Everything You Need to Know About Corner to Corner Crochet | Podcast Episode #88

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Are you ready to take your crochet up a notch?

Corner-to-corner crochet (C2C) can help you do just that. With little to no difficulty, you can use C2C and a color-changing yarn to create unique color patterns or a gradient-like appearance. With moderate difficulty, patience, and a diagram you can quite literally crochet a piece of art. It’s one of the most versatile techniques I have ever come across in both style and difficulty.

Special Guest

Today on the show I’m joined once again by Jess from Make and Do Crew. She is a wealth of knowledge on the topic of corner-to-corner crochet because, well, she wrote a book on it! Jess has designed countless corner-to-corner projects and learned a ton along the way. She’s here to share some of that wisdom with us today!

Episode Transcript

Brittany: 0:00
You’re listening to the Be Hooked Podcast, session number 88, with Brittany. And welcome to episode 88 of the Be Hooked Podcast. I’m thrilled that you’re here with me today. I couldn’t be more excited about this conversation and my guest. I had the opportunity to speak with Jess from Make and Do Crew once again. Now, I had her back on the show way back in episode 19, where we chatted about some strategies for maximizing our time. Now, Jess is an incredibly busy lady. She’s a mom, she’s a designer, and she had some really great tips for us there.

Well, she’s been up to something really big in the last year and I couldn’t be more proud of her for releasing her first book. Some of you may know Jess from Make and Do Crew and her unique corner-to-corner designs. Well, this is what she wrote her entire book about. It’s called Corner-to-Corner Crochet, 15 Contemporary Corner-to-Corner Projects. So in today’s episode, we’re going to chat all about corner to corner crochet.

Now don’t worry if you have never even heard of that before. Jess is going to break it down very plain and simple so you know exactly what it is and how to get started. But let’s say you’ve already done corner to corner. Is this episode for you? Well, I would answer with an astounding yes, because Jess has so many great tips that are in that more advanced category of corner to corner crochet. We talk about some color work and managing different colors, different balls of yarn within the same project, weaving and ends. You definitely don’t want to miss this one.

Now you’ll hear Jess give us a really great tip about how we can incorporate color into our corner-to-corner projects without actually changing or adding different colors to that one project. That secret is to use color-changing yarn. I like to use this strategy for a lot of different types of projects if I want there to be color, but I don’t want to deal with all the ends to weave in. Well, then I turn to some of my favorite projects color variegated and self-striping yarns.

Now, one of the new ones to the market that I’m really excited about is Red Heart’s Colorscape yarn. Now, if you’re one of those people who got really excited about Red Heart Boutique treasure yarn a few years back, now that yarn has been recently discontinued, but Colorscape reminds me a lot of treasure with one difference. Colorscape is a lot more velvety in texture. It’s really, really soft yarn, but it has a similar thickness and texture to the way the color looks and feels when you work it up in your project.

So if you haven’t tried Colorscape already, I would definitely recommend that you do so. This yarn is available in 12 different colors and it ranges anywhere from really bright colors. So I’m thinking yellows, pinks, and lime greens, all the way to muted neutral tones of white, tan, and gray. There’s something to appeal to just about every person out there. And I recommend you give it a try. It’s a wonderful yarn to work with. I’ve had the opportunity to knit and crochet with it and love the outcome of both.

You can find Colorscape yarn in your local craft store as well as on redheart.com slash yarn slash Colorscape. That’ll take you directly to the page on their website where you can see the different colorways and you can order directly from them if you’re not able to find it in your store. So if after you’ve heard this episode, you’re just dying to try a corner-to-corner project, you might want to pick up some Colorscape so that you can incorporate colors into your project without having to think about all of those different balls of yarn attached to one project.

All right, now, I hope you’re ready for this one. I’m so excited to introduce Jess from Make and Do Crew once again to the show. Jess, welcome back to the show. It’s such a pleasure to have you here.

Jess: 4:50
Thank you so much for having me back. When I first learned about what Corner to Corner was, it kind of blew my mind as a possibility, an alternative to sort of what I thought was possible in crocheting.

Brittany: 5:32
Oh yeah, you can do so many cool things with it. But before we get into any of that, just in case somebody out there doesn’t know who you are, tell me a little bit about you and what you do.

Jess: 5:43
Well, my name is Jess Coppam, and I have a crochet blog called makeanddocrew.com. And I focus on kind of the modern take on this craft that I’ve loved for a long time and my family and my mom and grandparents have loved for a long time. So sort of modernizing and bringing that craft and classic skill of crocheting to people in 2008 and how they can apply it and wear things that they’re really proud of in modern life. And so often that includes free patterns and video tutorials and just ways to kind of enrich your craft of crocheting.

Brittany: 6:29
Very cool. Well, I would think it would be hard to find somebody who hasn’t at least seen one of your projects before. So you’re definitely doing great things there. Thanks. Yeah, I just I love it. I love your style. I love the patterns that you create and basically just the message that you bring to our industry. It’s so cool.

Jess:
Oh, thank you. So to get on with Corner to Corner, I want us to keep as much time to that as possible because, like I said, I know it’s such a– it really is a crochet trend right now, and it’s a trend that’s been going on for a couple of years. I don’t know when– I first started hearing about it, but I know it’s been at least a couple of years. So in your own words, what is corner to corner? For somebody who’s never heard the term before, can you help them build a visual?

