What’s the big deal with corner-to-corner crochet?

I kept asking myself that whenever I encountered yet another c2c crochet item.

Seeing all the swooning, the ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ of all the people admiring the finished items made with this technique made me curious. Can I do it?

I tried, I failed (several times), I didn’t give it time and patience.

I used scraps of yarn, only did the first two rows and wondered how in the world would these ugly rectangles with huge holes in them make up a blanket.

So I let it go. This is a technique for other people, not me. I’m not good at it, I don’t like it.

This is pretty much the ‘grapes are sour’ in crochet version.

But I didn’t know something then.

That one day I would chance upon a ball of yarn so soft and fluffy that it would charm me away and keep blinking at me from the corner of my eye (I keep my current stash to my right, just at the edge of my vision).

That this yarn, after two weeks of waiting and waiting and almost screaming at me, would turn into the most wonderful corner-to-corner crochet baby blanket.

Don’t believe me? Have a look.

It dawned on me yesterday that you can’t use just any yarn for c2c.

You need something light and fluffy to get the volume and the texture that this stitch is so loved for.

Also, the rectangles turn into squares once you finish a few rows. You just need a bit of patience.

Using light tension also helps, as it allows the stitches to sit how they want to, not how you want them to. So stop pulling on that yarn!

What I love about this pattern

• it’s super easy to crochet – chain 3, 3 DC, sl st, repeat- that’s it;
• no beginning chain – no more counting chains! yay!
• it’s really fast – I made a blanket with around 500 m of yarn, using a 5 mm hook in around 4 hours;
• you don’t need swatches – the tension is even throughout and the project grows until you’re happy with the width, then you stop increasing;
• the texture is lovely – as the squares are worked diagonally, they create a 3D checkered pattern – which is awesome for those who love to touch and caress things (like myself);
• you can show off your variegated yarns – the colors will look like diagonal ripples.

As you can see, there are many reasons for so many people being fascinated with this pattern.

Now I’m part of that crowd and can’t wait to find another yarn that’s perfect for c2c.

Details for this project

The yarn I used for this blanket is an incredibly soft acrylic single-ply that comes in packs of 3 skeins of 100g.

I found it at the local Kik shop, but I also found it online. It doesn’t have a proper product link, so when this one goes bad, I’ll remove it.

I almost used up the three skeins and ended up with a 47 x 73 cm blanket.

I increased the pattern until I had almost used up one skein, doing 24 rows. I finished the 25th row and stopped increasing for 8 rows, which took up almost one skein. Then I did the normal decrease with the third skein.

The blanket is very stretchy, there are no visible holes and I will not steam block it, as it would lose the lovely texture.

With the bit of leftover yarn I made four tassels using this tutorial and attached them to the corners.

Have you used this technique before? If not, would you like to try? If you have pictures, share the links below, so we can get some inspiration from your projects.

Hugs,
Andrea