crochet

Because I knit garments, I know the importance of gauge. I don’t worry too much about it when I crochet because I use crochet almost exclusively for things where gauge doesn’t matter (toys and blankets). When I made a pink elephant a couple of months ago, using the same pattern designer as all the toys I made last year (Jess Huff), it felt a bit small to me. I’d given away all of the toys I made last year (it was really nice having gifts for my kids’ friends’ birthdays all year long!), so I couldn’t compare it to any of those. But just in case I was right and it was too small (maybe my gauge had gotten tighter over the past year), I made a dog with a larger hook size. For the dog, because Jess Huff doesn’t have a dog pattern, I used her “Benedict the Bear” pattern, but swapped the ears out for those from Sarah Zimmerman’s “Dash the Dog” from the book Crochet Cute Critters.

The dog felt pretty good as I was making it. The size was really nice – more what I thought I was expecting when I had been making the elephant. But when I finished him and then got the elephant out to compare the two, I was really surprised at just how big the difference was. I wasn’t so clueless as to expect them to be the same size, but the difference between an E hook (3.5mm) and an H hook (5.0mm) was drastic! And it really goes to show just how important gauge can be when you’re making something where it matters a whole lot, like a sweater.

A few things to keep in mind as you’re crocheting amigurumi toys, though. While a bigger hook will give you a bigger toy, which can definitely be preferable sometimes, it does that because it makes bigger stitches. This means that if you go too big (without sizing up your yarn too), you could end up with holes in your project where the stuffing can poke out. This is definitely not ideal, especially if you’re going to give the toy to a child. It’s best to follow the recommended hook size that the designer has listed in the pattern. Because gauge doesn’t matter for toys (as I mentioned before), it’s likely that the designer has chosen that hook size on purpose to work with the stitch count and make a nice-sized toy. I learned this by “overriding” a recommended H hook in a few patterns last year in favor of an E hook to make sure I had tight enough stitches. Those toys, while *fine*, were a whole lot smaller than I expected or liked. An H hook with size 4 yarn is fine for toys. The stitches won’t be too big (unless you crochet really loosely). I wouldn’t recommend going any bigger than that, though.

If you plan to give the toy to a young child (under 3), you should crochet or embroider small eyes instead of using safety eyes. While I don’t normally have trouble with my safety eyes, they’re not not foolproof. If your safety eyes do fall out, I’ve found that a dab of hot glue works wonders with reinstalling them. (Obviously they can’t go back in to a finished project.) Just put a little bit of hot glue onto the post of the eye and poke it back in. The glue will adhere to the poly-fil fibers and stay put quite nicely.

Have you ever been surprised by your knitting or crochet gauge?

Blessings,

I spent half of February making the 2020 Calendar Blanket from Jayda inStitches on YouTube. I had begun this project in January 2020 but got quickly frustrated when my square wasn’t square; it was a trapezoid. I created another method of making this square, but then it turned out very rectangular, so I abandoned the project. When I needed another big project because I’d finished the other blankets on my agenda, I tried it again. This time, all worked out with the January square, so I moved on to the other 11.

I was able to complete a square in about 1-2 hours, so the project went fairly quickly. I finished all 12 squares in about a week using scrap yarn. I sewed the blocks together and decided it was much too small for a proper blanket. Instead of making a second square of each of Jayda’s, I ended up using my past quilting experience combined with the techniques from the tutorials to make 12 different blocks. With all 24 stitched together, the blanket was perfect! I moved on to the border.

When it was all done, I gifted it to one of the girls in our neighborhood. She’s a very sweet girl, one of Grasshopper’s best friends, and I was happy to give it to her. (I gave her cousin, who lives with her, my Blazers blanket. She was at our house when I finished it and was instantly in love because she’s a Blazers fan too, and I wasn’t using it that often anyway. Maybe I’ll make another one someday…)

Blessings,

I have a new crochet pattern to share today. I just finished making this little basket/bowl, and I just love how it turned out! It would make a lovely addition to anywhere you have just a little bit of space that needs organization. I’m using mine for a fruit bowl in my pantry, but you could really put it anywhere and fill it with anything. 

To give stability to the basket, you will crochet using 3 strands of yarn together, but not upsize your hook too much. I used a J, but you could a little bigger if you want. It would work well using different colors of yarn, like I did (mine is Big Twist from Joann in the colors teal, aqua, and black), and would be a great project for any yarn fiber. 

