So I used a picture of chansey the pokemon and a pattern generator to make a chart to use for this blanket. I used double crochet throughout and am quite happy with the result.
I try to weave in the ends as I go. I think at one stage I had six different balls of colour so I didn't have to weave a whole lot of string when changing colour. So I would try to pick up the colour where I left off. Even with this technique, the back looks a bit more shabby than the front. I hope this maybe helps, I'm not good at explaining it.