How to crochet a granny square

Since I’ve been crocheting up a storm lately, I thought I’d show you all how to make your own granny squares so you can get hooked (see what I did there?) too.

First-make a slip knot and chain 5.

Join together with a slip stitch in your first round, creating a ring. Chain 3, which will count as your first DC for this shell.

YO, and DC twice into the center of your ring. Your first shell is complete! Now, chain 2 and DC 3 times into the center of the ring again.The chain of 2 becomes a corner of your square.

Chain 2 to make another corner, DC 3 times, chain 2, DC3, and chain 2. Now you have 4 shells and 4 corners, creating a square. To join, slip stitch into the top chain of that “chain 3” you created. Now you could change colors if you wish, but for the purpose of this tutorial we will continue with a single color.

Now we need to move from the top right corner over to the top left corner. Slip stitch your way over there, making a slip stitch in between each DC in your top shell until you reach the chain 2 upper left corner. Once there, chain 3.

Just as in the last round, make a shell of 3 DC. Then chain 2 for a corner and 3 DC again in the same hole.

Now, chain only once before you create your next 2 shells in the next hole. Always chain 2 when turning a corner, and chain 1 to separate shells not on corners. Continue until you have 8 shells, and join together with a slip stitch again.

Repeat as for the last round- slip stitch to the corner hole, and continue the 3 DC shells. Two shells when turning a corner, and one in the other holes, as shown below.

Ta-da! That’s all. Finish with a slip stitch, pull tight and cut off your yarn.

You can make the granny squares as large as you want, like I did for my granny square chair covers. Just have fun with it! But be careful, these little guys are super addictive, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.

120 Granny Squares

So this is what 120 granny squares (8 skeins of yarn) looks like:

I’ve reworked the dimensions, and now I think I need just 30 more-2 more colors-before I start joining them together. This afghan is so close I can feel it.

Granny Square Progress

I’ve been plugging away at my granny squares for a planned afghan(s?). Currently working on Red Heart Super Saver “Gold.” One thing I love about crocheting granny squares is that it uses cheap acrylic yarn. Yarn for knitting garments has gotten so expensive!

Yesterday I made one on the bus on the way to work, and one on the way home. Bundled up in a handknit scarf, handcrocheted (by Britni) mittens, and with a big ball of yarn on my lap, I felt like an abominable yarn lady, similar to the pigeon lady in Home Alone 2. <Sigh>

If you can believe it, that picture above shows 90 granny squares! I’m going for about 200-250 though, and I’m starting to doubt my original colorway. I envisioned it much more orange-y, but its easier to find varying shades of yellow than orange. I currently also have a very light yellow, an orange that is very bright (but looks too similar to the most “orange” one pictured above I think) and red yarn to use. Should I still add in pinks? I can’t exactly double up on the colors because some of them are vintage one-offs. Gah. I tend to overthink these things.

Kingsland, Texas

Hey ya’ll!

I’m here in Kingsland, Texas (population 4,584) visiting grandparents that I haven’t seen in the better part of a decade. So far I’ve eaten fried catfish, fried okra, dirty rice (apparently the secret ingredient is chicken gizzards?), and hush puppies.

Of course I’ve made a dozen of these:

Fueled by a couple of these:

I also found a deer leg on the side of the road- knee down only, with the fur still on and everything….

In other news, don’t you ya’ll just love grandparents houses for kitschy craft inspiration? I know I do. So in the next few days I’ll be bringing you some of my finds.

Ya’ll* come back soon now, ya hear?

*Ok, I’ll try not to say ya’ll as much in my remaining posts, but no promises.

Granny squares

Remember my first crochet project…the square? [Surely you do…it was like 3 weeks ago!] Well I took that whole “square” thing and ran with it.

I am a granny square making machine. Using a bunch of my 75 cent yarn from Deseret Industries (my new favorite thrift store, sorry Value Village), I’m hoping to eventually complete an entire blanket. Its amazing how fast these little grannies whip up! I can make a few during each movie (or more likely, X-Files episode) that we watch. The colorway I’m envisioning is a mix of all different oranges with some pink/red/yellow hues thrown in for good measure. But what color should surround all the squares? I don’t want white or black, I’ve been thinking a dark smoky gray but not 100% set on that. Any suggestions?

Pictured above are the yarn skeins I got for 75 cents each, they had tons more, but I felt guilty acquiring all that yarn at once [even at such a cheap price]…though now I wish I had bought them out!