Crochet V-Stitch Basket

Stitch definitions

V stitch: DC, ch 1, DC into same stitch

Shell: 5 DC into same stitch 

Round 1: In a magic circle, chain 3 (counts as DC here and throughout), then double crochet 7 more. Join to top of ch 3 with sl st; ch 3. (8)

Round 2: DC into same stitch as joining and into the next st. *2 DC into every st* around. Join to top of ch 3 with sl st; ch 3. (16)

Round 3: DC into same stitch as joining and into the next 2. *2 DC in same stitch, DC in next* around. Join in top of ch 3 from previous round; ch 3. (24)

Round 4: DC into same stitch as joining and into the next 2. *2 DC in same stitch, DC in next 2 stitches* around. Join in top of ch 3 from previous round; ch 3. (32)

Round 5: DC into same stitch as joining and into the next 3. *2 DC in next, DC into next 3* around. Join in top of ch 3 from previous round; ch 3. (40)

Round 6:  DC into same stitch as joining and into the next 4.*2 DC in next, DC into next 4* around. Join in top of ch 3 from previous round; ch 3. (48)

Round 7: DC into same stitch as joining and into the next 5.*2 DC in next, DC into next 5* around. Join in top of ch 3 from previous round; ch 3. (56)

Round 8: DC into BLO of every stitch around. Join in top of ch 3 from previous round; ch 3. (56)

Rounds 9-11: DC around. Join in top of ch 3 from previous round; ch 3. (56)

 Round 12: DC around. Join in top of ch 3 from previous round; ch 4 (counts as DC + ch 1). (56)

Round 13: DC into same stitch as chain 4. *Sk 1, V st into next* around. Skip the last stitch. Slip stitch into third chain from previous round. Slip stitch into the ch-1 sp. Ch 4. (28 V stitches)

Rounds 14-19: DC into the ch-1 sp you just worked out of. *V st into each ch-1 sp all the way around.* Slip stitch into the ch-1 sp. Ch 4. (28 V stitches)

Round 20: DC into the ch-1 sp you just worked out of. *V st into each ch-1 sp all the way around.* Ch 3. (28 V stitches)

Round 21: DC into each DC around. Join in top of ch 3 from previous round; ch 3. (56)

Round 22: 4 DC into same stitch, SC into next stitch. *Shell, SC* around. Join in top of ch 3 from previous round. Fasten off and weave in ends. (28 shells, 28 SC)

Fill your new basket with anything you’d like! 

If you make this, please tag me on Instagram (@ladybugdaydreams); I’d love to see!

Blessings,

When I posted pictures of my Blazers blanket on Instagram, an old friend saw it and contacted me about the possibility of making one for her son’s upcoming birthday. His favorite team is the University of Oregon Ducks. I told her that was absolutely a possibility, so we worked out the details and I got started!

The first thing I had to do was create the graphs for the corner to corner pieces (the logo O and the word banners). The O I found online by Googling “University of Oregon pixel logo.” The words were a bit trickier. For those, I got out my graph paper and chose a rough size for the graphs (I went with 11×70 pixels). I divided that space up into equal sections, depending on how many letters I needed to create. Then in that space, I drew standard bubble letters. Using those as my guidelines, I created my pixel graphs for the words.  

With my charts done, I crocheted the O logo and the two words using the corner to corner method. (See below for the row by row pattern.) I used my standard How to Border a C2C blanket to create white borders around all 3 pieces.

I used a size I hook (5.5 mm) and the “chain 3, double crochet” method for my pixels. This made my centerpiece 24 x 24 (it was a 32 pixel square graph) and my banners 11 x 60 inches. So I knew then that I needed to expand the center square until it was 60 inches wide. A little bit of math told me that meant I needed to add 18 inches to each side (60 – 24 = 36 / 2 = 18). I really liked the mesh stitch I’d used in my Blazers blanket, so I decided to do that again. (This will be an upcoming square for my sampler stitch blanket.) I talked to Ballet Boy, who has a keen eye for fashion, and he suggested that I do this expansion primarily in the green, rather than even green and yellow stripes. He though the O would get lost if the stripes were too even. I talked to my friend, and she agreed, so I went forward with that plan (wide green, narrow yellow). 