Jess: 7:21
Yeah, let’s do that with words. So corner to corner is exactly how it sounds. It’s any crochet project. It’s often a rectangle or a square where you start at one corner and then you work diagonally. So you’re kind of increasing in the length of your row to the middle of the project and then you’re decreasing to get to the opposite corner. So the stripes or the rows that you’re working are always diagonal instead of horizontal like in what you would think of as a typical crochet project and you’re using a stitch called the diagonal box stitch which is just a way of using often half double crochets or double crochets to create these little tiles that then move across the row diagonally so it’s kind of a I think we all tend to say like it’s a corner to corner stitch, but corner to corner is kind of just the way to describe the technique of working across a project diagonally.

Brittany: 8:28
Got it. Okay. So good visual is any project probably that has squares or rectangles incorporated into it in some way, shape or form. Is that a true statement?

Jess: 8:40
Yeah, I haven’t found, I’ve started kind of connecting rectangles or squares in interesting ways to make different shapes. But I have yet to figure out a way to create a shape that is different than that with corner to corner. So for me, the foundation is always a square or a rectangle.

Brittany: 9:00
Yeah. Well, we’re in luck, honestly, because so many projects can start out with that foundation. So you’re really not limited. Right.

Jess: 9:07
Yeah, right. That’s what I think is so exciting about it is that if you spend much time on Pinterest or hopping around crochet blogs in the last few years, I think corner to corner became really popular. I first saw it because of Sarah from Repeat Crafter Me had made this amazing Christmas graph can where she had nine different squares and they each had a visual in them that was… kind of an iconic Christmas character or wreath or something that you think of for Christmas. And I saw it and thought like, this is amazing. She’s just illustrating with yarn and it’s so different than anything else that you normally think of as crocheting looks. And that got me so interested in the possibilities of it.

And I’ve since been just so curious to play around with like the way that you can use shapes being a rectangle or a square and combine them using kind of the nature of working diagonally to make some really graphic, interesting textiles in a way that’s just not really or would be very complicated to do in crochet or knitting without corner-to-corner edger foundation of making it.

Brittany: 10:29
Yeah. Now, I know those listeners who haven’t heard of this before, their minds have probably just blown by the idea of putting an image into your work. Like you said, you’re creating art with yarn. And that’s what’s so cool and captivating about Corner to Corner. It can be really basic and it can be really intricate.

Jess: 10:52
Yeah, it can. And what I’ve started playing around with is how to take some basic designs and then join them in ways that create a more interesting end result. So like because diagonals kind of create a nice angled stripe and you don’t have to do that’s kind of like the most basic way you could use corner to corner with a color change is to just create a diagonal stripe. So that’s such an awesome way. beginning project.

But once you master that and you have, say, a bunch of squares that have diagonal stripes in them, the way that you sew them together can really impact what type of end design you create. And I think that’s so interesting because the final result can look really complicated and someone could look at it and say, like, I can’t believe you actually made that. When in reality, it’s just a series of like squares that have a line running down the middle and that’s pretty amazing and magical.

Brittany: 11:54
That reminds me of quilting kind of I feel like you could maybe draw some inspiration from that.

Jess: 12:00
Yeah that’s a great analogy it is very similar to that and the way that you can create a quilt block and then use that to make a repeating pattern is really similar in corner to corner too.

Brittany: 12:11
Yeah. So yeah, my mind is exploding with ideas here, but before we get like too much into the thick of it, let’s first outline just a couple of projects that you can make with it just so people have an idea of, okay, I want to do X, Y, Z. I want to make this thing and I want to do corner to corner, like just so they can connect those dots. Are there any projects that maybe won’t work with corner to corner? That might be the easier list to give.

Jess: 12:41
Well, like I was saying, I think it’s tough to—I would love for someone to prove me wrong and send me an email and show me how you can do this because I would love to learn it. But in my own exploration, it’s hard to make anything that’s rounded. And it’s also difficult to shape something like in the way you would typically think of decreasing in regular crocheting, where you would create like a sweater that maybe goes in a bit at your waist or something like that is tricky. But because you’re working with a foundation of rectangles or squares, you can really create— the most obvious idea is a blanket or a pillow or something. But I’ve recently—I recently published a pattern called the Free Range Kimono, which was a total of four rectangles, two for the front of the sweater. So it was open in the front, two for like kind of the front of the cardigan and then two that were sewn together for the back. And they’re no different than just making like a very mini afghan, right? And then sewing these two together and then adding a sleeve. And the end result looks like a really nice drapey kind of loose cardigan that you would toss over a shirt, right? But in reality, it’s not any more complex than making a blanket or a pillow or something that’s already kind of—you think of as a rectangle or a square.

Brittany: 14:11
Oh, very cool. I’ll have to link to that one in the show notes so that listeners can check that out. So yeah, I mean, garments, check. Sounds like that can be pretty doable as long as you have a basic shape. You mentioned afghans, which that was the first thing I created. Actually, it was a baby blanket, not really a full-sized afghan. And I have to confess something here. I have not tried any type of color work corner to corner so far, which I’m sitting here thinking about it, and I don’t really know why because I love the technique, but I really haven’t dabbled with it, not in terms of designing or anything like that.

Jess: 14:51
That’s the fun part, but I do think when I talk to my blog readers about what intimidates them the most about corner to corner, it’s like involving the multiple colors and the multiple skeins attached at once. So I know we’re going to talk about some ways to make that a little more approachable, but I don’t think you’re alone in kind of staying to a solid color approach to corner to corner.

Brittany: 15:15
Yeah, I feel like it keeps my hands busy and my heart happy just as well if it’s a single color because it’s a fun stitch pattern. It’s something that’s easy to memorize, so you can do it and not really have to dedicate all of your attention to it, which I really like. And you have the flexibility of choosing any number of projects. So first of all, why do you think it’s so versatile as far as a stitch and a technique goes? So we’ll sort of get into the how in just a little bit after we cover a little more of some of the why. So sell people on the versatility of the stitch.

