Graphgan

My daughter headed off to UW-LaCrosse this past fall and I wanted her to have something of home to keep her cozy and warm in her dorm - so I crocheted her an afghan of her school mascot. This type of afghan is called a graphgan and is worked corner to corner (C2C). It only uses a couple of crochet stitches and will keep you cozy and warm as you work the afghan.

Crochet hook - size G

Worsted weight yarn - I used RedHeart SuperSaver. This one has no dye lot and I really had no idea how much I would need. This way, I just bought more as I needed it.

You need to choose a good picture to start. I generally 'Google' the images and look for one I think might work. You aren't limited to just two colors. The second image is from some artwork in my living room. I thought I could leave the afghan out as a throw - it would be both decorative and warm and cozy. The third image is one I'm thinking of doing for a wedding gift.

update: I did make the monogram as the wedding shower gift. The completed afghan is pictured later in the instructable.

Stichfiddle.com

This free website will turn your picture in to a graph. Choose crochet, Corner to Corner and you'll be prompted to choose a picture. Load your picture in and continue to follow the prompts to turn it into a graph. As you can see, some work better than others. I wasn't too happy with the graph of Baby Yoda. Don't think I'll make that one.

Corner to Corner video instruction

This video will walk you through the basics of C2C crocheting.

Here's where C2C can be a little challenging. Each square on the graph represents one block of crochet stitches. You need to count how many stitches you need in each color. In the example I have pictured, the diagonal I was on required 2 white blocks, 11 red, then 6 more white, 13 more red and then an additional 23 white.

Once I finished a diagonal, I would count out the next diagonal. I have a nice app on my iPad that lets me write on a picture - it's free and called Notability from Ginger Labs. After I count out the next diagonal, I tend to erase the prior one so I always know where I am in my work.

Another challenging thing is keeping your yarn untangled. As you drop a color and pick up another, the yarn balls will tangle. I stop now and then and detangle them. My neice just waits until its a hopeless knot-mess and cuts the strings. She figures you're going to have end strings to weave in anyway; why take the time to untangle?

I asked my daughter what she wanted as a border on her afghan and she said 'nothing fancy'. I went around the entire afghan with some single crochets just to finish it off.

'Nuff said.