Because I had already made a simple border around the corner to corner design (one row of single crochet, one row of double crochet), it was easy to dive into the mesh stitch (a simple repeat of half-double crochet, chain 1, skip 1 for the first row and then the same for subsequent rows, just in the chain 1 spaces instead of true stitches). I worked the mesh for 13 rounds. This wasn’t planned so much as that was when the first skein of yarn ran out. I like nice sharp corners on my blankets, so I did this by chaining 2 between those HDCs instead of just 1 like the rest of the pattern. Every 3rd row, I doubled the corner to get it to expand flatly (hdc, ch 1, hdc, ch 2, hdc, ch 1, hdc, ch 1). I found that without some of the rows doing that, the blanket buckled around the design.

For the yellow stripes, I decided on something with bold texture. To begin, I worked a single crochet into each stitch and space if the mesh design. For row 2, I decided on bobble stitches. To make these, I worked 2 single crochets, then a bobble (essentially a double crochet 4 together, except all into one stitch instead of over 4 stitches), all the way around. Then I made one more row of single crochets all the way around (1 stitch at the top of each bobble and in each sc from the previous row). The corners on these rows were easier – just sc, ch 2, sc on all 3.

From here, I made another 13 rows of green mesh, then another yellow bobble stripe. By the time I had finished 11 rows of the final green stripe, I felt like I needed to measure. It was a good thing I did, too. It was basically perfect. 

I then used green yarn to whip stitch the banners onto the now-bigger center. 

And then it was time for the home stretch! To finish this blanket, I did a row of single crochets in green (sc, ch 2, sc in the corners), followed by 2 rows of yellow double crochets (dc, ch 2, dc in the corners), and one final row of green single crochets. 

Blessings,

 

 

Here is the row-by-row pattern for the three C2C pieces.

O

1: 1g

2: 2 g

3: 3g

4: 4 g

5: 5 g

6: 6 g

7: 7 g

8: 8 g

9: 9 g

10: 3 g, 4 y, 3 g

11: 2 g, 7 y, 2 g

12: 2 g, 8 y, 2 g

13: 1 g, 10 y, 2 g

14: 2 g, 11 y, 1 g

15: 1 g, 13 y, 1 g

16: 1 g, 14 y, 1 g

17: 1 g, 9 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

18: 1 g, 4 y, 5 g, 8 y, 1 g

19: 1 g, 8 y, 6 g, 3 y, 1 g

20: 1 g, 3 y, 7 g, 8 y, 1 g

21: 1 g, 8 y, 8 g, 2 y, 2 g

22: 2 g, 2 y, 9 g, 8 y, 1 g

23: 2 g, 7 y, 10 g, 2 y, 2 g

24: 2 g, 3 y, 10 g, 7 y, 2 g

25: 2 g, 7 y, 11 g, 3 y, 2 g

26: 3 g, 2 y, 12 g, 7 y, 2 g

27: 3 g, 6 y, 12 g, 3 y, 3 g

28: 3 g, 3 y, 13 g, 6 y, 3 g

29: 3 g, 6 y, 13 g, 3 y, 4 g

30: 4 g, 4 y, 13 g, 5 y, 4 g

31: 4 g, 5 y, 14 g, 4 y, 4 g

32: 5g, 4y, 14g, 4y, 5g

Decrease from both sides:

33: 4g, 4 y, 14 g, 5 y, 4 g (31)

34: 4 g, 5 y, 13 g, 4 y, 4 g (30)

35: 3 g, 4 y, 13 g, 6 y, 3 g (29)

36: 3 g, 6 y, 13 g, 3 y, 3 g (28)

37: 3 g, 3 y, 12 g, 6 y, 3 g (27)

38: 2 g, 7 y, 12 g, 2 y, 3 g (26)

39: 2 g, 3 y, 11 g, 7 y, 2 g (25)

40: 2 g, 7 y, 11 g, 2, y, 2 g (24)

41: 2 g, 2 y, 10 g, 7 y, 2 g (23)

42: 1 g, 8 y, 9 g, 2 y, 2 g (22)

43: 1 g, 3 y, 8 g, 8 y, 1 g (21)

44: 1 g, 8 y, 7 g, 3 y, 1 g (20)

