365::365 the last one!

Pattern: "Harvest" from Go Crochet! Afghan Design Workbook by Ellen Gormley.

This is one of the hexagonal motifs from Go Crochet. Using trial and error I turned it into a 4-sided block. The trick is to visualize the corners the way you want them to be and make ascending and descending stitches to fill in the gaps. Working into the back loops only like I did here makes the process more forgiving.

I can hardly believe it. This is the last one! It will definitely not be my last granny square ever, but this is it for my granny-a-day project. I have totally enjoyed the experience of crocheting all year! It feels like I haven't had time for almost anything else, but I did manage to crochet tons of these squares into 4 afghans, a rug, and a cover for my Kindle Fire and post several tutorials and a couple of granny square patterns while grannying up a storm. Here is a little visual roundup of all of that stuff!

afghan #1


afghan #2


afghan #3


afghan #4


felted rug


kindle cover


tutorial: basic granny square


tutorial: adjusting size


tutorial: blocking


tutorial: joining squares of the same size


tutorial: joining squares of different sizes


pattern: chrysanthemum square


pattern: granny flower

interviewed in issue 5 of craftsanity

participated in a square a day in may

Here are all 365 blocks! It is kind of a huge image, so I hope it doesn't break your computer! :) Now that this project is over, I am looking forward to actually having time to crochet the rest of them together into something useful. I've got a couple of afghans pretty much planned out at this point. Expect to see progress on that soon!

357-364::365 orange & blue squares

Patterns (clockwise from top left): "South Beach," "Cherry Cordial," "Star Power," "Pick a Posie," "Neapolitan," "Team Captain," "Stain Berry," & "Chair Back" from Go Crochet! Afghan Design Workbook by Ellen Gormley.

I really love the motifs in this book! I have officially made all of the four sided patterns. The only real error I think I have found is in Neapolitan. The first round in the photo looks like it is made up of single crochet stitches, but both the chart and the written instructions say to use double crochet. I think it would be flatter with the smaller stitches. Instead of using these Go Crochet squares as filler for a sampler afghan, I may make a cover for my ottoman.

349-356::365 little rectangles

Patterns (clockwise from top left): "Polka Dot," "Thumbprint," "Oval in a Rectangle," "Vintage," Cameo," "Last Blueberry," Scary Fun," & "Gift Package" from Go Crochet! Afghan Design Workbook by Ellen Gormley.

Aren't these rectangle blocks super cute? They'll be perfect for filling in gaps in a sampler afghan. I had to turn my brain off of autopilot a few times because I found myself trying to make each side the same when the short sides of some of these could be quite different from the long ones (Cameo and Gift Package in particular). I'm still using my favorite size h hook instead of the larger recommended k size. Maybe that's why they are coming out lots of different sizes.

Here are the latest 25! Almost done!

344-348::365 go crochet squares

Patterns (left to right): "Puddles Gather Rain", "Eyelets", "Oscar Square", & "Flower Patch" from Go Crochet! Afghan Design Workbook by Ellen Gormley.

I needed some smaller squares to round out my project and fill in some gaps in a sampler afghan, so I bought a second crochet book for my Kindle. Go Crochet! features 50 different motifs (each with charted and written pattern). In addition to square patterns, it has rectangles, triangles, hexagons, and octagons to choose from. The last part of the book shows a few afghans made up of different motifs and gives directions and tips for how to put them together. I've only skimmed that part, but I already know I have to make "All Call", an afghan made up of at least one of every motif in the book! Anyway, as for these squares, each measured about 4", and I didn't have to make any changes to the simple patterns and relied almost exclusively on the charts. As always I used magic rings for the center instead of the suggested chain rings.

337-344::365 popcorn & cluster flower squares

Pattern: experiment in using different numbers of popcorn & cluster stitches.

