Crocheted Sampler – Create Your Own Crochet-Along

A crocheted sampler is a fun way to intentionally learn a variety of new stitches.

A few years ago I was in the throes of crocheting voraciously every day. I was making hats, scarves, blankets, and prayer shawls, and just couldn’t get enough of it. I would crochet on our deck, on our front porch, on roadtrips, during my lunch break at work, and just about anywhere I could take yarn and a crochet hook.  I was itching to try new stitches and not just one.  I wanted to try a variety of them. 

Knowing my happiness and contentment is based on having multiple projects going at any given time, I thought about setting up multiple blankets, each with a different stitch or two. But to understand the level of excitement I had, that would have taken 15+ blankets.  It was that ‘all in’ approach.

I came across some ideas of things like crochet-alongs where the creator will take you on a journey of making a blanket and do so in incremental steps.  From this idea, I decided to try my hand at making my own crochet along. 

With my desire to try many different stitches, I believed I could make several blocks, each in a different stitch, and then I’d join them and border it.  Since I sensed a.l.o.t. of energy in myself, I decided to make it a 12 month sampler blanket — 1 month for each block — and then I’d still have time to crochet my other projects on the side.

Planning your crocheted sampler

Size and colors

I started picking through the stitches that excited me the most and decided on an approximate block size of 12”x 12”. The total number of blocks were going to be 12, one for each month, but you could also do more than that if you have the desire and time. Just decide upfront on the number of blocks and size of the blocks.

With regards to sizing, I tried to make the blocks 12×12, but if a block ended up a little short I just did a border stitch of single crochet (or 2) to get it to the 12×12 measurement.  Keeping the blocks very close to the same size makes joining them so much easier! If you look closely at a couple of my blocks they don’t lay perfectly straight, because they’re either a smidge too small, or a smidge too big.  Do your best to get them all the same size.

From there you’ll select your colors. My colors would complement our family room — browns, tans, creams, and a slate blue.

Stitches

Initially I started with just a few months’ worth of stitches and added to those. Sometimes the block was indicative of the month — as was the case for the Spider block in October in honor of Halloween.  Many of my stitches I found on www.ANewStitchADay.com, via Pinterest. If you’ve been crocheting for a while, you might have your own arsenal of crochet stitches in your Ravelry account, your Pinterest account, or stitches you might have saved in a magazine.

If you’re just starting out though there are a wide variety of stitches (with tutorials) on the A New Stitch A Day website. Fabulous!

Here are just a few of the stitches I used:

• Primrose Stitch:   https://newstitchaday.com/how-to-crochet-the-primrose-stitch/
• Marielle Lace Stitch:  https://newstitchaday.com/how-to-crochet-the-marielle-lace-stitch/
• Basketweave Stitch: https://newstitchaday.com/how-to-crochet-the-basketweave-stitch/
• Modified Sedge Stitch: https://newstitchaday.com/how-to-crochet-the-modified-sedge-stitch/

Yarn

When selecting your yarn, be sure to use similar weights and consistency.  For example, I used mostly Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Yarn, Lion Brand’s Jiffy, and Red Heart Super Saver.  These were all 4 weight yarns and of like consistency.  Caron One Pounders and Bernat 4-weight brands would have also worked well in this grouping of yarn. 

Yarns I would not mix with these would include Caron’s Simply Soft, or other sport weight yarns. The weight of the yarn just isn’t the same.  But you could do an entire blanket using all Simply Soft and sport weight yarns. I just wouldn’t mix the two types.

Lastly, I used a K size hook for all blocks.

From there you’ll work your block each month and set the finished blocks aside. 

Finishing your crocheted sampler

Once you’ve worked all 12 blocks, you’re now ready to join them.

Layout

Lay them out in the arrangement you want, balancing colors and textures where you see fit. I did a 4×3 block layout and tried to space out the blue accent color I used.

Joining

There are many ways to join blocks from a very simple whipstitch, to a single crochet or slip stitch, to a decorative join.  I like to crochet my blocks together, in lieu of using yarn and needle, so I went with a slip stitch.

Join the blocks either by row and then column, or vice versa.

Border

Now that the main portion of the blanket is finished, it’s time to decide on a border.

You could work an entire row of single crochets evenly spaced around the blanket. If I had to do it over again, I’d probably do it that way.  Instead the first six rows of my border were a granny square stitch, followed by a more decorative border (and I’m not even sure where I found it!?)

You can go really wild on a thick and multi-colored border, or stay quite simple with just a couple rows of single crochets. It really is your preference.

Crocheted Sampler Wrap-up

If you’ve been wondering about the math of the 12 months plus the joining and bordering and wondering where that falls, yes there is really an extra month tacked on for those two pieces. The 12 months is really just the making of the blocks.

This is a good project to do as a group too. Each person comes up with a stitch or two and then everyone works their own block in that stitch for the month.  One block per month still allows time to work on other projects.

I’ve also thought about working a series of blocks based on a theme, say a baby’s first year.  Select stitches that remind you of the baby either based on the name of the stitch or maybe something the baby did that month.  And if you’re really committed, you could jot those stitch inspirations onto paper and not only deliver the blanket at the end, but also a story that gives the background behind each block. 

What do you think?  Would you try planning your own crochet along (whether it’s with anyone else or not)? Would you like for Two Pink Hibiscus to do a crochet along?  Leave me a comment and let me know!

Crocheted Sampler – Creating your own crochet along