granny square tutorial part 2: how to adjust the size of your granny squares

Even when you crochet blocks from the same book using the same hook each time, you are bound to find some variations in the resulting size of your granny squares. It is easy to enlarge a square to match it up to the others so that they will be easy to join together. With a little practice and some trial and error, it will be no time before adding rounds to your square is second nature.

In the photo below, two of the squares measure 4" along each side, but the third square falls short. As you can see, the square doesn't lack much in size, so I have decided to add just one round of single crochet to even it up.

With yellow, I added a sc in each stitch around and a sc, ch 1, sc in each corner. The more chain stitches you do in the corners, the pointier they will be. If the corners in green had been a longer chain of stitches (and therefore a larger hole), I would have increased the number of sc in the corners to correspond.

**Edited to add: after reading Melissa's post about my tutorial, I realized that I should probably emphasize that even though your pattern may call for solid corners, you should always leave a chain space if you're planning to join the squares as you go in the way I'm going to show you in my next tutorial. Thanks, Melissa!**

Instead of solid stitches around the perimeter, the yellow and orange square below has chain spaces to take into account. I also used a much smaller hook size for this motif. The pattern did instruct me to make a final solid round, but I chose to leave it off so that I could finish the square with my H hook to match the stitch size in the other squares. This will make it easier to join them later.

Again, additional rounds of single crochet are perfect for making this square larger. Since the last round has 5 ch stitches in each corner, I made corners for the additional rounds with 2 sc, ch 2, 2 sc. I used 2 sc in each chain space along the sides. Honestly, this is all going to be trial and error and will totally depend on the pattern you are using and your gauge. I tried 3 sc, but I found that the stitches bunched up and became ripply. But once I found a configuration that laid flat and made it mostly squareish, the subsequent rounds were just repeats of this one!

See! Now I just put a sc in each stitch around and 2 sc, ch 2, 2sc in each corner. Still coming up short though. One more round of sc should fix that!

You can tell after making the first side if it will measure up. And you can see that it will not be too loose or too tight.

Check it out, they're all the same size! With a little blocking, they'd be perfectly square, too. I'm not going to bother since I'll be adding more rounds to join them to one another. That's what I'll be showing you next!

Even though these square are pretty small, the same technique can be used to scale up any pattern. If you have an inch or more to add, try using dc or hdc stitches instead of sc to make your square grow more quickly. If you do use one of these taller stitches, make sure to compensate in the corners by adding more chain stitches if necessary. Experiment and you'll be surprised how easy it is! Just make sure the sides are symmetrical, and you can't go wrong.

I haven't shown you how to reduce the size of a large pattern because usually it is just as simple as stopping when you get to the size you want. Sometimes you may have to stop just before you have the perfect size and add rounds of sc to get it just right. This is the only square that I've made so far that had trouble reducing because of its lacy structure. As long as the edges are square, you can end off anywhere in the pattern.

Please join us for A Square A Day In May, hosted by Melissa, and make lots of squares that you can use to practice! :)

Don't forget to check out the other tutorial in this series:

granny square tutorial part 1: basic granny square