Sunday, November 14, 2010

granny square blanket: the humble beginnings


I have always loved the look of the classic crocheted granny square blanket.
So when I came across {this post}
I was smitten, and decided I wanted, scratch that, needed to make one of my own.

Forget that I haven’t crocheted, pretty much since I learned how to knit.
I just enjoy knitting so much better – it’s more of a challenge
Plus, I never learned how to read a crochet pattern
So my options were limited.
Scarves – which I’ve made a ton of in my younger years
And blankets – I’ve made one – we joke and call it a car cover – it’s charcoal grey and HUGE. Huge as in we can fold it in half and it still covers our entire king size bed. We use it during the coldest winter months.
I have another striped blanket started in the basement somewhere. I will finish it someday, it’s just that it doesn’t match anything so eventually I just stopped working on it.

All that being said, I HAVE to make a granny square blanket. And it has to look very similar to the one in that blog post.
Bright colors, a white or off-white background –
I just know it will look fabulous with the crazy rug that we bought for the nursery. And the red rocking chair that my in-laws just bought for us for our baby shower this weekend at Ikea.

I told a friend about my newfound passion for granny squares and she joined in my enthusiasm (or at least the enthusiasm to learn something new) and we scheduled tomorrow night to learn the long lost art of the granny square. Then we invited another friend who wants to learn how to crochet and so we’re going to enjoy a riveting girls’ night of crocheting, eating and gabbing.

So my original plan was to wait until Monday, THEN learn how to crochet a granny square, but in my typical fashion, when Curtis was watching football last night, I dug out my crochet hooks and some old yarn, popped open my computer and gave myself a crochet refresher. I learned how to {chain stitch} again
then taught myself how to do the two other stitches that each granny square requires.

I then perfected the {double crochet} (dc)
and the {slip stitch} (sl st)
and I was feeling pretty proud of myself until I put it all together and came up with this



So I read and re-read the pattern and tried again.
A little bit of progress was made – but not much



Then something clicked and I figured out what I was doing wrong in the center and attempt #3 was a lot better – but not perfect.



By then over two hours had passed and I was exhausted.
I studied the photos in the post and again, realized I was doing something wrong with the final edges of the square,


But with no energy left and three "squares" later I made a note to myself and decided to stop for the night.






the next night i went at it again and this is what i came up with:



now i know what you're thinking, it doesn't really look that great.
but oh, compared to the other three, it's world's better -- plus, although it may not look like it, i now understand how to make a corner look like a corner. i still have to work on some spacing and tightness issues, but this one is a far cry from the first couple. trust me.


Then, this morning during a little downtime before leaving Chicago,  i made this one:





my favorite by far. not perfect but close. and i'm nearly satisfied with stopping with the practice yarn and starting the real deal.


So now we are heading home. and tomorrow night i will attempt to share my granny square knowledge. should be a good time.

***

So again,  for your future reference, enjoy these links next time you go to crochet a granny square blanket!

Pattern: How to Crochet a Blanket:

double crochet stitch (dc):

slip stitch (sl st):

chain stitch (ch) –

1 comments:

www.thecrazydaisies.wordpress.com said...

I really want to learn to crochet or knit (me not knowing the difference....) some day. You'll have to post your final product.

 
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