Introduction: How to Crochet a Portal Companion Cube Throw Blanket

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This ible will teach you how to crochet a Portal Companion Cube throw.  While hats and scarves are absolutely fantastic, blankets get the extra bonus of being usable pretty much all year long.  The extra time it takes to make them is well worth it as well.  This particular project takes a bit of time, mainly because you're going to have a LOT of ends that need to be woven in.  However, I think the result speaks for itself.

This project assumes you have a VERY basic knowledge of crochet.  While this project is time consuming, it is by no means not doable for the beginner.  If you have zero knowledge of crochet, there are tons of resources online.  You will need to know how to chain (hereinafter "ch") (which is the start of the vast majority of flat crochet pieces and is super simple) and work a half double crochet stitch.  Youtube can provide you with significant instruction on how to do both of these things.  For the border that I gave the blanket, you will need to know how to single crochet (hereinafter "sc") and double crochet (hereinafter "dc") (also very simple and Youtube will teach you plenty if you're not aware of how these stitches are done).  Outside of that, you'll also need to know how to change yarn color on a row and how to tie off and tuck in.  If you need detailed help on any of these things, please feel free to either PM me or post in the comments.  I'm generally pretty good about responding to either.

Materials Listing

For this blanket, I used:
2 large skeins of black yarn
1 large skein of dark grey yarn
3 large skeins of light grey yarn
1 large skein of pink yarn
1 crochet hook, size K
yarn needle
Pattern for your blanket (I made this one:  http://i.imgur.com/pppnpvu.png)

I no longer have the yarn wrappers, but BE WARNED:  YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY.  Please do not purchase a yarn on fire sale that you can't purchase more of in the same dye lot.  You're better off buying an extra skein of each color and returning what isn't used than buying too little and running out of the yarn or finding yarn in a different dye lot that looks odd in your final product.

For crocheting novices:  The dye lot is a number printed on the wrapper of a skein of yarn.  Because yarns can go through different lots of dye, it is suggested that you purchase from the same dye lot to avoid variations in the color of the yarn.

Please note that I created this pattern by placing a grid on top of an existing picture.  This Instructable will require you to do a little thinking, as there will undoubtedly be shadowed areas that are not one of the three colors in this blanket.  Pay attention to what you do and keep track of your stitch counts.  You will want to mirror these on the top half of the blanket once the bottom half is done.  If you have questions about this, please feel free to message me.

Step 1 (casting on):

Chain 122 in black yarn

Step 2:

Work 120 hdc in black yarn across, starting in the third chain.  Ch 2.

Step 3:

Continue to work hdcs into stitches IN ACCORDANCE TO THE GRID PATTERN (remember to ch 2 at the end of each row).  This will absolutely get boring.  You will absolutely have to put this down (sometimes not touching it for days).  You will absolutely cringe at the sheer volume of ends that will require tucking in at the end of your project.  I strongly suggest leaving longer than average tails at each color change (see nightmarish picture) to make this easier.

Step 4:

Tuck in all tails and cut off excess.

Step 5:

Add a border.  To do this, starting in one corner:

1.  Attach dark grey yarn and ch 3.
2.  2 dc in same stitch
3.  Skip the next two (2) stitches
4.  3 dc in same stitch*
5.  Repeat 3 and 4 until end of row
6.  On last stitch of one side, 3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc
7.  Repeat steps 2-6 along each side until you have a border around the entire blanket.  Tie off.
8.  Attach black yarn and ch 2.
9.  Sc in each stitch across to end of row.
10. In corner space, make 3 sc.
11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 around entire blanket.  Tie off.
12. Attach pink yarn and ch 3.
13. Dc in each stitch across to end of row.
14. In the three corner stitches you placed in the corner spaces, 2 DC in each.
15.  Repeat steps 13 and 14 around entire blanket.  Tie off.
16.  Tuck in yarn and cut off excess.

This was a triumph!  I'm making a note here, huge success!

Last, but certainly not least, go play some Portal with your comfy new blankie keeping you warm!  Or at least have some delicious and moist cake (that'll show GLaDOS, won't it).