C2C crochet: the basics and how to read a graph

US terms, with the UK name in brackets. Each tile is 3 double crochet (UK treble) with a chain-3 space next to them.

Row 1: the first tile

Ch 6. Dc (UK tr) in the 4th chain from the hook and in the next 2 chains. That's one tile, sitting in the corner.

Increase rows

1. Start a new tile: ch 6, turn, dc in the 4th ch from the hook and in the next 2 ch.
2. Join to the tile below: sl st into the ch-3 space of the next tile of the previous row, ch 3, 3 dc in that same space.
3. Repeat step 2 for each tile of the previous row. Every increase row has one more tile than the row before.

Decrease rows

Once the edge is as long as you want (the width along one side, the length along the other), stop adding tiles at that edge:

• Decrease at the start of a row: turn, sl st across the tops of the 3 dc of the last tile into its ch-3 space, ch 3, 3 dc in the same space, then continue across.
• Decrease at the end of a row: work across until one tile of the previous row is left, sl st into its ch-3 space and turn, without making a new tile there.

A square blanket increases on both edges to the middle, then decreases on both. A rectangle increases on both edges until the shorter side is done, then increases on one edge and decreases on the other, then decreases on both.

Reading a C2C graph

Each square on a C2C graph is one tile. Row 1 is the corner square (usually bottom right). Row 2 is the next diagonal of two squares, row 3 the diagonal of three, and so on. Because you turn at the end of every row, you read alternate rows in opposite directions along the diagonal: the C2C planner lists every row's colours in working order.

Tile size and yarn