Jess: 15:55
Well, I think you’re right that it’s a really satisfying stitch to work because I’ve wondered if this is actually true or that all of us crocheters just have this impression of corner to corner, but it feels like it grows pretty quickly. And I think it’s because you start at one corner and you only have one little tile, and then pretty soon you have something that’s getting noticeably bigger with each row. So that part is really satisfying because if you want to do something that’s a solid color and then you just choose… certain yarn, the choice of yarn can have a big impact on the way that that stitch looks, which is kind of obvious to say. But if you make—if you use like a chunky yarn, then your corner to corner tiles, like each little square of the design, are going to be like a couple inches big. And that is a really nice, like interesting, cool kind of modern texture that you’re creating with a stitch just because your yarn is thick. But similarly, you can use a finer yarn and the stitch has some pretty nice drape and it—it just kind of hangs together in a nice way that I think makes it work for something like a garment. It’s not too stiff but it also doesn’t feel like too stretchy or kind of fragile to wear or to use for a baby blanket or something like that.

So in addition to just being able to use the shapes of rectangles and squares to kind of build different types of projects, I think the stitch itself is one that’s just beautiful and creates a nice texture, even if you don’t involve any color work. It’s just a nice one to look at if what your goal is is to kind of crank out pillows or blankets or scarves or something kind of quickly.

Brittany: 17:52
Yeah. So those are some very good benefits right there. Texture is something that I know we’re all trying to get more of in our lives. And quick projects are a big thing too. Now, to your point where it grows quickly, I always feel like once you get to that point where you’re ready to start working down towards that last corner, it just gets quicker and quicker every single row. So there’s so much… I don’t know. It does. It feels like it works up so much faster than any other project that maybe is even in the same size. Like you’re working on the same size square. For some reason, the corner to corner feels like it takes less time.

Jess: 18:33
There’s probably some positive psychology in there in having a really clear goal of like getting to the corner because you’re always increasing on your way to the corner. And then once you get to those diagonal corners, then like Brittany’s saying, you’re always decreasing. And so there’s like some goalposts that just sort of mark your progress and you can feel really good about along the way. And I think that part’s pretty satisfying as well.

Brittany: 19:00
Yeah, it’s kind of like what I playfully call the colorwork syndrome, where you can work on a project, let’s say you’re working on an afghan. Actually, this will be a good reference. I am knitting a baby blanket right now for a new pattern that’ll be released this month. And I worked up seven inches in one color. Now knitting a baby blanket, granted I’m using bigger yarn and bigger needles, seven inches is a lot of work. So then I get to the point where I’ve reached that seven inch mark that I’ve made for myself. That tells me I can change colors. And for me, it’s like I started a whole new project. And I guess it’s because, okay, I’ve checked that first color box off of my list. Now I’m going on to the second one. And it’s just a goal of seven inches in terms of this project before I can like hit that next goal. So it’s, yeah, it’s, yeah, there’s definitely some psychology involved behind it there.

Jess: 20:01
Yeah, right, maybe we need to work that into our patterns.

Brittany: 20:05
Yeah, you know that’s not a bad idea. Yeah, okay, so we know that corner to corner is a lot of fun, that it’s really versatile and that we can make a lot of different projects with it. Now let’s get into the how. Now let’s assume right now that who we’re talking to has never tried it before, where do they begin?

Jess: 20:27
I think that you can kind of know yourself as a crocheter if you’re the type of person that is going to be really inspired by the idea of the color work. That was me—that I just thought, oh my gosh, I have always loved to draw and illustrate things. So the idea of designing my own graph and diving into this color work was the only logical place for me to start, even though it was more intimidating than working a solid color project. But for me, I was so motivated by the idea of it that that really made me have enough momentum going into it to finish it and see it all the way through, even though my first project was huge.

So I think if you know that about yourself, it’s totally fine to start with a project that involves some color work. But if that sounds totally intimidating to you, I would hate for you to walk away and think like corner to corner is not for me because I don’t want to have 10 colors attached to my project at one time because you can definitely take a more basic approach. And like we were saying, either start with a solid color project or something that is just going to have diagonal stripes that you would fasten off in the same way that you’re going to fasten off in your knit baby blanket, where you would finish a color, fasten it off, add a new color. And it’s just like working stripes as you would traditionally think of them.

So I think finding a project that has the level of difficulty that will keep you interested to kind of dedicate yourself to learning a new skill is a great thing to evaluate when you’re picking your project. And then if you’re a visual person, there’s a lot of great video tutorials. I have some that are kind of the very basics of how you start with one little tile and all you really have to know to make that tile is double crochet or half double crochet and that’s really the only skill that you need because then from there it’s just about how do you combine those stitches to go from one tile in the bottom corner and then the next row will have two tiles and the next row will have three tiles. So it’s finding a good tutorial like that and kind of knowing if you’re a video learner kind of person or a photo tutorial or a book learner.

But I think something that’s pretty cool about corner to corner is that you can kind of watch it happen and know if you’re on the right track like right away because you should be starting with one tile and each row should increase by one. So if that’s not happening you know something’s wrong and it’s immediately apparent but as long as that is happening and you’re not worrying about color work or something like that, you’re on the right track and you don’t have to learn anything else besides that until you get to the corner where you begin decreasing and making your project smaller.

