Harmony Through Service: How to Crochet a Granny Square

[Wildfire Sedai]

 

 

WELCOME

TO THE

BLUE/GRAY AJAH'S

 

 

 

HARMONY THROUGH SERVICE:

 

 

 

HOW TO CROCHET A GRANNY SQUARE

AND MAKE IT INTO AN AFGHAN/BLANKET

 

 

 

FOR INFANTS AND THEIR MOTHERS

WHO HAVE NO ACCESS TO THEM

 

 

 

There are a few steps involved in making an afghan/blanket out of Granny Squares:

 

 

1a: Decide where you want to send afghan/blanket and what the specifications are

1b. Select yarn and hooks

2. Design your Afghan/Blanket

3. Getting started: The Slip Knot and Chain

4. The Shells and Corners

5.Changing yarn colors/Adding new yarn when you run out of skien

6. How many "rounds" to each Granny Square

7. Hiding the "loose ends"

8. Attaching the Granny Squares together

9. Now you have a Finished Afghan/Blanket

 

Each step will have videos and text explaining them. Some might be just videos and if you want more info: Ask Questions.

 

Please DO NOT be afraid to ask questions. There are NO stupid questions!

 

Also I will continue this thread after the event ends for those of you who need help. Also I know there are other crocheters out there who are far more advanced than me. Any helpful comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

*disclaimer: Some posts are really long. They are so long because I used a bigger font so that everyone can read the instructions without having to squint.

[Wildfire Sedai]

STEP ONE-A:

 

 

DECIDE WHERE YOU WANT TO SEND AFGHAN/BLANKET

 

 

Here are some links to sites that accept baby afghans/blankets to be donated and passed out to those in need:

 

http://newbornsinneed.com/(For those of you in the USA)

 

http://handcraftingw...harity.html#top(For those of you around the world, atleast there are some foreign ones)

http://www.crochetnm...haritylinks.htm

 

There might be duplicate information in the last two links, however they were the best I could find.

 

 

Here are some things you might want to consider BEFORE starting your afghan/blanket.

 

 

 

 

 

TIPS ON MAKING

 

 

STUFF FOR CHARITY

 

 

 

 

These tips are oriented toward making handmade items for charity, but many of them are applicable to making items as gifts or for yourself. When you make items for charity it is important that they are well constructed because the recipient may not treat them as gently as you would or be knowledgeable about proper care.

If you find these tips useful or have comments or suggestions, I would love to . If you have a tip to share, I'd be happy to give you credit.

• Check with the charity, hospital or other intended recipient group for any guidelines or requirements they may have.
  
• All materials used should be easily machine washed and dried.
  
  • Acrylic yarns are a excellent choice. Cotton yarn may shrink and is not as good a choice.
    
  • Cotton, polyester and cotton/poly blends are good fabric choices. Avoid fabrics that need a delicate wash cycle or cold water washing.
    

  [*]Items intended for babies or toddlers should be made of soft materials. The seams and finishes should also be gentle on a child's skin.

  [*]For sewn items, all fabrics should be prewashed to eliminate shrinkage.

  [*]Make sure the item is securely constructed.

  [*]Zig-zag, serge, use pinking shears, or otherwise finish the exposed cut edges of woven fabrics to prevent fraying. Knit fabrics usually do not fray. Cut edges that are completely enclosed (e.g., inside a collar or a quilt) are not subject to the abrasion that causes fraying.

  [*]Finish yarn and thread ends securely.

  • For items sewn from fabric, backstitch at each end of a seam.
    
  • On serged seams, either
    
    • flip the item at the end of the seam and serge back in the opposite direction
      
    • serge off the fabric and continue until you have a length of serged thread. Cut the thread 3 or 4 inches from the fabric, thread it into a large eyed needle, and pull the thread tails back through the last couple of inches of the serged seam to secure. Trim the excess thread tail.
      
