Coppom - Corner to corner crochet: 15 contemporary C2C projects

Jess Coppom www.sewandso.co.uk When I was a wee eight-year-old, my mom came into my third grade school class to teach some of us the basics of crochet. While many of my friends werent interested in getting past the first row, I was hooked and set off on a prolific childhood of making massive single crochet afghans out of the most economical yarn I could find. When I wasnt crocheting or untangling balls of yarn, Id spend my free time drawing and mimicking the illustration style of my favorite cartoon characters. A few years ago, I came across a corner to corner (C2C) crochet afghan from Sarah Zimmerman of RepeatCrafterMe.com. It featured several illustrated Christmas motifs and immediately every cell in my brain lit up. Illustrating in yarn say what!? I very quickly saw how many possibilities existed in quite literally painting by number with yarn.

I began designing my own C2C pixel graphs and sharing them on my blog, MakeAndDoCrew.com. It has been exhilarating to watch my readers find the same joy and satisfaction in this magical technique. While there are countless creative ways to design with C2C, my favorite has become translating the visual language, repeating patterns and iconography of contemporary culture into yarn form. Rugs, tile, woven baskets, cross stitch and clothing can all serve as the fodder for a striking C2C design. Once you learn the basics of how to C2C, Im guessing you too might start to look at the world through pixelated lenses! If youre new to C2C crochet, youll find many approachable patterns in this book that use the basic technique to create a stunning effect. The basic C2C diagonal box stitch is quite quick and as youll see in the Crested Butte Cowl and the Frosted Window Throw, joining a few pieces of simple C2C crochet together can create visual interest and texture with very few color changes or mind-bending counting.

And if youve got miles of C2C already on your crochet rsum, I hope this book provides you with some inspiration to use the technique in new ways. I cant wait to see how you use these patterns to execute your own creative vision. Perhaps youll even break out some graph paper (or a laptop) and design your own C2C graphs. Id love for you to share your stitches with the rest of the Make & Do Crew community by using the hashtag #c2ccrochetcrew. Happy crocheting!

C2C crochet requires the same tools as traditional crochet, but the following extra few items can go a long way in making the technique fun and enjoyable. Its helpful to use a ruler to draw a line through each row in the graph pattern as you complete it. It seems so simple, but placing your graph on a clipboard while you crochet on the couch can make it much easier to cross off the rows as you work. It seems so simple, but placing your graph on a clipboard while you crochet on the couch can make it much easier to cross off the rows as you work.

Less time looking for your pen means more time to crochet!

Keep a small pair handy for switching colors and trimming ends. Youll want to have a tapestry needle nearby for weaving in ends. For denser, fabric-like yarns, you might find it helpful to use a sharper upholstery needle or a small crochet hook. When working a graph with several color changes, clothespins, binder clips or industrial clips allow you to wind off a small ball of yarn and clip it to the project or a sturdy object nearby.