January Trial

If you’re not ready to commit to the full eBook of all 12 dog squares, why not just try January Dog first?

If you later decide you DO want the eBook, the cost of January Dog will be deducted from your purchase of the eBook!

Available on Ravelry only, no code needed, cannot be combined with other offers.

Important Details for January Dog

Each design comes with the fully written pattern and charts for two colorwork techniques: interlocking crochet and overlay mosaic crochet.

Click here to go to my tutorials for these crochet techniques.

Overlay Mosaic Crochet file includes:

• line-by-line written pattern (view key)
• instructions for optional envelope border (view)
• instructions on reading a chart (view)
• a one-page chart marked with X’s (good for viewing on a screen)
• a four-page chart marked with X’s (better for printing)

Bottom-Up Mosaic Crochet Details

• Chart is 77 x 77
• Gauge: 14 sc blo stitches x 15 rows = 4”
• 22″ x 20″ / 56cm x 52cm
• 5 mm hook (H-8)
• Worsted weight yarn (535 – 785 yards)
  • Main color (dog) – 235 yards
  • Contrasting color (background) – 300 yards
  • Optional envelope border – 250 yards

My mosaic crochet sample of January Dog.

Cutting Your Yarn with Overlay Mosaic Crochet Squares

One of the biggest deterrents to trying overlay mosaic crochet is the idea that we need to cut the yarn at the end of every row.

I promise it’s not as scary as it sounds!

It is important to have a plan before you begin though.

Will you be adding an envelope border at the end to hide the cut ends? Then they don’t need to be too long. There are even multiple options on how to use envelope borders! Check out these photos where I’ve mixed envelope borders with panels between squares to save on yarn.

Would you rather do some twisting and make the cut ends a feature of your blanket or scarf? Then you’ll need to make sure they’re left long.

If you plan on weaving them in maybe you would also like to crochet over them as you go?

Or maybe you’d rather skip having cut ends altogether? You can use Tunisian mosaic crochet and not have to cut your yarn at all!

Another option is to crochet the squares together as you make them – create your foundation row as wide as three squares, for example, and crochet row 1 of all three squares, one after another, without cutting between them.

You’ll even be able to find tutorials that change the way the back of your project looks. Personally, I’m not a fan of these options because of the way it affects the final image but I do love knowing all the options available!

Joining Squares

If you do plan on using January Dog in a blanket with other large squares then you’ll need to have a plan for joining the squares.

Head back to this section on the Year of Dogs Landing Page to read more.

Wrong Side of January Dog

The ‘right side’ with the design is the main point of these squares, but it’s often interesting to see what the back, or ‘wrong side’, will look like too!

Interlocking crochet creates an almost opposite image while overlay mosaic crochet just creates stripes. You can often see a faint illusion of the front.

Wrong side of CynCityCrochet’s interlocking crochet sample of January Dog.

January Dog Testers

The 2024: A Year of Dogs series was tested by Anonymous Squirrel, CrochetCarob, CynCityCrochet, Eva, Linda Bakker, Maja Serec, Margaret Maillet, and ScorpiosHook.

I value their feedback tremendously! Thank you!

Want more photos?

Check out all the Ravelry projects (by testers and others) linked to January Dog at https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/january-dog/people.

Overlay mosaic crochet sample of January Dog by Linda Bakker.