Graphghans (afghans constructed from graphs) are a fairly straightforward concept: draw your pattern in a graph and then stitch it together. Each square represents a block or stitch in your graph. You get the idea if you’ve ever worked from a colorwork knitting chart or dabbled in cross-stitch.
However, which stitch should you choose? If you’re following a pattern, it will almost certainly inform you what to do (as the stitch you choose will affect the size of your blanket), but if you’re going rogue and designing your own (which is admirable! ), we can assist you.
Crochet in Pixels
Individual squares are used to represent each color block on your graph in this manner. You’re just crocheting a granny square in a solid color for each square on your graph.
Size rapidly becomes critical in this situation, and you should swatch and measure a square before working from a chart. For more difficult patterns (imagine more rows of blocks), keep to small squares – fingering or sport weight yarn is a good choice. Otherwise, your graphghan may get colossal! Calculate your finished dimensions by multiplying the size of your square by the number of blocks in your chart.
Once you’ve charted or chosen your design, determine how many squares of each color you’ll need and crochet them. Then, using your graph as a guide, join the squares. It’s that simple (but it is somewhat time-consuming. And you’re going to need to weave in some ends).
Corner-to-Corner
If your design is extremely intricate, you may need to abandon the granny squares in favour of something more scalable. That is where corner-to-corner crochet (also known as C2C) excels. You begin at one corner of your blanket (thus the name) and increase by adding blocks with each row until your blanket reaches its widest point, at which point you decrease back down.
This technique is similar to pixel crochet in that each C2C crochet block is crocheted in a different color. If you’re unfamiliar with the method, begin with two-color designs. Then, once you’ve mastered it, unleash your creativity.
Crochet tapestry
Tapestry crochet is a type of colorwork that uses single crochet stitches and various colors in each row. To avoid long floats on the wrong side of your work, you carry the colors that aren’t being used and crochet over them as you go.
Due to the small size of the individual stitches, this approach enables the creation of the most detailed designs in your graphgans. However, a word of caution: you will have numerous ends to weave in.