Brittany: 23:24
I love any type of project where you can look at it and immediately know something is off track. Because I know we can all relate to getting to that point where we just so happen to look down and see that seven rows ago we dropped a stitch at the end. And that’s… just that’s so sad when that happens.

Jess: 23:46
Excruciating. And I feel like we shouldn’t lie and say that can definitely happen in corner to corner if you’re doing color work and you miss like everything. So many times I’ve missed one tile of a certain color or something. And then I’m just really involved in the show I’m watching or something. And then with satisfaction, I set that project down at the end of the night to think, to kind of evaluate all my progress and then realize that seven rows back, I screwed something up. So that can definitely happen, but we can talk about some ways to sort of, um, kind of check your work as you go because it is very true that the mistakes, if you look for them, are apparent immediately. And so it doesn’t have to be something where you figure it out seven rows later unless you’re like me and you’re just really into your TV show.

Brittany: 24:43
Yes, which I’m sure has happened to all of us at some point or another. And my head hurts at the thought of frogging color work. I know it’s no fun. And it can’t be any different for corner to corner. But I definitely don’t want that to scare people off. Again, this is probably more of the, we’ll say, more advanced techniques to corner to corner. So start small, start easy. What do you feel like are some of the easiest projects that somebody can tackle who’s never done a corner to corner project before?

Jess: 25:14
I would start with some thicker yarn. I think that’s always… instant gratification that’s pretty satisfying. So if you start with some thicker yarn and then plan to make a smaller blanket or pillow, and if you want to say no color changes in it—you’re just practicing the stitch—it works really quickly if you’re using a yarn like, um, I recently made some stuff with Lion Brand’s Wooly Sticking Quick, which is a, I think, category seven yarn. And the stitch just works up so quickly, but it has the look of so many of those kind of chunky throws that you see, you know, a lot on Instagram or like West Elm or something like that. It has that really gorgeous texture, but you will be amazed at how fast you can fly through it. And then you can finish that project probably in a matter of a few days and kind of know like, okay, I’ve added the stitch to my arsenal. Do I want to take it to the 2.0 version and start adding stripes or some other kind of design or create my own graph that I want to work from? Or am I happy knowing the stitch? And then like, how else could I apply it? Like, it doesn’t have to be a blanket. It could be a cowl or something that’s a rectangle in the same yarn and the same stitch that would have beautiful texture for a chunky cowl that you would wear in the winter.

Brittany: 26:38
Very cool. Okay, so definitely I agree with that—using chunky yarn. I think that’s such a great tip for anybody starting any new project because we do need that feedback that, oh, we’re making something really cool and this is great. We need that positive reinforcement in order to want to step into that second project. So, okay, so some of the easiest projects, blankets and pillows. So perhaps try some of those in just a solid color, then maybe incorporate a color transition, maybe just one or a couple if you’re comfortable with. And I definitely do want to link to your resources where you can explain just the basics in corner to corner so somebody can start right now if they wanted to.

Jess: 27:24
Yeah. Yeah. And I made some of those videos like within a year of when I learned how to do this. So I hope that they answer some of those questions for people that I just couldn’t figure out, like how to even Google the question that I had. ‘Cause there’s just certain things you wonder when you’re learning something new. And so because it was kind of fresh in my head, I tried to answer as many of those questions that I had starting out as I could to make it as helpful as possible.

And one other thing I would say about starting a project as a total beginner would be if you like the idea of cake yarn, like, um, mandala or cairn cakes or any of the numerous types of cake yarn that is self-striping. That’s also another great way to incorporate color in your project but not have to think at all about changing colors. And the one thing you just want to keep in mind when you’re doing it is that if you were to use a cake yarn to make, say, a blanket with regular crocheting, because your rows are all the same length then your sections of color would all be about the same size because you would make them like 18 inches wide and then every row would be 18 inches wide. But because corner to corner starts at one corner you will have kind of this gradient that happens where the stripes in the middle of the project—which would be the longest diagonal stripes—are thinner than the ones that are at the corner simply because of how the yarn gets used. But if you just even search online for examples like this, there’s a lot of really beautiful ones and you could use the same concept we were talking about earlier where you take rectangles made of cake yarn and then they have these natural stripes in them and sew them together in an interesting way and you’ve never had to change colors. You have like four ends to weave in but you made something that looks really complex and interesting and it’s just because you’re kind of using the technique in your favor.

Brittany: 29:23
Yeah, I love that tip too. Realizing that it occurs that way. That’s something that I feel like you have to try it and experiment for yourself, like for that to really sink in. And so I love that you’re adding that tip here for beginners, because again, that’s something that it’s kind of like you don’t know what you don’t know until you’ve tried it. Yeah.

So on the topic of sewing them together, this is a question that I have wondered and sort of experimented with, and I just wonder if there is a better way. In terms of sewing them together, do you actually sew them together with your darning needle, or have you found a way to crochet them together? And do you feel like if both is one better than the other?

Jess: 30:08
So I tend to sew them together, and I do it in a way—best way to describe it on a podcast would probably be just like lacing a shoe, like going back and forth, almost like a mattress stitch, but just kind of like if you were threading in the back of a corset or something, how you would go back and forth like that. And that, for me, has been the most seamless way to make the seam basically disappear and kind of recede into the fabric. So that’s how I usually choose to do it.

I haven’t actually crocheted them together very often, but I think that if what you were going for is a visible joint that had a little bit of texture and, you know, kind of a raised bump where you were joining it, I think crocheting them together could totally work too if that was sort of what you envisioned with the design.

Brittany: 31:05
Yeah. Good to know. I’ve always sort of wondered that if there was a better way or just, you know, dealer’s choice, whatever you like for your project.

