The Granny Square guide

The background of Granny Squares

What exactly is a Granny Square?

A Granny Square is a basic crochet block. Throughout time, Granny Squares have been made in all shapes and sizes, but the Classic Granny Square is a square motif made from clusters (groups) of three double crochets. You work these clusters in rounds, and each round you add new clusters to grow your motif. The end result is a square motif with groups of stitches.

Where Granny Squares get their name from is not 100% clear. The widespread tale is that in days gone by, grandmothers who could no longer help with manual labour and/or household tasks used all sorts of scraps and cloths to create clothing and blankets for their family. Since these motifs lend themselves perfectly to scraps, they were nicknamed Granny Squares as you often found Grandma making them.

If it's a true story, nobody can tell. But it sounds plausible! You can read more about the first mention of Granny Squares in my History of Granny Squares.

What kind of Granny Squares are there?

Granny Squares have grown from a particular type of crochet motif to their own category. Don't let the sheer amount of different types deter you though, as they're all variations on the classical Granny Square.

Besides the classic, you also have Solid Granny Squares, Farmhouse Granny Squares, Ribbed Granny Squares, Overlapping Granny Squares and many more. You've also got Granny Mandalas, hexagons and all sorts of shapes, but we'll stick with Squares for this guide.

Roundup History of the Granny Square (+ 9 free crochet patterns) If there’s one pattern all crocheters know by heart, it’s the humble Granny Square. For most of us, it’s the first pattern we learn to crochet right after we learn how to make the basic crochet stitches like chains, single and double crochets. And rightfully so, as it’s one of the patterns that hits close to home. But do you know the humble origins of the Granny Square designs? I looked into it, and found that those beautiful granny squares have quite humble beginnings. But, has over time flourished into something of endless possibilities for the new and experienced crocheter. Read the post

Is a Granny Square easy for beginners?

A Granny Square is perfect for beginners, for multiple reasons:

1. The motif is easy. The Classical Granny Square consists of chains, slip stitches and double crochets. All three stitches are basic crochet stitches that a beginner can make.
2. The stitch rhythm is repetitive. This helps you get a feel for the pattern and understand how the stitches create the motif. This, in turn, will help you prepare for more advanced crochet motifs.
3. A granny is easy to adjust in size. Because you can grow a square to any size you want, you can make all sorts of variations. One-square Granny blanket? Go ahead. Joined square shopping bag? You decide whether you want two round squares or 10 round squares. It's completely up to you!

If you're looking for a beginner pattern, have a look at my Granny Square Rainbow Blanket. It combines the Classic Granny Square with a bright colour palette. A great way to get used to this block and create something beautiful in the process!

The practicalities

Which yarn should I use for a Granny Square?

You're in luck: you can use almost any type of yarn. Granny Squares lend themselves best to solid, plied yarn though. A fuzzy or novelty yarn will cause the pattern to lose its stitch definition, and that is part of what is so attractive in a Granny. Any thread that's cotton, acrylic, wool or otherwise solid will do just fine.

For beginners, I always advise using a non-splitting yarn, such as the 100% cotton Scheepjes Catona. It's a tightly plied yarn that comes in over 100 colours. You can pick any colour, although I wouldn't recommend black because it's hard to see black stitches at night!

How do you crochet a Granny Square?

This question deserves an entire post of its own. That's why I've created an extensive tutorial with a photo tutorial on how to crochet a Granny Square, completely geared towards beginning crocheters. Follow the photo tutorial in this post, or scroll below the tutorial to find a condensed written version of the pattern.

What can you do with Granny Squares?

The question is rather, what can't you do with Granny Squares? The squares lend themselves perfectly to projects such as:

• Blankets (big or small)
• Pillows
• Bags and Pouches
• Potholders
• Wall Hangings
• Scarves
• Placemats

You really can use them for anything. Because it's so easy to resize a block by adding or discarding rounds, you can customise a project completely to your wishes.

