Crochet a gorgeous desert themed crochet blanket with the Sedona Blooms Blanket free crochet pattern! This crochet granny square blanket is inspired by the beautiful cacti and desert flower of Sedona. It features tapestry crochet colorwork cactus squares, flower granny squares, and multi-colored linen stitch squares. It’s perfect for a desert themed nursery or living room, and is easy enough for an advanced beginner to make!

Keep scrolling for the free pattern for this blanket, or grab the ad free PDF with charts and photo tutorials in my Etsy and Ravelry shops.

Inspiration for my Crochet Cactus Blanket

I have always been drawn to the unique beauty of cacti in their many forms. From tiny succulents to the large saguaro cactus, I love the uniqueness of cacti, especially when they have flowers on them. This blanket was inspired by the cacti and desert flowers of Sedona, Arizona.

How to Crochet this Cactus Blanket

The blanket uses a couple different techniques to make crochet blanket squares. The flower granny square is worked in a circle to form the flower, and then has square edges added to it. The cactus square uses tapestry crochet, and even if you are new to crochet colorwork you’ll be able to make it! The last square is make two different colors in the round using the linen stitch.

If you like video tutorials, you can check out the step by step video tutorial for this pattern on my Youtube channel by clicking here or the button below.

Yarn Used for the Crochet Cactus Blanket

To make this crochet cactus blanket, I used Lion Brand Color Theory. It has quickly become one of my favorite worsted weight acrylic yarns! It has the most amazing drape, lovely colors, and it is SO soft. I used the colors Ivory, Canyon, Caper, and Tourmaline.

If you’d like the digital pattern along with all the yarn needed for it, you can grab the kit from Lion Brand. The kit comes in two different sizes, and the colors can be customized to whichever ones you’d like. Grab the kit for yourself at the link below! (It is an affiliate link, which means I’ll earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.)

Get the kit here!

Grab the AD FREE PDF in my shops on:

Etsy

Ravelry

Gauge: 16hdc x 12 rows = 4”x4” square

Dimensions:

Baby Blanket = 28” x 34”
Lapghan = 39” x 52” (Available in the PDF pattern in my Etsy and Ravelry shops)

Hook: 5mm

Yarn: Lion Brand Color Theory (Weight 4, 246yd/225m, 3,5oz/100g, 100% acrylic) in 4 colors:

Ivory
Canyon
Caper
Tourmaline

Approximate Yarn Yardage:

Ivory 3 skeins (738 yds)
Canyon: 2 skeins (492 yds)
Caper 2 skeins (492 yds)
Tourmaline 1 skeins (246 yds)

Abbreviations:

Ch = chain
st(s) = stitch(es)
Sl st = slip st
Dc = double crochet
Rnd = round
[ ] = do everything within the brackets
( ) = contains the color to switch

Special stitches:

Puff st: *yarn over, insert hook into st, repeat * till there are 7 loops on your hook, yarn over and pull through all loops
Bobble st: bobble stitch (*yarn over, insert hook into stitch, yarn over, pull through two loops,* repeat till you have 5 loops on your hook, then yarn over and pull yarn through all 5)
Mini Puff st: *yarn over, insert hook into st, repeat * till there are 5 loops on your hook, yarn over and pull through all loops

Sedona Blooms Blanket Video Tutorial

Sedona Blooms Blanket Pattern

If you would rather have an ad free printable PDF version of this pattern, you can grab a copy in my Etsy and Ravelry shops.

Bloom square (Make 8)

Starting with Rust

Rnd 1: Ch 4, join with sl st to first ch to form a ring, ch 3, dc 11 in ring, join with sl st to 3rd ch at beginning of rnd by using Ivory

Rnd 2: Ch 3, puff st (see special sts section) in first st, ch 1 to fasten off puff st, [puff st, ch 1] repeat around, join with sl st to 3rd ch at beginning of rnd

Rnd 3: Ch 3, bobble st in ch space before 1st puff st from previous rnd, [ch 2, sk to next ch 1 space, bobble st] repeat around, ch 2 after last bobble st, join with sl st to 3rd ch at beginning of rnd

Rnd 4: Ch 3, bobble st in top of first bobble st from previous rnd, [ch 3, sk to the next bobble st, bobble in that st] repeat around, ch 3, join with sl st to 3rd ch at beginning of rnd by using Tourmaline

Rnd 5: ch 3, in first ch 3 space [dc 2, ch 2, dc 3] which forms the first corner, *[sk to next ch 3 space, hdc 3 in ch 3 space, in top of next bobble st, sc 3, sk to next ch 3 sp, hdc 3 in ch 3 space, sk to next ch 3 space, in next ch 3 space [dc 3, ch 2, dc 3], repeat from * 2 more times, sk to next ch 3 space, hdc 3 in ch 3 space, in top of next bobble st, sc 3, sk to next ch 3 sp, hdc 3 in ch 3 space, join with sl st to ch 3 at beginning of rnd

Rnd 6: ch 3, in corner sp [dc 1, ch 2, dc 2], *dc to next corner sp, in corner sp [dc 2, ch 2, dc 2], repeat from * 2 more times, dc to ch 3 at beginning of rnd, join with sl st to 3rd ch

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Cactus Square (Make 7)

Starting with Canyon.