Jess: 31:15
The best way is like whatever looks the best on your living room floor when you’re sewing it together, you know?

Brittany: 31:20
Yeah. So are there any other common questions that you’ve heard as far as corner to corner, any objections or anything like that?

Jess: 31:30
One thing I think that intimidates a lot of people into not even trying corner to corner is the thought that it needs to be this super complex color work that has, like I joked before, like 10 skeins of yarn attached to it. And there are definitely projects that you can do that and they’re gorgeous and they’re, I think, worth the effort when you’re in the right headspace.

But it’s just sort of the idea of managing color, multiple skeins of yarn that are attached to the project at once is often intimidating to people. So I think just recognizing that that is a thing, like that is a challenge of this and that you’re not doing it wrong if every once in a while you have to kind of make your yarn behave again and untangle it and just sort of separate it back out and get things organized. That isn’t because you’re doing it wrong. That’s just because you’re doing a project that has a lot of different—you’re kind of in the middle of a spider web, right?

So that is just sort of accepting that. That’s one of those things that if every few rows, you kind of move the balls back into a position where they’re not tangled in with each other, it doesn’t ever have to get to this like dire state of just cutting them all off and feeling frustrated.

So that’s one thing. And I have found that using something that can anchor my balls of yarn in place is really helpful. So like Chiwe from One Dog Woof made this kind of—she calls it like a modular bobbin holder. So if you think of bobbins that would hold like thread or something when you’re at the craft store and the way the thread is all displayed each one on its own little vertical dowel—if you have anything that is like that, like even like a baby bottle drying rack can be really helpful because it just needs like kind of like something sticking up that you can place your yarn ball on that will hold it there.

So yeah, my dad built me something that’s like a piece of wood on the bottom and then some dowels coming out of the top that I stick the skeins on. And I have some pictures of that on the blog, but it doesn’t have to be that DIY or complicated. Like a bottle rack or something could be helpful.

But also something that I’ve done that seems to keep the yarn in place pretty well is if I put all the colors I’m going to use in a laundry basket together, and then before I attach them to the project, I thread them through one of the holes in the laundry basket. Oh, yeah. So that the yarn can’t roll across the room. It’s kind of like contained in the basket. And I have an order—like if I threaded them in the order they were going to be used in the project, for example—then they’re kind of anchored in there. And I have a way of getting them back into that place if I get all twisted around. But it’s also nice because then you just throw your project in the top of that basket and tuck it in the corner, and then pull it back out when you’re ready to work it again.

So some things like that that just keep your balls from rolling away and getting more twisted can help. And one other thing that took me a couple years to figure out but is so helpful is just to be really mindful. Like any project, you have to turn your corner-to-corner project back and forth at the end of a row to start working in the other direction.

So if you’re mindful of turning it—say you’re turning it like the page of a book. So you would be flipping it from the right side to the left side to read the next page. Then you would work a row instead of flipping it again that same direction so that then everything gets twisted in the same direction over and over again to kind of like a little cyclone of yarn.

Instead, on the next row, flip it back the other direction as if you’re like rereading the same page of a book. That can be so helpful because then nothing can ever get more twisted than just one spin. And if everything is anchored in a bobbin holder or a laundry basket or something and you flip it just back and forth each way there really shouldn’t be a lot of trouble with like the management of your yarn.

So those are just some tips that I’ve kind of learned through being frustrated basically that I suggest for like just taking the annoyance factor out of crocheting and adding a little more so that you can enjoy the fun parts of it a little bit more.

Brittany: 36:00
Yeah, I learned that same lesson with an intarsia project that I was working on a couple of years ago. It was using, gosh, I think it was five different colors and rolled it into bobbins. So I was basically just working with little balls of yarn at once. And because I didn’t have some sort of bobbin system or anything like that, the only time that I could work on it in a way that it was comfortable was either at my table where I could set the bobbins like either in their own little cup or bowl and sort of work that way or when I was on my bed I would have the balls of yarn coming out sort of sticking out from the project and I was just working with the one I was working on. But I did learn the hard way that it’s so much easier when you flip it one direction and then back like in the reverse.

Jess: 36:53
It’s so obvious, right? But like it took me a really long time to figure that out.

Brittany: 36:57
It took me a minute too. That was a big project. It was a super scarf that was, gosh, about 90 inches long, I think, and about 14 or 15 inches wide. So it was a big undertaking for me.

Was it crocheted? It was.

I remember when you made that. It was gorgeous.

Oh, it was so pretty. It’s a pattern from your inspirations called the Big Tartan Scarf. I’ll have to link to that in the show notes. It’s funny because my husband loves that scarf. I don’t know what it is about the technique or just the intricacy of it, but he’s always like, when are you going to wear the tartan scarf? He knows it by—

Jess: 37:34
Name. It’s so cute. Yeah, it’s really stunning and has that look of being really complex like not a handmade option to make that thing even though you know you made it by hand.

Brittany: 37:46
Yeah. And a good point to hit home with that is that, yeah, it is a little more difficult to manage a lot of different skeins and colors at once. But I tell you what, the payoff is so much greater if you just endure that little annoyance for the time that it takes you to make that project and give yourself some time before you jump into another one.

Jess: 38:10
Yeah. And I have found that… I can start to be frustrated with the level of complexity. If I’m working on a really intricate corner to corner project, I can start to kind of resent the fact that it’s hard and there’s a lot of yarn involved in that particular project. Not every project, just the hardest ones I worked on. Sometimes I’m like, oh man, I can’t like throw this in the car and work on it or something.