45: 1 g, 3 y, 6 g, 8 y, 1 g (19)

46: 1 g, 8 y, 5 g, 3 y, 1 g (18)

47: 1 g, 3 y, 3 g, 9 y, 1 g (17)

48: 1 g, 14 y, 1 g (16)

49: 1 g, 13 y, 1 g (15)

50: 1 g, 11 y, 2 g (14)

51: 2 g, 10 y, 1 g (13)

52: 2 g, 8 y, 2 g (12)

53: 2 g, 7 y, 2 g (11)

54: 3 g, 4 y, 3 g (10)

55: 9 g

56: 8 g

57: 7 g

58: 6 g

59: 5 g

60: 4 g

61: 3 g

62: 2 g

63: 1 g

 

 

Oregon

1: 1 g

2: 2 g

3: 1 g, 1 y, 1 g

4: 1 g, 2 y, 1 g

5: 1 g, 2 y, 2 g

6: 3 g, 2 y, 3 g

7: 1 g, 3 y, 3 g

8: 3 g, 4 y, 1 g

9: 1 g, 4 y, 4 g

10: 4 g, 2 y, 1 g, 2 y, 1 g

11: 1 g, 2 y, 2 g, 2 y, 4 g

12: 1 g, 1 y, 3 g, 2 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g

13: 1 g, 2 y, 3 g, 2 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g

Decrease from top

14: 2 g, 2 y, 2 g, 2 y, 3 g, 1 y, 1 g

15: 5 g, 2 y, 1 g, 2 y, 3 g

16: 4 g, 2 y, 1 g, 1 y, 5 g

17: 4 g, 4 y, 5 g

18: 2 g, 2 y, 2 g, 3 y, 4 g

19: 3 g, 3 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

20: 1 g, 5 y, 2 g, 2 y, 3 g

21: 2 g, 2 y, 2 g, 6 y, 1 g

22: 1 g, 7 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g

23: 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 8 y, 1 g

24: 2 g, 8 y, 3 g

25: 3 g, 3 y, 2 g, 3 y, 2 g

26: 2 g, 4 y, 2 g, 3 y, 2 g

27: 2 g, 3 y, 2 g, 3 y, 3 g

28: 3 g, 4 y, 2 g, 2 y, 2 g

29: 1 g, 8 y, 2 g, 1 y, 1 g

30: 1 g, 2 y, 2 g, 7 y, 1 g

 31: 1 g, 6 y, 2 g, 3 y, 1 g

32: 1 g, 4 y, 2 g, 5 y, 1 g

33: 1 g, 4 y, 2 g, 5 y, 1 g

34: 1 g, 6 y, 2 g, 2 y, 2 g

35: 6 g, 6 y, 1 g

36: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 2 y, 6 g

37: 3 g, 1 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

38: 2 g, 2 y, 1 g, 2 y, 2 g, 2 y, 2 g

39: 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 1 y, 2 g, 2 y, 2 g

40: 3 g, 2 y, 4 g, 3 y, 1 g

41: 1 g, 3 y, 3 g, 3 y, 3 g

42: 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 3 y, 2 g, 3 y, 1 g

43: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g

44: 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 6 y, 1 g

45: 1 g, 5 y, 3 g, 3 y, 1 g

46: 1 g, 3 y, 4 g, 4 y, 1 g

47: 1 g, 3 y, 5 g, 3 y, 1 g

48: 1 g, 3 y, 9 g

49: 7 g, 1 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

50: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 2 y, 2 g, 1 y, 3 g

51: 2 g, 2 y, 1 g, 7 y, 1 g

52: 1 g, 7 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

53: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 6 y, 2 g

54: 3 g, 5 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

55: 1 g, 8 y, 2 g, 1 y, 1 g

56: 1 g, 1 y, 3 g, 7 y, 1 g

57: 1 g, 6 y, 3 g, 2 y, 1 g

58: 1 g, 2 y, 4 g, 5 y, 1 g

59: 1 g, 4 y, 4 g, 2 y, 2g

60: 2 g, 2 y, 5 g, 3 y, 1 g

61: 1 g, 2 y, 6 g, 1 y, 3 g

62: 3 g, 2 y, 6 g, 1 y, 1 g

63: 3 g, 1 y, 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 1 y, 2 g, 1 y, 1 g