This is sort of a continuation of my circle-to-square series. I began with a two round circle made with centers of 4, 5, 6, or 7 popcorn or cluster stitches separated by 3 chain stitches. The second round of each was made with two stitches in each chain space also separated by 3 chain stitches. The ones with an even number of center stitches were pretty easy to transform into squares, but the odd numbered ones were kind of tricky. With a little math and trail and error, it wasn't impossible. For the odd ones I worked a round of single crochet in white, making sure that the number of stitches all the way around was divisible by four so the corners could be evenly spaced. Then I used the next round to square it up.

333-336::365 fancy squares

Patterns: "Rosetta Square", "Gracie Square", "Six Point Star", and "Marianne Square" (left to right) from The Granny Square Book by Margaret Hubert.

These four squares are the beginning of my attempt to incorporate some white yarn in my crochet. I have plenty of it, but I never use it unless I'm trying to. I made a few changes to most of these squares (all but Rosetta). The most minor change was to Marianne Square, where I simply left off the last round.

For Gracie square, the first round after the flower was supposed to be worked into the stitches of the previous round. Instead of doing that, I worked them around the posts of round one. It makes the flower pop out a little bit more.

Six Point Star is another pattern with a backwards photo in this book. I'm torn between being kind of shocked that someone didn't catch this mistake and being surprised that it doesn't happen more often. The only change I made for this one was substituting hdc for sc in the final round. It reminds me of a snowflake in the blue I used which is funny because it was 70 degrees today.

I had hoped to have all of my squares posted by today, but I'm not going to beat myself up about it. I've kept up this project through lots of things that have happened in my life over the past year, and besides, I didn't start posting them until after the first week of January. I'll have them up by then!

Happy new year! Hope it's a great one! Thank you to everyone who has supported and encouraged me through this project! I appreciate each and every comment and kind word! :)

329-332::254 purple flower squares

Patterns: "Filigree Rosette", "Picot Rose", "Nautical Wheel", "Star Grass Flower" from The Granny Square Book by Margaret Hubert.

A super busy week at work and a short yarn supply have delayed the posting of these squares a little. Don't you just love flower squares? I skipped a round of sc for the Nautical Wheel square. Star Grass Flower is more of a rectangle than a square because two of the sides have way more stitches in them than the other side. I can easily use this square in a sampler afghan, but it was kind of a surprise that it wasn't square because the sample in the photo in the book looks like it is. Another odd thing is that the block in the book was photographed wrong side up. I guess that'll happen from time to time.

321-328::365 flower garden squares

Patterns: The first 8 "Flower Garden" squares from The Granny Square Book by Margaret Hubert.

These 8 squares are the "Flower Garden" blocks from The Granny Square Book that have the same background. After making all of these, I'm sure I could make a square like this from any crochet flower. Another common feature of each one was a center made from a ring of 20 single crochet stitches.

Merry Christmas! I hope you are having a great day! We had Christmas Eve dinner with some good friends yesterday and are just relaxing at home today. Here are my latest 25!

317-320::365 tunisian crochet squares

Pattern: These squares are swatches of two different Tunisian crochet stitches, simple stitch and knit stitch.

I've wanted to try Tunisian crochet since Elizabeth at Things Bright first blogged about different types of Tunisian stitches. She's been featuring all kinds of cool Tunisian crochet projects over there, too (like this one and that one)! When I saw her how-to feature in the latest issue of CraftSanity, I pulled out my thrifted size 8 afghan hook and learned Tunisian simple stitch (tss) in no time at all. Her super clear instructions were a great starting point! Each of the squares above were made with this stitch except for the green and purple one in the lower left that was made with knit stitch (tks). How crazy is it that it looks exactly like a knitted swatch? I used the video Elizabeth recommended to learn tks. These stitches are kept on the hook and worked back and forth (in a forward pass and a return pass), unlike regular crochet. Here is a closer look at the stitches:

This first square is made of tss in solid white. It had a lovely texture, but I hated the lack of color, so I cross stitched some little stars on it.