And something that’s helped me is just when I’m working on a project like that, keeping another project that’s much easier, that only involves one color, that’s like my mindless project, always having both of those going at one time. Because then when I am sitting down at 11 o’clock at night to work a couple rows before I go to bed, that’s probably not the time to pull out my most intricate corner to corner project that has 10 skeins of yarn involved. That’s just… wouldn’t be as satisfying as working a couple rows on a simple project.

But then if I know I’m sitting down to watch a movie or something and I can spend an hour getting my yarn just how I want it and then making some progress on the corner to corner project, that’s always so satisfying, especially if I am not trying to do it in the car or something that’s just like a losing proposition to begin with.

Brittany: 39:29
Right, right. When you, well, at least in my experience, when you force yourself to work on a project just because you know it needs to be finished or you have, say, like a deadline, say you’re, you know, you’re going to gift it and that person’s birthday is like right around the corner. Yeah. That is always when I make the most mistakes and dumb mistakes too, like things that I know better. Yeah. Yeah. That’s really true.

Yeah. So good tips about color work for sure. I know that that’s a real big selling point for corner to corner—I mean it’s a great stitch and texture all on its own but it really gets good when you can start creating, like you said, some art with it. So good tips there on that same topic.

Do you have any suggestions for weaving in all of the ends or like how do you deal with the colors when say you have a few different colors? Are you working over it? Are you holding it to the back? Are they floats or is it intarsia where you pick it back up? Like unpack that a little bit for me.

Jess: 40:27
Yeah. So all of those things are options. And I think you’re totally right that once people think about what, okay, all these colors are attached, like then what happens when they’re not attached anymore? Then what do you do?

So I think the reality is that working with different colors, there is often going to be an end to weave in when you’re finished with that color. So I would be lying if I said like, there’s no ends to even cause, cause depending on the project, there can be a few or sometimes in the really most complex ones, kind of a lot of ends.

But one thing I do whenever I can is just crochet over that color. If I know it’s finishing and, um, it’s kind of hard to explain verbally, but if you think about, if you have a yarn tail that is white and you’re using white and you’re working over some white tiles, it will totally recede and you won’t see it at all.

If the yarn tail was red and you were working in white tiles and crocheting with white yarn, then the red is going to poke through in ways that won’t look great. So that’s when I would make sure I would weave it in with a needle. But whenever I can, I try to crochet over those ends as I go.

And then also, sometimes if you’re just not in the mood to deal with any of that, a project like a pillow can be awesome, because in the same way, you can hide some color work in a hat or in a sweater or something, a pillow, you just, you know, unless you’re like, really, really A-plus about your approach to it, you can just stuff that pillow form in and no one will ever know all of those ends are there.

Or say that you were carrying your yarn in the back and just picking it up again when you needed that color. So that’s not something you would want to do with something like a blanket because then if you flipped the blanket over, you would see these yarn carries everywhere that your hand could get caught in and they would look messy. But in a pillow or a hat or something, I’m really liberal about carrying the yarn or not weaving in the ends because that’s just not what I’m in it for. I’m a crocheter and not a weaver. So if there’s a shortcut for me like that, I always try to take that.

And then I know one thing I heard Sarah from Repeat Crafter Me say one time that I thought was a great little game to play with yourself was like weave in each color at a time. So if you have the whole blanket finished and you have all these ends to weave in to say, I’m going to weave in all the blue ones first and I’m going to weave in all the purple ones and then I’m going to do all the yellow or something. Hell yeah.

Making it a little bit of a game with yourself can at least feel like you’ve made some progress versus if I just randomly start doing it, it never looks like it’s ever going to be done. But if I know, hey, I did do all the blue, like that is traction. Now I just have to move on to purple. It’s just a little game that can kind of like make the whole thing seem more manageable.

Brittany: 43:41
Yeah, it’s almost like tricking yourself into believing that you’re making progress, and eventually you will get to the point where you weave them all in, but in the first couple of sessions when you’re sitting down, it sure doesn’t feel that way.

Jess: 43:54
Yep, and I think there’s sort of a trade-off with corner-to-corner color work, which is that if you are keeping the yarn attached because you know that you’re going to work again in the next row, you’re going to have another section of brown so you’re going to keep it attached so you can pick it up right there. That’s kind of the smarter way to do it because then you didn’t cut the yarn to switch to white and then you’re going to reattach brown.

Like if there’s any way to keep it attached that’s usually the best way to do it. And I think if you’ve never done corner to corner and that makes no sense what I’m talking about, I think if you as soon as you watch a video tutorial about changing colors or something, this type of thing will be talked about and it will make more sense.

But basically, anytime you’re choosing to keep the yarn attached, you’re saving yourself an end to weave in. But the consequence of that is that that yarn is attached and then you have to kind of babysit it so that it doesn’t get tangled and everything else. So it’s always a trade-off.

But I would say that learning how to manage the yarn in a system that works for you and keeping the skeins attached is generally a better way to do it because once you kind of have a system for yourself that way, it means that you’re just cutting your yarn less often and then you have fewer ends to weave in at the end.

Brittany: 45:12
Makes sense. Makes sense. Now, there’s a big handful of us who will try this out and follow a pattern or tutorial because that’s what’s easy for us. That’s what we’re comfortable with.

But there are the designers out there who even, you know, myself, if I try something for the first time, I usually will sort of go the harder road and try to create a design while I’m learning a technique. And I know there’s some of us. I’m not the only one out there. Yeah.

So for that person who is just dying to try corner to corner, maybe they’ve tried the very basics. They understand the stitch concepts, but they want to start designing. Do you have any tips on how to create those graphs?

