This tutorial aims to introduce you to the essentials of Granny Squares. There are many slightly different methods, but this is the one I like most and will be using in workshops. Once you’ve made a few, there are endless variants of colour and pattern to explore, squares with flower centres and much more besides. Triangles, hexagons and other shapes are possible too!
Materials required:
Yarn – I’ve used Wendy Supreme Cotton DK (light worsted #3)
Hook to suit your yarn and preferences – here you’ll see a 4.00mm KnitPro Waves hook.
Scissors and yarn needle
To begin the square, oddly, we start with a circle. There are two main ways:
Chain 4 stitches, and form into a circle (as in the flowers tutorial)
alternatively, a magic or adjustable ring can be used. Annemarie’s Haakblog has a tutorial that I found really helpful when I first learned this technique.
1. Wrap the yarn around your finger, starting at the back, up, over and round twice (or once if you prefer)
2. Insert the hook under the loops, yarn over hook
3. Catch the yarn and draw it back under the loops on your finger, so you have one loop on the hook
4. Yarn over hook and draw yarn through the loop on the hook
5. This creates a stitch that holds the ring in place while allowing it to be adjusted.
6. Chain 3 (or use the starting treble which gives a neater stitch); this counts as one treble and is the start of your first cluster of 3 stitches.
7. Work 2 trebles (tr/US dc) back into the ring, to complete the first cluster. Each round is made up of clusters and chain spaces.
8. Chain 2. This creates your chain space and the first corner in this round.
9. Work a set of 3 trebles (3dc) into the ring and chain 2 again. This completes the second cluster and chain space.
10. Repeat step 9 twice so that you have 4 clusters and 4 chain2 spaces.
11. Slip stitch to the top of the initial chain 3 to close the round (square!) and adjust the ring – I find it works best if I place one finger end in the ring as I tighten the yarn tail – until it closes.
The next round is worked in much the same way.
12. Chain 3 (or use the starting treble (dc) if you’re continuing with the same colour, or a standing treble (dc) if you wish to change colour at this stage.)
13. Work two trebles (2dc) into the same corner space. N.B. As you work along the side of a square, you can chain 1 between clusters, though I prefer not to as I find it gives a neater finish.
14. Work 3 trebles (3dc) into the next ch2-space, and chain 2 to create the new ch2-space for this corner
15. Work another cluster of 3 trebles (3dc) into the same corner ch2-space, a cluster into the next corner ch2-space, and chain2 to create a new corner space and complete the 2nd side.
16. Repeat step 15 to create the third side (cluster into same ch2-space, cluster in next ch2-space, ch2 to create new ch2-space).
17. Repeat step 15 again to create the fourth side of the square, and slip stitch into the top of the initial ch3/tr(dc) to close the round.
A 3rd round is worked here in the same way as the second, so that there are ch2-spaces at the corners but no spaces between clusters along the sides.
A larger piece can be made either by continuing to create rounds in the same way, or by joining squares, for which there are several methods that we’ll look at later…
‘Bye for now,
NNN. x
nelnanandnora 