My largest square is made of rows of tss in different colors that I switched out after the return pass. I have big plans for this square and will be adding to it soon.

This square is the one made with ks. I can't wait to experiment more with this stitch! My color change was worked after the return pass.

This square was made with tss, and this time I worked the color changes in on the return pass each time. I love this one. It kind of looks woven!

313-316::365 squares with orange

Patterns (left to right): "Whimsy", "Fiesta", "Fleur", & "Whirlpool" from The Granny Square Book by Margaret Hubert.

I made little changes to a couple of these blocks. On Fiesta, it seemed like the corners would be too crowded with the 3sc, ch2, 3sc called for in the pattern, so I reduced it to 2sc, ch2, 2sc. For Fleur, I changed the last round from solid dc stitches to clusters of 3dc each. I just realized that Whirlpool is pretty much exactly the same pattern as this one from 200 Crochet Blocks! I guess there are only so many ways to crochet a square!

309-312::365 squares with purple

Patterns (left to right): "Frances Flower", "Paula's Pendant", "Block Stitch Flower", & "Savannah" from The Granny Square Book by Margaret Hubert.

After making about 10 of the blocks in The Granny Square Book (Kindle Edition), I'm in love. Making squares patterns that have charts is totally the best. The charts are a little on the small side, but I don't have any trouble reading them. It is super easy to notate any changes, and the Kindle keeps track of my last place. For the Frances Flower pattern, I substituted a round of hdc for the last two rounds (of sc) in the pattern. The rest of these four were made with no stitch substitutions.

305-308::365 vacation squares

Patterns (left to right): "Front Post Double Crochet Square", "Petite Flower", "Forget Me Not", & "Wild Flower" from The Granny Square Book by Margaret Hubert.

For the most part, when I block the squares I crochet, it is just to even out the stitches a little bit and straighten them up for pictures. The first square here (the fpdc square) was one of those that required so much blocking that I would make it differently next time. The corners want to stick out way too far. I think the solution is to decrease the number of stitches in the corners next time.

I've been making these squares with my J hook because I've misplaced my favorite size H one. There is just something I like about the way worsted weight yarn stitches up on larger hooks. It just looks downright fluffy. I haven't had any problem adding squares made with different hook sizes in my sampler afghans in case you're wondering.

I'm getting in lots of crafting time during my week of vacation since I'm just hanging out at home. In addition to making granny squares, I'm also reading the new issue of CraftSanity (I'm in there if you didn't catch that the other day!), baking brownies, and working on a new scrap rug for my super cold floor that I'll share soon.

301-304::365 lacy squares

Patterns (left to right): "Hot Pepper" by Janie Herrin & "Minty Fresh" by Jean Leinhauser in 50 Fabulous Crochet Squares; "Dogwood Flower" & "Cone Flower" from The Granny Square Book by Margaret Hubert.

There's not really a common theme to these squares other than that they are more open than the ones I usually make (with the exception of the first one, but the crossed stitches do leave it a little airy). I was really excited to get The Granny Square Book, my first e-book purchase for my new Kindle Fire. Yay for early Christmas presents! Junior is the best boyfriend ever! It is really convenient to use for crochet patterns. Even though this book has a few patterns similar to some I've already made, there are plenty of unique ones among the 75 in this book. And it even has crochet charts. Pretty awesome! There are also a bunch of ways to use granny squares, but none of them are really groundbreaking. My favorite is a mobius* scarf of "Cone Flower" squares crocheted in fluffy, bulky yarn.

*Wow, check out this super pretty mobius wrap pattern!

interviewed in craftsanity!

I was interviewed in the latest issue of CraftSanity magazine about my granny-a-day project! It comes out on Monday both in print ($12) and pdf ($5). You can save a dollar if you pre-order it by Friday! I'm really honored to share space with talented contributors like Elizabeth from Things Bright who has a couple of Tunisian crochet patterns in this issue. I'm really excited to get my copy. Yay!