Jess: 45:58
I do. And this used to be really… Yeah, I’ve tried.

Brittany: 46:31
I tried Excel. I’m not an Excel wizard. I was able to make it work, but it wasn’t fun. I’ll be honest. Yeah.

Jess: 46:37
Yeah. I don’t find anything in Excel very fun, but there is a really fun option now and it’s called stitchfiddle.com and they have a free and a paid version of it. So the free version is awesome to try out because you can design.

I think what you get with the paid version is a few more perks of functionality, but also you can save an unlimited number of charts. But if you’re just dipping your toe in the water of designing something, you can just create a free account.

And it is a software that’s designed specifically for knitters and crocheters and cross-stitchers and maybe weavers to design your own stitch charts and graphs. So it basically is like a digital graph paper that you can create your own color palette and then just design.

You’re kind of like coloring in it and making any correction so quickly because it’s all digital versus like graph paper where you’re erasing it or something. And it is just… It is what has enabled me to really love Corner to Corner because I think without it, I wouldn’t have the patience for like just figuring some of the stuff out. It would be too slow for me to do it any other way.

So you can design, you can even upload a picture and the software will try to process it into a graph. So for people who know that they love like a certain character from a book or a sports team or something like that. Like that would be one way that you could design your own graph that is personalized for this thing that you love.

But it’s also awesome because you can create words by just designing your own typography in the graph. And so one way that I have kind of learned how to do that myself is by looking at cross stitch fonts so you could google like cross stitch font or cross stitch typography that kind of thing and then you’ll find these little visuals of a graph that is made out of pixels like letters that are made out of pixels.

So if you’re thinking about your corner to corner graph essentially when we say graph it looks like a little chart of pixels so any letter that you can make out of pixels, you can kind of redraw in this program.

And looking at examples of what people do in cross-stitch or in like perler beads, which are those beads that are little plastic beads that you set on a mold and then you iron them and it creates a design. So all of those things are really cool ways to get inspiration for a corner-to-corner design and making your own graph.

And then Stitch Fiddle, there’s other ways to do it, but I just find it so easy because you can take your graph then and translate it into written instructions. So one of the things when you’re working corner to corner where mistakes can more easily be made is if you’re looking just at the graph.

Sometimes then you have to count each tile of a certain color that you need to work. But with written instructions, and you can create these in Stitch Fiddle, it will tell you like row seven equals four blues, and then three reds, and then four oranges.

And so it’s kind of this nice hybrid between reading a written crochet pattern in the simplest form, but also having this visual to double check it with. And so I find that doing those two things together is the best way to avoid mistakes for me when I’m doing color work.

And Stitch Fiddle kind of enables all of that in your design pretty easily and seamlessly.

Brittany: 50:33
Wow. I have never heard of that before, but gosh, that’s just a game changer. Really. I have stayed away from color work for that reason because I just dread the process of going into, I mean, sure, you could do it in Excel. You could do it in Illustrator or whatever program that you have or longhand.

And like you said, with graph paper, but who has time for that? I mean, in the grand scheme of things, that takes a long time. I have to check this out. And it’s not the fun part.

Jess: 51:02
The fun part is like, actually drawing the thing and then making it and crocheting it and seeing how it looks. So Stitch Fiddle kind of enables you to spend more time doing the most fun parts of the process.

Brittany: 51:15
Oh, that’s such a good tip there. I am so excited about this episode. I’m so sad that it has to come to an end. I know that, gosh, you have just dropped so many value bombs on us. We don’t even know where to begin.

But I do want to share a good amount of time about your book, because I know that if a listener has taken anything away from what we’ve chatted about in just the last 40 minutes, I’m sure they’re going to learn tenfold from your new book.

So can you tell me a little bit about that, what it’s called, where people can find it and that sort of thing?

Jess: 51:51
Yeah, thanks for the opportunity. So I recently wrote a book and it’s called Corner to Corner Crochet. And the subtitle is 15 Contemporary Corner to Corner Projects. So there are 15 projects in it, as promised. There’s 15 patterns that are sort of a modern take. I wanted them to feel like they would be at home, you know, in your house with also your other things from West Elm or Anthropology or something like that—like really taking the craft of crocheting and translating it into things that you would be really proud to display and wear. So that’s sort of the take on the book.

But in addition to these 15 projects, there are tutorials that cover in depth everything we’ve talked about today and more. So even if you’ve never done corner to corner, there’s very detailed step-by-step tutorials to show you exactly how it works. And then all the tips for ways to keep your yarn organized, how to weave in the ends when you’re finished, more details on designing your own graphs—like how to figure out if you want to make a blanket of a certain size, how many pixels should be in your graph, like that kind of stuff that is, it’s hard to Google, right? It’s just hard to know what the answer is.

And as an online content creator like you, like I’m all for the internet, but there’s sometimes when it’s nice to just have a book that comprehensively covers one subject. And so with this, I really tried to just answer as many possible questions as I could to make you feel confident about doing corner to corner. And I hope that there’s tips in there for people who have done corner to corner for a long time, and then also all the people who are trying it for the first time and wanting their basic questions answered too.

Brittany: 53:52
Yes. Well, I can definitely say that as a lucky recipient to be able to sort of browse through this before the general public can, we’ll say. Yeah. It’s amazing. It is a beautiful book. I love the photography. And the tips that you were talking about are amazing. Gosh, it is very comprehensive. That’s a great word to describe it.

And the projects are things that you would want to make that you’d be really excited to make. Like you said, they’re real modern and fresh. And the tutorial part is good. Now, I’m typically not one who can learn from photos in a book, and I think that’s sort of why I have gravitated towards video. And that’s just how my brain processes things.

