Crochet TETRIS Afghan

I don't know about you, but TETRIS was one of the first games I really got into when I was younger. I didn't have access to gaming consoles other than the computer until my parents got me a Game Boy Advance SP. Even then TETRIS was one of the first games I got for that. TETRIS was also the first game I got really competitive about. When I beat my dad's score for the first time I was elated! I felt like I could conquer anything! And then I showed him, and he showed me his most recent score from his PC which clearly indicated that I had in fact not beaten him yet. So, that was a huge bummer. Still, I played on and achieved many scores that I was proud of.

Last year, I set out to make myself an afghan using granny squares, and I immediately thought of TETRIS. What a great way to show off my geeky crochet skills and love for falling bricks!

I played around with the design by cutting out the shapes (or Tetrominoes, if you will) from graph paper and coloring in the blocks. I knew I wanted the colors to be equally distributed and fill up most of the space. My inspiration for the final pattern came from the feeling of being on the last level you can handle in the game. The blocks are falling so fast that you can hardly control them other than where they fall. Then, a moment of hope comes when you can complete a row just as you're about to fill up the window. I created an aesthetically pleasing design that's almost screen accurate and moved on to the next steps.

From design to reality

I gathered up my I hook and yarn (Caron Simply Soft is LOVE) and found this pattern for solid granny squares from Angelfire.com that I thought would work perfectly. The one thing I didn't have was an idea of how I would join them once I got to the end. I shrugged that feeling off, figured I'd come up with a solution to that later, and immediately set to work! Piles of colored squares popped up almost overnight! (Mostly because I'm prone to staying up late and get obsessed easily with projects I love. I wish I had crocheting/knitting house elves though, they would come in handy.)

Look at that progress! Anyone should be proud to make that many squares in such little time! ...Right?

And then do you know what a friend told me? You can join your crochet squares as you go.

WHAT.

That sure was an eye-opening moment for me. In my defense I had used granny squares for a total of one project before this. At that point all of the rainbow squares were practically finished and I had to rip out the last row of each and every one in order to join them. I tell you what, once I found this great way of joining them on YouTube by Oana's Crochet Channel, I became a joining master. I joined all of the black and rainbow squares from top to bottom, and finished it off with a border of grey squares.

Technicolor 8-bit dream barf

The thing about this blanket is... it's SO HEAVY, but that's also what's best about it because it's so warm and nice. If I were to do this again, I would use a bigger hook and not do as many rows in each square. Who am I kidding? I definitely won't be making this again! But you sure can!

Here's what you'll need to build your own blocks:

• Graph paper, markers, and imagination to create your own TETRIS design
• Solid Granny Square pattern by Angelfire
• I hook, or size to make a 4" square
• 2 skeins of Caron Simply Soft in: red, grape, royal blue, robin's egg, limelight, yellow, and neon orange; 3-4 each in black and grey heather
• Video: Solid Granny Squares- joining as you go by Oana's Crochet Channel on Youtube
• Sewing needle because there will be SO MANY ENDS. Alternatively, you can sew fleece or fabric on the back.

If you do end up making a TETRIS blanket of your own using my method, I'd love to see it! Send me a link, or post on Instagram or Twitter using #fangirlcrafter.
If you choose to make one to sell, I ask that you don't use my design. It's easy enough to make your own! 

So tell me, what was your favorite computer game when you were younger? At school I loved Zoombinis! Now I just play a whole lot of Skyrim.