64: 1 g, 2 y, 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 4 y, 2 g

65: 2 g, 4 y, 1 g, 1 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

66: 2 g, 4 y, 1 g, 4 y, 2 g

67: 1 g, 5 y, 1 g, 3 y, 3 g

68: 4 g, 5 y, 2 g, 1 y, 1 g

69: 1 g, 1 y, 2 y, 4 y, 5 g

70: 2 g, 2 y, 2 g, 3 y, 2 g, 1 y, 1 g

71: 1 g, 1 y, 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

72: 1 g, 5 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

73: 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 6 y, 1 g

74: 1 g, 7 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g

75: 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 8 y, 1 g

76: 2 g, 8 y, 3 g

77: 3 g, 3 y, 2 g, 3 y, 2 g

78: 2 g, 4 y, 2 g, 3 y, 2 g

Decrease from both sides:

79: 2 g, 3 y, 2 g, 3 y, 2 g

80: 1 g, 4 y, 2 g, 2 y, 2 g

81: 1 g, 8 y, 1 g

82: 1 g, 7 y, 1 g

83: 1 g, 6 y, 1 g

84: 1 g, 5 y, 1 g

85: 1 g, 4 y, 1 g

86: 1 g, 2 y, 2 g

87: 4 g

88: 3 g

89: 2 g

90: 1 g

Ducks

1: 1 g

2: 2 g

3: 3 g

4: 4 g

5: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

6: 1 g, 4 y, 1 g

7: 1 g, 5 y, 1 g

8: 1 g, 6 y, 1 g

9: 2 g, 6 y, 1 g

10: 1 g, 6 y, 3 g

11: 1 g, 1 y, 1 g, 4 g, 3 y, 1 g

12: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 2 y, 1 g

13: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

Decrease from top:

