Making Crochet Granny Squares

If you knit or crochet, how big is your yarn stash? Mine is slowly becoming smaller as I keep making Granny Squares.

Ideal for using up scraps of yarn, Grannies are quick and creative. My pile of squares is growing. What will happen with all these disparate squares? Eventually they will become blankets and throws, but for now, they are a beautiful stacked Granny Flower Garden.

Choosing Colors for Crochet Granny Squares

When creating a granny square project in crochet, choosing colors can be a real challenge. Finding just the right shades to coordinate and compliment each other is an art in itself. In creating this throw blanket, my first color choice was the deep purple shade that would surround and highlight the daisy-like flowers. 

Corner to Corner Crochet Blanket C2C

This crochet blanket was created on the diagonal. While in-progress it grew larger and larger, becoming a seemingly immense triangle shaped half square, eventually levelling off to a tidy rectangle. The technique for this blanket is known as Corner to Corner or C2C. It's a simple easy pattern that is definitely worth a go, even for novice crocheters. There are several excellent video tutorials to be found online by searching "corner to corner crochet" and "C2C crochet."

The edging or border was found in Edie Eckman's book Around the Corner Crochet Borders.

Crochet Granny Square Flower Blanket

Granny square blankets are great to crochet because they are created square by square, making them portable and easy to work on bit by bit. This blanket has 80 squares total making it a great mid-size throw.

Crochet Pincushion

This colorful pincushion is made of yarn. Using a small hook and tight crochet stitches, it is created in the round in single crochet. The inside of the pincushion is filled with regular ployfil stuffing around a secret ingredient.

Colorful Freeform Crochet Scrumble

Freeform crochet allows for lots of experimentation and creativity. This scrumble combines yarn in a few go-to colors normally reserved for paint and art quilting. The combination of colorful yarn and crochet stitches with plenty of texture makes for a cheerful little piece of crochet art.

Christmas Elf Hat in Crochet

 This jaunty elf hat was created in crochet.

Freeform Crochet Scrumble

 Created in crochet, this freeform piece combines many stitches, irregular shapes and varied textures.

Freeform means the crochet is created organically, without a pattern. Smaller pieces (known as scrumbles) are joined together and more crochet is added. This scrumbling allows for experimentation and lots of creativity. Different kinds of yarn can be mixed together, color can be explored and the imagination can run wild with crochet stitches such as extended, bobble, popcorn, puff and more.

Painted Cloth Doll in her Housecoat

Iris, wearing her comfy quilted housecoat, is a painted cloth doll.

Purple Hair Hippie Cloth Doll

Violet is a Hippie Girl with flaming purple dreadlocks.

Crochet Purse, No Pattern Necessary

With a specific size and shape in mind, a crochet purse can be constructed without a pattern.

DIY Chair Makeover with Crochet and Paint

A little DIY makeover for an old wood chair. First the wood was painted in several tones of grey and then sanded in spots to distress and reveal the natural color of the wood. Then it was time to crochet. The backrest rails were treated to covers - colorful yarn "socks." Now this old chair is cheery and functional.

Fancy doing something similar? Here's a link to the free pattern.

Crochet Tea Cozy

A test run is in order for this Tea Cozy created in crochet. It's a straightforward project with crochet stitches placed in the back loops for a nice ribbed effect and lots of stretch. A link to the pattern and video tutorial can be found on the project page for this cozy on knit and crochet site Ravelry.

Yellow Flower in Crochet

Inspired by the Black-Eyed Susan, this crochet flower is a brooch. The yellow petals are crochet stitched in soft wool, a nice texture contrast to the shiny black beads in the centre.