    • Use a seam sealant such as Fray Chek to secure the cut threads at the end of a serged seam. A visitor to this site reported that Fray Chek may dry too hard to be used on a seam that will be against a baby's skin. Other brands may be more suitable.
      

    [*]When beginning and ending a piece of yarn on a knit or crocheted item, leave a generous length of yarn to weave in. On most items, I leave 6 to 8 inches of yarn tail to weave in. (Yes, some people consider me paranoid, but I'd rather take an extra few seconds weaving in the tail than worry that the article will come apart in use.)

    [*]Short yarn tails (e.g., one or two inches) frequently work back out when an afghan/garment stretches in normal use. Someone not familiar with knitting or crocheting may just cut the end off until the end is so short that the knot comes undone. Longer tails stay in better because there is still plenty of coverage if the item stretches and a inch or so of stitches slide off of the end of the tail.

    [*]Some people like to change direction when weaving yarn ends into an knitted or crocheted item. This helps keep the yarn from shifting when the item stretches.

    [*]I have become adept at crocheting over most yarn tails to reduce the need to weave in the ends. Some people can do this with knitting, but I'm still working on that.

  [*]If you are making a tied quilt, seeTying a Quilt in the beginners section at Quilters Online Resource.

  I recommend 2 strands of cotton crochet thread for tying quilts. It is a economical choice that holds the knots well. Yarn tends to come untied, though some people always use yarn and have no problems. Embroidery floss also works well and comes in a wider variety of colors but costs more. Use 4 or 6 strands of floss. Pearl cotton is a little thinner than crochet thread, so it is a little easier to work with. But it is a little more expensive.

  [*]Instead of binding quilts, the charity groups I work with use the pillowcase or envelope method of finishing quilts. There is a description on the Quilting With Children website, where it is called Quick Turning a Quilt. For a smaller quilt, you don't need a 20 inch opening to turn the quilt. I leave about a 6 to 8 inch opening to turn a 40 by 60 inch quilt. Remember, you have to stitch that opening closed after you turn the quilt. If you have a serger, use it to stitch the 3 layers together and speed up the finishing even more.

  [*]Launder finished items as you might expect the recipient to launder it. Typically, this may be a warm water wash, regular cycle, and tumbled dry with medium heat.

  If you launder the finished item, any change in appearance will take place and the recipient won't feel they have harmed the item when they launder it. It also helps to remove pet hair, cigarette smoke and other contaminants that someone else might be allergic to.

  [*]Use yarn or heavy thread (not pins or safety pins) to attach sets of items together. For example, a pair of booties, a pair of mittens, a cap and scarf set. Make a large enough loop with the yarn or thread that it can be easily cut and removed without cutting the items it is holding together.

  [*]Provide a care tag with laundering instructions. Use yarn or thread to attach the tag and leave a large enough loop that it can be easily cut to remove the tag without cutting the item it is attached to.

GOTTEN FROM: http://handcraftingw...arity/tips.html

[Wildfire Sedai]

STEP ONE-B:

SELECTING YARN AND HOOKS

How to select your yarn:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky9scPH85No&feature=player_detailpage

How to select your hooks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRAYTPUCNsQ&feature=player_detailpage

 

Another part to selecting the yarn is to make sure that it is designed for use with infants. What this means is that it is a softer yarn and washer/dryer safe. It should say "baby" on the label.

[Wildfire Sedai]

A continuation of STEP ONE:

 

So the tools you will need are:

 

1. The yarn (and it can be any color or combination of colors, so long as its "baby" yarn)

2. The hook (Check the label on your yarn and it will tell you what size of hook to use with that yarn)

3. A pair of scissors (sharp ones so that you get clean cuts. Do not use kids scissors as they will cause the yarn to split cause they are not sharp enough to cut through it properly)

4. A ruler or Tape measure

[Wildfire Sedai]

I will be posting the next steps as I get replies to these and so forth.

 

Just want to make sure everyone who wants to has a chance to do this and to do my best to keep everyone on the same page.

