weave in all ends.

Make stars:

Cut 13, 42” strands of Cotton Ease (4 ply yarn)

Tie them together in the center with a shorter piece of scrap yarn and pull out a single ply to crochet each star.

Using the size 7 hook.

Ch 3, join.
*Ch 4, sl into first ch from hook, SC into next ch, dc into next ch, sl into center of ch 3*
Repeat * to * 4 more times pulling end of yarn through.

©2009 Gypsy In The Castle, LLC Page 3 of 5

Corrections: gypsyinthecastle@ gmail.com
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40745158
Veterans Lap Blanket Pattern
Make 50

Using the chart at the right, stitch one star into each corresponding space





on the blue field using the end of yarn left over. Weave even threads onto






blue field in order to easily place stars (see below).

Weave in ends






Block.

Create a guide on your project.

Weave a contrasting thread evenly into the spaces for the star
field.

Row 1: 1 star in each of 6 spaces.

Row 2: 1 star on each of 5 divider threads.

Repeat to bottom
6-5-6-5-6-5-6-5 (50)

To recognize the veteran’s or artists state, crochet in one strand

of gold thread to the corresponding state star.
(IA is the 5th row, 4th column)

©2009 Gypsy In The Castle, LLC Page 4 of 5

Corrections: gypsyinthecastle@ gmail.com
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40745158
Veterans Lap Blanket Pattern
VETERAN stitching chart
Using the chart below, cross stitch the VETERAN lettering onto the 10th and 11th strips in R (red) and W (white).
The numbers between each letter indicate the number of spaces (columns) left unstitched.

Work as if working a cross stitch pattern-see additional diagram.

121 121 spaces across R Stitch in the Scarlet color on the white background
-51 51 spaces in lettering W Stitch in the White color on the scarlet background
-48 6 letters with 8 spaces between each
22 22 remaining divided by 2 11 Indicates the number of stitch columns between the border and first or last letter
11 spaces before and after the lettering 8 Indicates the number of stitch columns between letters

11 R R R R 8 R R R R R R 8 R R R R R R 8 R R R R R R 8
R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
R R R R R R R R R R
R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
W W W W W W W W W W
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W

R R R R R 8 R R R R R 8 R R R R 11
R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
R R R R R R R R R R R R R
R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R R
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
W W W W W W W W W W W W W
W W W W W W W W W W W W W
W W W W W W W W W W W W

©2009 Gypsy In The Castle, LLC Page 5 of 5

Corrections: gypsyinthecastle@ gmail.com
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=40745158