crochet

Making Granny Squares at My Age

Projects, Uncategorized

I have been in love with granny squares since I was young. I have always wanted to learn to crochet, but could never get past a single chain. This being only good for shoe laces. I decided to give it a try again.

I got a book on crochet, however, I found it hard to understand the procedures through the pictures. Maybe as a refresher once I have the hang of it, but for a beginner, this did me no good at all. My next step, youtube.

A lot of people will try and teach “beginners” to crochet granny squares on youtube. I gave three a try. The first one went too fast. Yes, I did pause and rewind and all of that, however, it wasn’t working. Proof of this fact is the above photo. The white “blob” is my attempt with this youtuber’s help.

I was beginning to think that maybe I was too young to be making granny squares. Do you have to be a “granny” to make them? Surely that couldn’t be the case…

Moving right along, I went through various videos until I came across my HERO. Jayda InStitches https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_5nIpXg8OM was just what I needed. Her video was slow and she explanded everything so well. I actually made a granny square that looks like a granny square, with her guidance. THANK-YOU Jayda! (The three colored granny squares were made using the video as my teacher. They are arranged in order of making them. As you can see, I got better as I made a few. The blue/gold square was the last to be made and clearly the best.)

From this learning experience, I have come to the conclusion that not everyone is a good teacher for every person. Some people might have learned well from the first video I watched, but it wasn’t for me. Teaching and learning styles vary greatly from person to person.

As always, Happy Crocheting!

Advertisement

Knitting Blankets One Square at a Time

Projects

Knitting a blanket may seem overwhelming but it does not have to be. Knitting a blanket can actually be a great project for the beginning knitter. Just take it one square at a time.

I found a wonderful pattern to knit a blanket and learn new patterns at the same time. The blanket is made up of twelve squares of different stitch patterns. The idea being to complete one a month. It only takes a day or two (depending on your commitment) to make a block, so this can be done much faster. All patterns only use the basic knit and pearl stitches. No adding or dropping stitches. No fancy stuff at all. However, the squares are beautiful. If this pattern can not be found there is no need to despair. Any knit patterns can be used to make uniform blocks for a blanket.

I chose to make my blanket larger than the one in the pattern by adding duplicate squares. I enjoyed making this blanket because it was satisfying to finish a square in such a short amount of time and is great to work on a little at a time. I am actually in the process of making a second one. This one will be larger yet and I am making it in one color instead of the multi-colored blanket that I made the first time around.

Assortment of squares for my next blanket

The squares are then sized using a steam iron and crocheted together. Crochet! Do not panic! I do not crochet. However, I found easy instructions to crochet the squares together. Believe me, if I can do it, it can not be that difficult. Give it a try. Happy Knitting!

Single Crochet Border

SOURCES: Pattern found at: Knit Simple Magazine Holiday 2017 issue Square-of-the-Month Knit-Along Pattern.

How to Crochet Knitted Squares Together can be found at: http://www.ehow.com/how_12097392_crochet-knitted-squares-together.html

How to Crochet a Border Around Any Knitting Project: http://www.thesprucecrafts.com/single-crochet-around-a-knitting-project-2115856