Roundup 12 crochet patterns with a touch of granny Today is National Granny Square Day! Do you know where the granny square originated? Me neither! The story about its origin is vague at best. Supposedly, they’re called Granny squares because back in the Victorian days, grannies would save scraps of yarn from old socks, leftover projects or unravelled fabric to make scrap squares. These typical patchwork motifs were subsequently combined into a colourful blanket, initially for babies and later for adults. Since grannies couldn’t do any actual labour, they were usually the ones to sew these blankets together. Hence, Granny squares. I’m sure this has been written down by a man who never touched a crochet hook in his life. However, the name is catchy and most grannies are known to be pretty thrifty, so I can imagine there's some truth to this tale! Whatever its origin, today we celebrate the glorious Granny square, which everybody has at least made once, by gathering 12 special and colourful crochet patterns. Fuel your creativity with these beautiful patterns! 1. How about this pretty bracelet from Felted button ? The Granny Square Bracelet works up pretty fast and it’s a great way to use up some of those scraps. You really only need tiny amounts of yarn for this! 2. Nobody puts a limit on the number of rounds in a granny square, so you can go wild and make a giant granny square blanket out of 4 or six of these gigantic Granny Squares. Alternating each round with white yarn brings a little bit of balance to the blanket. 3. This gorgeous blanket by Poppy and Bliss is technically not made out of Granny squares, but imagine this effect with grannies? it would be glorious and so easy to do! 4. By making these small and delicate grannies your blanket gets a completely different look! You can use gentle pastel colours like the example, or make your own happy-scrappy blanket with all your little leftovers. 5. And how about pixelblankets ? A pixelblanket is a feasible way to make good use of all your scraps. Find a pre-made pattern, or make your own image! Simply select a picture, run it through an online pixelator and you’re all set to make your own personalized blanket. 6. Wear ’em, own them! A granny skirt isn’t just retro, it’s a display of how much you adore this basic building block of crochet. 7. This bag from Bo-M uses modified granny squares as the basic blocks to make a bag. Combined with tassels and leather it makes for a retro, but also very adventurous bag! 8. Hexagon grannies (or any other shape) are a great start to make various decorations, like a bunting or granny hangers , for example. Grab your beads and tassels, because you've got your afternoon crochet project lined up! 9. If you stick with the regular granny square, you can always spruce it up by using a lot of colours! This rainbow granny blanket is easy to make and is an absolute stash buster. 10. Make a granny with a twist by switching out the center with something else, like these pretty flowers! Esther from Happy in Red has made you a step-by-step tutorial on how to make this beautiful blanket. 11. A granny shawl is fast and fabulous! And don’t the colours go great with eachother? The Granny Cluster stitch lends itself perfectly for triangle shawls. Plus, they're very warm! 12. Even though the original dress is sold, I still wanted to include this picture in the roundup. It’s a great example of how a retro motif like the granny square can be delicate and elegant! The owner of this Etsy shop creates a wide range of gorgeous crochet dresses. Make sure to have your wallet with you if you want one, though! Read the post

How many Granny Squares do you need for your blanket?

This really depends on the type of Granny block you're making and the yarn you're using. More rounds and thicker yarn create larger squares than fewer rounds and thinner yarn. But there's more to it, so I've created a separate page for this. Read here to find out how many squares you need for a blanket.

How-to How many Granny Squares do you need for a blanket? Are you thinking about changing an existing crochet pattern for a granny square blanket, or maybe designing your own? Then it's good to spend a few minutes in advance thinking about how many squares you need. Read the post

How can I join my Granny Squares?

The beauty of Granny Squares is that they're symmetrical on each side. This means that if you put them next to each other, the position where there are clusters and chains is the same on each square. This makes joining easier to understand.

Join-as-you-go

The easiest method is a join-as-you-go joining. This type of joining is made while actually crocheting the last round of your square. This means that instead of making chains in between clusters as you did in previous rounds, you make slip stitches in the chain space of the opposite motif. This immediately joins your Granny to the other motif(s).

It's a neat and easy way to join the squares. I used this method in my Rainbow Granny Square Blanket.

Alternatively, you can also use joins such as:

• Whipstitch join (As used in the Little Lily baby blanket!)
• Single crochet join
• Flat zipper join

There are also more decorative joins that you could reuse in the blanket border if you want to. They are slightly more advanced, but the result is ever so beautiful.

How do I grow my Granny Square?

You can easily make your Granny Square bigger by repeating the round instructions over and over again. The beauty of a Classic Granny Square is that it's a repeatable pattern, adding one cluster to each side every round. By adding an extra cluster, the circumference of your rounds keeps growing, and you can grow your Granny Square indefinitely. The last round of my tutorial explains this.

Refining your Granny Technique

Why does my Granny Square look crooked?

A Granny Square (or any pattern that's worked in the round) can look crooked after a while. The reason is simple: crochet stitches naturally slant to the right side (left, if you're left-handed). If you continue working rounds without turning your work, this slanting will cause your corners to shift after a couple of rounds, and that makes your Granny Square look crooked.

Turning after each round

Luckily, there are ways to solve this. The easiest way is to turn your Granny Square after each round. This method lends itself perfectly to the Classical Granny Squares, which are reversible.

Once you finish the first round, turn your Granny Square over so the backside is facing you. Then work your pattern instructions for the second round. After finishing the second round, turn your work over once more so that the front faces you again. By working rounds this way, you offset the slanting that happens when you continuously keep the same side towards you - and your square will be perfectly straight.

This method works best if you create Classical Grannies. If you are crocheting more intricate motifs that have a non-repetitive pattern or, for example, a flower in the centre this turning method won't work. You don't want half of your flower ending up on the backside of your motif!

Blocking your Grannies

Another method is to use blocking to straighten out your motif. Blocking is the process of soaking your motif and letting it dry in shape. This works best for smaller motifs that do not have a large offset. You can read all the details about blocking in my extensive blocking tutorial, which shows you step by step how to block your Granny Squares and other projects.

I hope this post helps you make the most of your motifs. If you have any questions, feel free to pop them in the comments below, and I'll answer them to the best of my knowledge!