[Christine]

I am so ready to get started! Let's DO EET!

[Wildfire Sedai]

Thank You christine. I guess you are the only one for now. Hopefully others will see how much fun we are having and join in.

[Wildfire Sedai]

STEP TWO:

 

DESIGN YOUR BLANKET!!

 

This is the fun part. In order to do this you will need the following supplies:

 

1. Graph paper (Its easier to design something involving squares with graph paper

2. A pencil and eraser (we all make mistakes )

3. A good head for math (not really but it helps)

4. An imagination

 

So to begin:

 

1. First you have to decide on the size of the blanket. I looked up the size of a baby blanket for receiving and it said 32" (81.3 cm) X 36" (91.4 cm). So that is what we will be doing. My granny squares come out to 4" (10.2 cm), however your squares might come out more or less depending on what size needle you use. I also did not use "baby" yarn cause the afghan I am making is much larger and for my nephew when he is 18 (cause that's about when I will have it done. He is 5 now. )

 

So for right now we are going to use a 9 X 8 grid:

 

 

This might change as you find out what size your squares are:

 

[Kathleen]

I'll be following along too but I'm not in a place right now to buy te proper materials to really do this. I do have some left over yarn from a previous crochet project and id love to see how to do this!

[Wildfire Sedai]

That's fine Kat. Using leftover yarn for granny squares is good cause you can change colors and what not using all your leftover yarn.

[Wildfire Sedai]

A continuation of STEP TWO:

 

Now you get to design your blanket. I used a 3x3 square on the grid paper. It makes it easier to see than just one square. This is where you choose your colors and if you want to make a design in the blanket. For instance every other square rotating between two colors, like a checkerboard. There are many ways you can design the blanket. The only limit is your imagination.

 

 

Example ONE:

 

 

 

 

 

Example TWO:

 

 

 

 

You can do the second design by switching thread colors, which will be shown in a later post.

 

 

Also this afghan using 4"/10.2 cm squares will require 72 squares. I know alot. However if you make your squares bigger it won't take so many. For instance if you make 6"/ 15.24 cm squares it will only take 30 squares for a 30"/76.2 cm X 36"/91.44 cm afghan. This is probably the easier way to do it. However I am using 4"/10.2 cm squares for my nephews afghan cause I am putting his initials in it and I need to use the smaller squares so the size isn't too big.

 

To get the extra inches/centimeters all you have to do is add extra rounds. With my squares there are four rounds and it is 4"/10.2 cm so I figure a round = 1"/2.54 cm. So just add two more rounds to your squares and you have a 6"/15.24 cm square. Roughly of course cause it depends on your tension and size of thread and needle you use.

 

A way to judge is after you have your four rounds measuere the size of the shells* in each row to see if there is any variation.

 

*Will be discussed in step Four.

 

Here is the pattern for a granny square for those of you who know how to read patterns but have not yet done a granny square. Also you could print out the pattern and use it to go by once you get the hang of doing granny squares so you don't have to be in front of computer to do them. Also this pattern has you using different colors. If you want to make it all one color just ignore the changing color instructions. I am also only going to include the first 5 rounds because the last rounds are different from regular granny square pattern. If you want to go past the 5th round, I can try to explain it to you or find someone who can.

 

 

ABBREVIATIONS:

 

ss = slip stitch

dc = double crochet

sc =single crochet

ch = chain

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

 

The ch 3 that you do at beginning of each round is considered your first dc.

 

 

1. Granny Square: With color A, ch 5. Join with ss to form ring.

 

2. 1st round: Ch 3. 2 dc in ring (ch 2, 3 dc in ring) 3 times. Ch 2. Join with a ss to top first dc. Fasten off.

 

3. 2nd round: Ss color B in any ch 2 space. Ch 2, (2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in chain 2 space. (Ch 1, 3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc in next ch 2 space) 3 times. Ch 1 join with a ss to top of first dc. Fasten off.

