The Granny Square
Last week I went to see my Grandma, fitting for this topic, and she gave me a book titled Illustrated Patchwork Crochet by Bella Scharf. It was published in 1976 and goes through the basics of crochet and then different patterns of squares and strips which helps to put together different patterns. So most of this book deals with different patterned shapes, how to crochet them, and how to sew them together. This isn’t necessarily something that I couldn’t find out from the internet, but it interested me so I asked if I could take it. She mainly wanted to give me her giant binder of knit patterns, which I’m grateful for as well, but that is a discussion for another day. I want to disclaim that the patterns are not mine, and I’m not promoting any patterns, books, or yarn brands in this article. This is just an interesting topic I’d like to talk about.
If you don’t already know what a granny square is, it is a square made using the granny stitch, which involves 3 double crochets into the spaces between the previous rows stitches. I do feel like anything involving a square is called “granny square” but maybe is really just a patterned square. Let me know what you think about this in the comments.
Pattern Hunting
Now flash forward to when I decided to make a granny square blanket. I really wanted to make a friend of mine a blanket and I made 3 other blankets before finally settling on giving this one away. The first blanket that I made did not have the right colors or the feel, I meaning softness of the blanket/yarn, when it was done. Then while working on the second blanket, I spilled an adult beverage all over as well as not particularly liking the pattern. So this third blanket choice was the Caron Diamond Crochet Granny Afghan. This is the link to the pattern that I used. I had never made a blanket like this, and by that I mean a blanket where you make pieces and sew them together. I thought this pattern would be a really cool gift and so I gave it a go.
This pattern is pretty simple. The pattern shows the number of rounds and color changes for each square, and then a layout of where to put the squares to create the blanket. The pattern also includes how to create triangles to fill the half-sized and quarter-sized spaces. The pattern appeared easy and doable, so I bought my yarn and started crocheting my first Granny Square (Diamond) blanket.
Monotony of Granny Squares
While I enjoy how it looked and the simplicity of this pattern, it was boring at times to continue crocheting the same colored squares. To combat my boredom, I made each inner square first as this made it seem faster to me, as I was creating new squares more frequently. Next, I would do the white color on multiple squares, and also the pink color on the squares. Once getting to the final rounds it seemed to take a long time to finish each square. People consistently tell me that I must be patient because I can sit and crochet for hours, I would not say that is entirely true.
It got to a point with these squares where I could crochet the granny stitch with my EYES CLOSED. I did try to read my Kindle while crocheting this blanket, and this marks the only time I could successfully focus on both tasks.
Once I had a bunch of squares I was eager to see them together, so I started combining them into a blanket, even though they were not all finished. Can you see how I’m not all that patient? I even did a couple of the smaller triangles before finishing the squares.
Learning Experiences
I had a hard time combining the squares, and I got halfway through the blanket before realizing that I did it wrong. Since this was the first blanket I’ve ever done where I was connecting multiple pieces (squares), I didn’t fully understand the pattern’s description. So it looks like there are bumps between the tiles. Now I can make the connections more easily, which shows that I’ve definitely learned from this mistake.
Once I was at the point where I was combining the tiles, I was much more excited to see the blanket finished! I wanted to finish it before Christmas, and the deadline was fast approaching.
Ironing Out the Kinks
Because of the bumps from combining the squares poorly, I tried a few methods to flatten this blanket. One that seemed to work was blow-drying the blanket, but not letting the yarn get too hot. Little-known fact that you shouldn’t iron acrylic yarn. You could potentially melt or deform your blanket. I researched online to find this blow-drying method and tried it out.
Deadline
Did I mention my deadline? Did I forget to mention that I was doing all this on Christmas Eve? The last step in this pattern was to crochet a few rows along the edge and add tassels. Sorry if the photo here is dark, as I finished very late at night. The tassels became an even more tedious task than the granny squares! I’m not complaining because everything turned out great! For anyone who has made tassels for a blanket, I’m sure you understand what I mean.
Now you might be thinking, “Why do you have such a strange deadline and why were you working so hard on Christmas Eve and where is your family?” I actually recruited my cousin to help me out with these tassels. I am sure it is obvious when you think about it, I was seeing the person who’s gift this was for on Christmas, and wanted to make sure I could get it to them.
Loved It
For all the tedious work I had to do for this make, it was worth it. The gift recipient loved it, and I learned a lot in the process. For starters, the next projects which involved sewing together panels or pieces I was able to do it MUCH better. And I won’t be surprised at the amount of work tassels take in the future.
I am excited to look through this book I took from my Grandma and make some different granny square incorporating ideas. I have many ideas. Let me know if my tips helped you, if you have experience with granny square, or just what you think of this pattern in comments. I’d love to hear from you.