Corner to Corner (C2C) Crochet: The Complete Beginner Guide With a Free Blanket Pattern

Corner to corner crochet builds a blanket on the diagonal, one small square at a time. It grows quickly, the texture looks far more complex than the technique, and because each tile is a pixel it is the standard method for picture blankets, or graphgans. Once you have made three rows of it, you know the whole technique.

US terms. ch = chain, dc = double crochet, sl st = slip stitch, sp = space.

What a Tile Is

Every tile is ch 3 plus 3 dc. That is the entire vocabulary. The ch 3 acts as the side of the tile and the 3 dc sit on top. Tiles are worked into the ch-3 space of the tiles in the previous diagonal row.

Increasing Rows (the First Half)

Row 1: ch 6. dc in the 4th ch from the hook and in the next 2 ch. That is one tile.

Row 2: ch 6, turn. dc in the 4th ch from hook and next 2 ch (tile 1). Now sl st into the ch-3 sp of the tile from Row 1. ch 3, 3 dc into that same sp (tile 2). Two tiles.

Row 3: ch 6, turn. dc in 4th ch and next 2 ch (tile 1). [sl st into the next ch-3 sp, ch 3, 3 dc into the same sp] for each remaining tile. Three tiles.

Each increasing row starts with a ch 6 tile and then works one tile into every ch-3 space of the previous row. Every row adds one tile. Keep going until the diagonal edge has as many tiles as you want for the width.

Decreasing Rows (the Second Half of a Square)

When you reach the width you want, you stop adding the ch-6 tile and start each row by slipping across the first tile instead.

Decrease row: turn. sl st into each of the 3 dc and into the ch-3 sp of the first tile (4 sl sts). ch 3, 3 dc into the same sp. [sl st into the next ch-3 sp, ch 3, 3 dc in the same sp] across. When you reach the last ch-3 sp, do not work a tile into it. Turn.

Every decrease row has one tile fewer. Continue until one tile remains, then fasten off.

Making a Rectangle

A rectangle needs an increase phase, a middle phase where one side increases and the other decreases, and a final decrease phase.

1. Increase on both sides until the short edge reaches the width you want (say 52 tiles).
2. Middle phase: on one end of each row, start with the decrease (slip across the first tile) and on the other end, finish with the increase (ch 6 tile at the start of the next row). Rows stay the same tile count but the piece gets longer. Continue until the long edge has the length you want (say 60 tiles).
3. Decrease on both sides until one tile remains.

The rule for which end does what: increase on the end that has not yet reached its target, decrease on the end that has.

Changing Colors

Change on the last yarn over of the last dc before the new color. If the next tile is a different color, pull the new color through the final two loops of the last dc, then make the ch 3 of the next tile in the new color. For stripes, change at the start of a row. For graphgans, you will carry multiple bobbins or cut and rejoin; a scrap of yarn wound around a clothes peg makes a cheap bobbin.

Reading a C2C Graph

A graph is a grid where each square is one tile. You work it diagonally starting from the bottom right corner (for right-handed crocheters):

• Row 1 is the bottom-right square.
• Row 2 is the two squares along that diagonal.
• Odd rows are read from bottom-right to top-left, even rows from top-left to bottom-right, or the reverse depending on the designer; the graph should say.
• Cross off each diagonal as you complete it. A highlighter and a printed graph are the sanest way to track.

Most graph software gives you a written row-by-row count as well, like "Row 12: 3 blue, 2 white, 7 blue," which is easier to follow than the grid for complex pictures.

Free Pattern: Simple Striped Throw

Materials: worsted acrylic, 3 colors, 500 g of the main color and 250 g each of two accents. 5.5 mm hook.

Size: about 130 x 150 cm. Each tile is about 2.5 cm, so 52 tiles wide by 60 tiles long.

1. Work increase rows in the main color until the short edge has 52 tiles.
2. Enter the middle phase and switch to stripes: 4 rows accent A, 2 rows main, 4 rows accent B, 2 rows main, repeat. Change colors at the start of each row.
3. When the long edge reaches 60 tiles, decrease on both sides in the main color until one tile remains.
4. Border: join main color at any corner. Round 1: sc evenly around, working 3 sc in each corner. Along the edges, work about 3 sc into each tile side (the ch-3 sp gets 3 sc). Round 2: dc in each st, 3 dc in corners. Round 3: sc in each st, 3 sc in corners. Fasten off, weave in ends.

Tips That Save Frustration

• Count tiles, not stitches. Tiles are all you need to track.
• The first ch 6 is easy to make too tight. Keep it loose.
• Uneven edges come from inconsistent ch 3s. Make them the same tension as your dc.
• Do not lose the last space in a decrease row. It is the most common C2C mistake.
• Weave ends in as you go on graphgans. Waiting until the end of a 50-color blanket is a special kind of misery.
• Block it. C2C skews slightly; wet blocking squares it up.

Once you have a square and a rectangle in your hands, every C2C pattern on the internet is available to you, from baby blankets to portraits.