14: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

15: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

16: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

17: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

18: 2 g, 2 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

19: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 1 y, 3 g

20: 1 g, 1 y, 4 g, 2 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

21: 1 g, 6 y, 4 g, 1 y, 1 g

22: 1 g, 2 y, 4 g, 5 y, 1 g

23: 1 g, 5 y, 4 g, 2 y, 1 g

24: 1 g, 3 y, 4 g, 4 y, 1 g

25: 1 g, 3 y, 5 g. 3 y, 1 g

26: 2 g, 2 y, 9 g

27: 8 g, 3 y, 2 g

28: 3 g, 2 y, 8 g

29: 7 g, 3 y, 3 g

30: 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 2 y, 7 g

31: 1 g, 4 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g, 2 y, 1 g

32: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g, 7 y, 1 g

33: 1 g, 11 y, 1 g

34: 2 g, 10 y, 1 g

35: 1 g, 9 y, 3 g

36: 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 8 y, 1 g

37: 4 g, 4 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g

38: 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 4 y, 3 g

39: 2 g, 4 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

40: 1 g, 5 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

41: 1 g, 3 y, 3 g, 5 y, 1 g

42: 1 g, 5 y, 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 2 y, 1 g

43: 1 g, 1 y, 2 g, 2y, 1 g, 5 y, 1 g

44: 1 g, 4 y, 2 g, 3 y, 3 g

45: 2 g, 4 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

46: 1 g, 4 y, 3 g, 4 y, 1 g

47: 1 g, 4 y, 3 g, 4 y, 1 g

48: 2 g, 3 y, 3 g, 4 y, 1 g

49: 1 g, 4 y, 3 g, 3 y, 2 g

50: 3 g, 3 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

51: 1 g, 4 y, 1 g, 4 y, 3 g

52: 4 g, 8 y, 1 g

53: 1 g, 7 y, 5 g

54: 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 6 y, 1 g

55: 1 g, 5 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

56: 1 g, 5 y, 2 g, 4 y, 1 g

57: 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 6 y, 1 g

58: 1 g, 7 y, 5 g

59: 4 g, 8 y, 1 g

60: 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 4 y, 3 g

61: 2 g, 4 y, 3 g, 3 y, 1 g

62: 1 g, 3 y, 4 g, 4 y, 1 g

63: 1 g, 3 y, 4 g, 3 y, 2 g

64: 2 g, 3 y, 5 g, 2 y, 1 g

65: 1 g, 1 y, 5 g, 3 y, 3 g

66: 3 g, 4 y, 6 g

67: 5 g, 4 y, 4 g

68: 5 g, 4 y, 4 g

69: 3 g, 4 y, 2 g, 3 y, 1 g

70: 1 g, 4 y, 2 g, 4 y, 2 g

71: 1 g, 4 y, 2 g, 5 y, 1 g

72: 1 g, 6 y, 2 g, 3 y, 1 g

73: 1 g, 2 y, 2 g, 7 y, 1 g

74: 1 g, 8 y, 2 g, 1 y, 1 g

75: 3 g, 9 y, 1 g

76: 1 g, 4 y, 2 g, 3 y, 3 g

77: 2 g, 3 y, 3 g, 4 y, 1 g

78: 1 g, 4 y, 3 g, 3 y, 2 g

79: 1 g, 3 y, 4 g, 4 y, 1 g

Decrease from both sides:

80: 1 g, 4 y, 3 g, 3 y, 1 g

81: 1 g, 3 y, 2 g, 4, y, 1 g

82: 1 g, 4 y, 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

83: 1 g, 7 y, 1 g

84: 1 g, 6 y, 1 g

85: 1 g, 5 y, 1 g

86: 1 g, 4 y, 1 g

87: 1 g, 3 y, 1 g

88: 1 g, 2 y, 1 g

89: 1 g, 1 y, 1 g

90: 2 g

91: 1 g

Here is the downloadable file if you’d rather do that.

Ducks row by rows

Most corner to corner blankets that I’ve seen are made either really big (like my Mickey Mouse blanket), or small like a wall hanging or baby blanket. In neither case do you usually see them with a border. But I’ve discovered recently that one of my very favorite ways to make crochet afghans is by making a small or medium sized motif and then adding lots of wide borders until my blanket is a size I like – or until I run out of yarn, whichever is first! What I’ve never seen before, though, is how to add a border to such a blanket, so I thought I’d share the how-to on that today. (And the method will be handy in a few days when I post my next project/pattern.)

When you create a corner to corner blanket, look at it carefully. You will see that the design is made with squares – sometimes called pixels – of different colors to create a picture. These pixels, because if the nature of stitching back and forth in rows, go in opposite directions. You can see this clearly in my picture above. So the first thing to do is to examine your blanket and see which way the pixels are slanting. Some will be normal, where your double crochets are up and down, and some will be sideways, where your double crochets are stacked atop one another. Once you can see the difference, you’re ready to go!

Step 1: Make a slip knot from your border color yarn and place it on your hook. Slip stitch to one corner of the blanket (doesn’t matter which one) and chain 1. Single crochet, chain 2, single crochet. Corner made. 

Step 2: Look at your blanket and determine whether your double crochets are vertical or horizontal. In the pixels where they are vertical, make a single crochet in the top of each one (you will have 3 SCs). In the horizontal ones, make 2 double crochets around the outermost stitch. So for every 2 pixels, you will be making 5 single crochets. 

Step 3: Continue your sets of 3 and 2 all the way across the edge. At the next corner, SC, ch 2, SC.

Step 4: Repeat around. At the end of the last side, remember that you already made that corner so don’t make another one. Instead, join to that first SC with a slip stitch. If you want to continue your border in the same color, you can start your main border pattern now. If you want to change the color, cut your yarn and fasten off. 

That’s it! I hope this was clear enough. If you have any questions, please leave me a comment below. 

Blessings,

I recently finished my biggest (yarn) project ever! I made this Mickey Mouse blanket for my mom for Christmas using the crochet corner-to-corner (C2C) stitch. There are a variety of ways to do this stitch, and I went with the double-crochet, chain 3 method. This made for an enormous blanket! It ended up being nearly 6×7 FEET! (The pattern is 80×100 pixels.) I used Big Twist yarn from JoAnn. I don’t remember the exact skein counts, but I think I ended up using 7 of the black and 3 of the white. Could’ve been more, though (I know it wasn’t less). I used my Clover Amour size I-9 crochet hook. The pattern is from Pixel Hooker, and it took me about 8 weeks to complete (though it wasn’t my only project the whole time).

I even used my pompom makers to make some Mickey pompoms for the corners! To do this, I made one big pom and 2 small ones for each corner, then hot glued them together in the shape I wanted.

What’s the biggest knit or crochet project you’ve ever made?

Blessings,