 

4. 3rd round; Ss color C in any ch 2 space. Ch 2, 2dc, ch 2, 3dc in same space. *Ch 1, 3 dc in next space, ch 1. (3dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in next ch 2 space. Repeat from * 2 times. Ch 1, 3 dc in next space ending with a ss in top of first dc. Fasten off.

 

5. 4th round: Ss color B in corner ch 2 space. Ch 2, 2dc ch 2, 3 dc in same space. *ch 1, 3 dc in each ch 1 space to corner. Ch 1 (3dc, ch 2 3 dc) in ch 2 space. Repeat from * 2 times. Ch 1, 3 dc in each ch 1 space to corner ending with a ss in top of first dc. Fasten off.

 

6. 5th round: Ss color A and repeat round 4.

 

gotten from: http://www.joann.com...rse/xprd130237/

 

Also in these instructions it has you changing colors in a dc (double crochet) space. If you are using only one color the instructions would like that in the video and I am going to do my best to make the pattern here:

 

I am assuming you have picked your color so am not going to put a color designation to it because this is just for ONE color.

 

1. Granny Square: ch 5. Join with ss to form ring.

 

2. 1st round: Ch 3. 2 dc in ring (ch 2, 3 dc in ring) 3 times. Ch 2. Join with a ss to top first dc.

 

3. 2nd round: ch 3 turn square around so "ch 2 space" is on left of ch 3. (2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in chain 2 space. (Ch 1, 3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc in next ch 2 space) 3 times. Ch 1 join with a ss to top of first dc.

 

4. 3rd round: ch 3 turn square around. 2 dc, ch 1. *3dc, ch 2, 3 dc in next ch 2 space, ch 1. (3 dc, ch1 in next space) Repeat from * 2 times. 3 dc, ch2, 3 dc, ch1 in next space ending with a ss in top of first dc.

 

5. 4th round: ch 3 turn square around. 2 dc, ch 1, 3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc in ch 2 space. *(ch1,3 dc in ch 1 space) repeat 1 time. ch1 (3dc, ch2, 3dc in ch 2 space). Repeat from * 2 times. Ch 1, 3 dc, ch 1 in ch 1 space. ending with a ss in top of first dc.

 

6. 5th round: repeat round 4. Fasten off.

[Wildfire Sedai]

STEP THREE:

 

 

GETTING STARTED:

 

 

THE SLIP KNOT AND CHAIN !!

 

 

Here is a video to show you how to do a slip knot (which is the knot we use to keep thread on hook) and chain (which is just a simple stitch used in most if not all crocheting projects.) It is a very simple stitch and one you should practice, to make sure you got it, before going on.

 

I forgot about Tension. That is a biggie I do not do it like she does cause I couldn't get it to work for me. It doesn't matter how you get your tension, just that you do. You want to keep the tension the same as you go through the granny square.

 

You also will want to make the tail a little bigger than she has it. For two reasons:

1. It will be easier to hide which we will learn in step seven.

2. There is a little trick that you might want to use that will be explained in step four.

 

Also she has you do 4 chains where I use 5 (cause thats what I was taught when I first learned). Its easier with 5 cause the "center" is bigger.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79zZJjXRfSM&feature=player_detailpage

 

Again: Practice the chain before you go on to the next step.

[Wildfire Sedai]

STEP FOUR:

 

 

SHELLS AND CORNERS

 

 

 

 

On this video you will learn how to make what is called a "double crochet or dc" stitch. To make a "shell" you need to make 3 double crochet stitches.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=h2fqa09qDhE

 

Here is a little trick I learned:

 

If you want to you can make the center of the granny square close. I like this cause it makes the granny square a little tighter. To do this you take the "tail" as explained in video and instead of putting it behind your yarn (the end that is attached to the skien) you put it in front of the yarn and you go over it the same way she shows you. This is the reason for a slightly longer tail. Not too long though. Then when you are done with the first "round" of the granny square (basically the four shells with four corners), you then gently pull the tail and it should pull the center closed. (see picture in step two, of the granny square and ruler) You can see the center is closed.