Row 1: ch 23, starting in 3rd ch from hook, hdc 21

Row 2: Ch 2, turn, hdc across

Row 3: hdc 8, (Caper) hdc 5, (Canyon) hdc 8

Row 4: hdc 8, (Caper) hdc 5, (Canyon) hdc 8

Row 5: hdc 8, (Caper) hdc 5, (Canyon) hdc 8

Row 6: hdc 8, (Caper) hdc 9, (Canyon) hdc 4

Row 7: hdc 4, (Caper) hdc 9, (Canyon) hdc 8

Row 8: hdc 4, (Caper) hdc 9, (Canyon) hdc 2, (Caper) hdc 2, (Canyon) hdc 4

Row 9: hdc 4, (Caper) hdc 2, (Canyon) hdc 2, (Caper) hdc 9, (Canyon) hdc 4

Row 10: hdc 4, (Caper) hdc 2, (Canyon) hdc 2, (Caper) hdc 5, (Canyon) hdc 8

Row 11: hdc 8, (Caper) hdc 5, (Canyon) hdc 2, (Caper) hdc 2, (Canyon) hdc 4

Row 12: hdc 8, (Caper) hdc 5, (Canyon) hdc 8

Row 13: hdc 9, (Caper) hdc 3, (Canyon) hdc 9

Row 14-15: Ch 2, turn, hdc across

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Linen Stitch Square (Make 15)

Rnd 1: starting with Color 1, ch 4, join with a sl st to 1st ch to form a ring, ch 1, in ring [sc 1, ch 1, sc 1, ch 2] 4 times to form the four corners, join with sl st to ch 1 at beginning of rnd

Rnd 2: ch 1, turn, *in ch 2 space [sc 1, ch 2, sc 1], ch 1, sk to next ch 1 space, sc 1 in ch 1 space, sk to next ch 2 space, repeat from * 2 more times, ch 1 sk to next ch 1 space, sc 1, join with sl st to ch 1 at beginning of rnd with Color 1 for square

Rnd 3: ch 1, turn, *[sc 1 in ch 1 sp, ch 1] to next ch 2 sp, in ch 2 sp [sc 1, ch 2, sc 1], ch 1, repeat from * to beginning of rnd, join with sl st to ch 1 at beginning of rnd with Color 1 for square

Rnd 4: ch 1, turn, *[sc 1 in ch 1 sp, ch 1] to next ch 2 sp, in ch 2 sp [sc 1, ch 2, sc 1], ch 1, repeat from * 3 more times, sc 1 in ch 1 sp, ch 1, join with sl st to ch 1 at beginning of rnd

Repeat rnd 4 for the rest of the rnds. The rnds use the following color pattern:

Rnd 5: color 2

Rnds 6-7: color 1

Rnd 8: color 2

Rnd 9-11: color 1

If you’d like to make your blanket like my sample, or continue the same look for the larger size, do the following color combination amounts:

Ivory + Canyon: 6 squares
Ivory + Caper: 3 squares
Ivory + Tourmaline: 6 squares

Assembling the squares

To assemble squares, arrange in the layout that you would like them to be. You can use any joining method you prefer to join them. I used a slip stitch join with the color Caper.

See the picture above for how I arranged mine.

If you’d like a step by step tutorial for how to do a slip stitch join, you can check out the video tutorial for this pattern or use my tutorial here or by clicking the video below.

Border

Once all squares are assembled, then it is time to add the border. I used a different color for each of the 3 rnds of my border: Caper, Ivory, and Canyon.

Rnd 1: Starting with Caper, in the top of a st right before one of the corners, join yarn with a sl st to begin, then ch 3 (this counts as a dc), *in corner sp [dc 2, ch 2, dc 2], dc in the top of each st along with edges of each square to the next corner, repeat from * 2 more times, dc to next corner sp, join with a sl st using ivory to the 3rd ch at the beginning of rnd. Fasten off Caper.

Rnd 2: Using Ivory, ch 3 (this counts as a hdc and a ch), sk 1, hdc in next st, ch 1, *in corner sp [hdc 2, ch 2, hdc 2], ch 1, [hdc in next st, ch 1] to next corner sp, repeat from * 2 more times, on last repeat hdc to the beginning of the rnd, then join with a sl st using Canyon to the 2nd ch at the beginning of the rnd. Fasten off Ivory.

Rnd 3: Using Canyon, turn, *ch 6, mini puff st in 2nd ch from hook, sl st in next ch, ch 3, sk next ch 1 sp then sl st into the following ch 1 sp, repeat all the way around the blanket. In the corners, you’ll sk the ch 1 sp and hdc 2 cluster before the corner and after the corner when you do the fringe.

Fasten off and weave in all ends for the blanket.

Now you’re blanket is all done! I hope you enjoy making this blanket and love using it for years to come.

Happy stitching!

Claire