I've been super busy with work this week, but I will be posting a bunch of new squares tomorrow. Hope you're having a happy and productive week!

300::365 celtic knot square

 

 Pattern: "Celtic Knot Square" by Carola Wijma. (available as a free Ravelry download only)

This square reminds me of my woven circles trivet, and it was even easier to weave together.  If you're making something like this, make sure to place each seamed area behind a section that is woven in front of it so the seam will be less obvious.  I tried to find afghans that were made entirely by weaving like this with no luck, but the "Chain Reaction" afghan pattern has a couple of squares that feature this technique.

300!  I can barely believe it!  I've been posting a few squares at a time lately, but this milestone deserves one to itself.  Below are my latest 25 squares.  If you want to see all 300, check out my flickr set.  So far I've made a little felted rug and four blankets (with two more ready to join together) out of these blocks!

296-299::365 more flower squares

Patterns (left to right): "5-Petal Flower" by SkaMama, "How to Crochet a Flower" by Linda Permann, "Teeny Tiny Flowers" by Lucy of Attic 24,"Large Rosette" from Lion Brand.

Here's an assortment of flower squares made by sewing the flower on to a granny square. This is totally the easiest way to do it. The block on the lower left with the teeny tiny flowers is my favorite, but sewing them on took forever! The rosette on the lower right would make a great brooch.

I hope you are having a great Thanksgiving day! Junior and I had a feast with our friends. I'm so stuffed!

292-295::365 flowers & a kitty

Patterns: Flowers (pdf) and Kitty (pdf) from Pierrot Yarn attached to granny squares.

Aren't these flowers great!? The yellow one is made in a really long row that you sew together at the end. The result is about 5" wide! I really screwed up on the blue flower. There is a dark blue center that was supposed to be sewed onto the front, but I didn't realize until I had attached it really well that I put it on the back. That one is about 6", and the cute orange one is about 4". I love the little cat face, but the button eyes are a kinda creepy!

I learned a lesson when I had to search through my browser's history for some time today to find the kitty pattern. Clicking around on the Pierrot website wasn't very fruitful since I just happened on the pattern by accident in the first place. Google Translate isn't a big help either since most of the buttons are graphics with Japanese text on them. Anyway, found it! I am going to start pinning the patterns for the squares that are online on Pinterest so that I can keep track of them more easily.

288-291::365 even more japanese squares

Patterns: From Pierrot Yarn (left to right): 1 (pdf), 2 (pdf), 3 (pdf), 4 (pdf).

I love crocheting from these charts! The only change I made for any of these was adding a round of 3dc to the first square. I already have enough squares for my second sampler baby blanket, so I think it is time for some new colors soon. I finally finished weaving in the ends for the first baby blanket, so expect some more pictures soon!

284-287::365 more japanese squares

Patterns: From Pierrot Yarn (left to right): 1 (pdf), 2 (pdf), 3 (pdf), 4 (pdf).

I made a few more patterns from the wonderful charted squares available here. Several of these are motifs that are meant to be made into sweaters and other non-blanket items, but with worsted weight yarn, they make pretty afghan squares, too. The only changes I made to the patterns at all was that for each one I added one or two 3dc "granny" rounds to give them a finished look. I'm especially in love with the two lacy squares with the orange in them!

280-283::365 japanese squares

Patterns: These two Japanese patterns from Pierrot Yarn (the PDFs are here; you don't have to read Japanese, just crochet charts!).

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I wish every crochet pattern had a chart. Simple repeat patterns like this barely require more than a glance once you figure out what the symbols mean. The flower square in the lower left was made as shown in the chart with the addition of the final 3dc "granny" round to give it some structure.

The other three squares started out as the circle (and kinda hexagon-ish in the case of the green one) shapes you see below. I'm really enjoying the challenge of crocheting these into squares! I wish I could explain a simple formula for doing this, but it is different every time. I am so ready to experiment with some freeform crochet next year. I feel like I am really starting to understand how to get the shape I want!