[Wildfire Sedai]

BUMP!!

 

Any questions yet anyone?

[Wildfire Sedai]

STEP FIVE:

 

 

CHANGING YARN COLORS/

ADDING NEW YARN WHEN YOU

RUN OUT OF SKIEN

 

 

Changing/Adding new colors/yarn at end of round:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=MfjKk_8Rvjo

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=mXAiPijgQVo

 

 

Continued in Next Post!!

[Wildfire Sedai]

Continuation of STEP FIVE:

 

Changing/Adding new colors/yarn in middle of double crochet stitch (which is what we use for granny squares)

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYUJt3U22lI&feature=player_detailpage&list=PL4F91A76DD560643D

 

 

 

You normally would not change color midstitch in a granny square unless you are doing some type of complicated pattern, which we are not at this stage.

[Wildfire Sedai]

STEP SIX:

 

 

HOW MANY ROUNDS TO EACH GRANNY SQUARE

 

 

Normally there are four rounds to each granny square HOWEVER if you want to make your squares bigger all you have to do is add more rounds. There is also a continuous granny square, but we are not doing that.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=s35nTP4Fnuw

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2vpJ0Y1c3I&feature=player_detailpage

 

 

These videos show you how to do round 2 and round 3 respectively. By this time you should have a general idea of how to continue the rounds.

 

Just a couple of reminders:

 

1. That on the CORNERS you chain 2 in between the shells. On the SIDES you chain 1 in between the shells.

 

2. You can make your granny squares however big or small you want depending on the size of blanket. This is where your math skills come in to play.

 

3. Also the main videos I am using are by: Bethintx1. Some of the other videos may say to use 5 stitches in a corner or something like that. However we are working with the rules in number 1 above.

[Wildfire Sedai]

STEP SEVEN:

 

 

HIDING LOOSE ENDS

 

 

I tend to hide the loose ends after I do a few granny squares. The reason for this is so that I am not getting my needle out after every square and can sit and do a few at once. However if you want to do it after each square feel free to do so.

 

There is no sound to this video however the technique is very well done.

 

Basically you take a yarn needle and thread the loose end through it. Then as she shows you you sew in the loose ends in the "long" part of the stitch. Watch where she threads most of them and you will see it. She does thread the second loose end into the bottom of the edging. We are not doing edging so this won't matter.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO4i1E_MHJU&feature=player_detailpage

[Wildfire Sedai]

So I just posted steps 5 thru 7 so that you can continue with the granny square. I hope you all are doing well. Any questions just ask.

[Mirshann Uuranor]

I've got a couple of blankets that I made for my son before he was born that are both just big granny squares. I'll have to get pictures tomorrow. They're in his room and he's already down for the night.

 

I'm here to help answer crochet questions if anyone gets stuck or just has questions in general too.

[Wildfire Sedai]

Thanks Mirsh!! I really appreciate the help. I just wish there were more people who wanted to do them.

[Elaevia]

Am book marking this thread for future reference!

 

I promised myself I would not start another project until I had finished one of my current ones (the house being littered with partly done things) when I am finished I will come back to expand my crochet-knowledge.

[Wildfire Sedai]

Thank You, Via. OH and happy belated birthday. don't know if you got the one I posted in the september birthday thread in gray ajah.

[Wildfire Sedai]

BUMP

[Wildfire Sedai]

STEP EIGHT:

 

JOINING GRANNY SQUARES TOGETHER

 

When you are doing any project it is always good to have extra materials, incase you have to fix it. In this case you will want extra yarn for the joining of the granny squares.

 

The Whip stitch method (This is the one that I use. Its fast and easy)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBYfdRgy5II&feature=player_detailpage

 

The Single Crochet method (Another method for joining granny squares)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=TmYEsHlgQ30