But going through it, it’s broken down into so much detail. It’s almost like a frame by frame of a video for some of these techniques. So I don’t see any issue with real hardcore visual learners being able to learn from this. I think you will.

Jess: 54:55
Yeah. Thanks for saying that because I am a lot like you where I often look at these still photos and just feel like, What is going on? I don’t know what you’re doing. There’s all these arrows. I don’t know what’s happening.

And so kind of approaching it from knowing that I struggle with those things, I had to just kind of do it in a way that I knew would make sense for me. And because I’ve had the experience of explaining things via video, sort of like how could we create that same helpful experience just in print?

So I really hope that it works that way for people. And for those people who still prefer a video, like I have a lot of the videos that would cover the same content—like the basics of these same techniques. And I know a lot of other crocheters on the internet have great tutorials too.

So you’re not left hanging if print is just not for you. You could still make a lot of projects in the book and find awesome resources online too.

Brittany: 55:59
Yeah. Yeah. So, well, I mean, it’s a wonderful—I love it. I’m excited to share with my audience and I hope that some of them will pick up a copy and be able to learn some of the techniques or, like you said, if nothing else, or if you already know the techniques, there’s some great patterns in there too.

So where will it be available?

Jess: 56:18
So you can pre-order it right now on Amazon. And I think that when this podcast airs, you should be able to order it on Amazon and have it shipped right away to you. It won’t be pre-order anymore. So you can get it in a couple of days and have your crochet hook warmed up and ready.

Brittany: 56:35
Awesome. Okay. So I will link to that in the show notes for sure. So you can just head over to that page and find the link there to go ahead and order it. And the last thing, where people can connect with you online. So I mentioned before, I—

Jess: 56:50
—I have a crochet blog called makeanddocrew.com and that has weekly free patterns and tutorials. And then probably my favorite social media platform is Instagram. So you can always find me there just at makeanddocrew.

Brittany: 57:07
Awesome. And the “and” is spelled out, correct?

Jess:
That’s right. Yep.

Brittany: 57:07
Okay, awesome. I’ll have that linked in the show notes as well. So you can head over there and connect with Jess on Instagram and check out the website. Yeah, come say hi. Yeah, definitely.

Well, Jess, it has been so much fun. Once again, it’s just a joy to have you here. So thank you for your time. And I look forward to the next one.

Jess: 57:29
Yeah, me too. Thanks a lot, Brittany.

Brittany: 57:31
I don’t know about you, but I am just dying to start another corner-to-corner project and perhaps even incorporate some diagrams or some color work. I’ve been needing a challenge in my life, and I think this just might be the thing.

That’s the great thing about corner to corner. It can be challenging if you want, and it can be simple if you want. And I hope Jess and I have inspired you to try corner to corner crochet or expand and branch into something that’s a little different, maybe a little more challenging for you.

Be sure to check out Jess’s new book, Corner to Corner Crochet: 15 Contemporary Corner to Corner Projects, right now on Amazon. I’ll have it linked in the show notes page. You can access that at behookedcrochet.com/session088. You definitely want to check this one out.

If nothing else, then to support Jess for all of the amazing work that she has contributed over the years for this industry. She’s just a real gem. And this book is amazing.

Now I will say that I’m not much of a book person in terms of learning techniques, and that’s because I’m a very visual person. I know a lot of you are too, and you love your video tutorials.

Well, I can say from experience that the photos do a wonderful job of breaking down the steps so that it’s easy to replicate. And then if you’re just looking for some inspiration or just looking for some projects to try, this really does have 15 different patterns that you can try ranging from afghans to baby blankets to hats and pillows. There’s definitely something for you to try in this book and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

So once again, you can find the link to where you can get Jess’s book on Amazon on the show notes page, behookedcrochet.com/session088. Just so you know, that is an affiliate link. I do work with Amazon in order to share some products with you that I recommend from people I know, like, and trust.

And I feel very comfortable recommending this book to you today. So if you do purchase through that link, just know that I will get a very small commission as a result of that sale. But just know that that is not at all the reason why I am promoting it to you today. I really think that if you want to expand your corner to corner skills, this is just the resource for that.

Lastly, I want to thank my sponsor, Red Heart, for allowing me to bring this episode to life today. Thank you, Red Heart, for making that possible.

And please check out Colorscape Yarn if you’re looking for a unique and variegated yarn that has some beautiful color transitions, some great texture, and that’s very soft. You can find Colorscape at your local craft store or you can, of course, find it on redheart.com.

And the great thing about their website, and when you look for yarn specifically on their website, on that yarn page, it will go ahead and give you a list of different patterns that they have available for free to use with that yarn. So it’s a great place to order your yarn and find inspiration at the same time.

And that’s all for today, friend. I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did, and I hope you learned as much as I did throughout this process.

And let me ask you one favor. If you enjoyed the show today, if you’ve learned something new, or if you’ve enjoyed a previous episode and learned something in the past, will you do me the favor of sharing this podcast with a friend of yours?

I would love nothing more than to continue spreading the Be Hooked podcast love across our industry. I know we have the opportunity to reach tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people. And man, that’s just an aspiration of mine to have you sitting next to me for me sharing some tips and some guests with you and just downright being your friend.

That’s my goal here as a host of the Be Hooked podcast. And as I continue to see those download numbers grow, man, I tell you, that just motivates me so much. So share the show with a friend of yours today. That’s my personal hope—to keep building this amazing community of makers who support and inspire each other every step of the way.