Granny Square a Week-Week Five

I decided to make a departure from the traditional Granny Square and make a block out of Tunisian or afghan crochet. If you are not familiar, Tunisian crochet is worked up much like you would if you were knitting something; you cast on a row of stitches and then work all those stitches off the hook 2 (or more) at a time.  Traditionally, you would also use a much longer crochet hook that is uniform in diameter, since you keep the stitches on the hook (for this project I used a regular hook since it was a much smaller number of stitches). It gives a much more dense appearance and  is often used for afghans, pot holders and sometimes sweaters.

Plus, to me, it works up very fast, especially if you get a rhythm going. I remember one year for Christmas, I made 5 pot holders for my daughter's teachers in about 3 hours with Tunisian crochet.

I found this variation on the Tunisian Crochet and thought it would make a very fantastic addition to my little project here.

Andrew's Keepsake Tunisian Crochet by Teresa at Crochet Geek

It is a very pretty motif. If you have never done Tunisian Crochet before, Teresa at Crochet Geek (formerly Art of Crochet by Teresa) has a TON of videos on YouTube as well as written tutorials on her blog.

My adjustments:
I did 20 beginning chain stitches instead of 25
I only made 3 shells
I skipped 3 stitches between the single crochet and the start of the shell in order for it to come out even
I added a border. And the type of stitch rested solely on making the final size uniform with the rest of my squares. On my main colors, I ended up having to make a double crochet border and on the alternate I only had to do a single. It is up to you what you make.

Also a note-Tunisian Crochet will roll, just like knitting, as you are working your square. So try to stretch and smooth it out as much as possible.

And here they are

See it rolling?

My alternate colors I used a cotton yarn which worked up larger than the tradition acrylic yarn
This is Lily and Cream Fleur de Lavande and I did not realize until I got it home that it was scented LOL

Until Next Week!

Granny Square a Week-Week Four

The number randomizer I used to pick the pattern this week gave me number 21 which was this pattern:

Pinwheel Star Square by Esther Leavitt from Crafts by Starlight


Boy, this one was a bit of a toughie. The basic crocheting was fine, it was trying to fold the crochet to make the pinwheel that stumped me. I finally figured it out....when I realized I had an extra pinwheel! I have  no idea how that happened, but I was able to fix it so I had the correct number.  The edging was tricky, too, because I wasn't sure about what counted as stitches because  of the  folding. This is another square that will definitely need a bit of blocking to get it to be perfectly square.

Because of this, I am only making ONE of these in the main colors. I will catch up with my alternate colors toward the end, maybe a  traditional square in a solid neutral for  dead center of the afghan, we'll see once we get closer to the end. I still have 45 blocks to go! ;)

And make sure someone reminds me of this-I envision myself going crazy, wondering why I only have 48 blocks for my alternate color, thinking I lost one. 

So here she is:

I took the picture this week a little closer to show more of the detail since it was lost with the standard pic. It is made to look like a pinwheel, the folding creates small pockets. And if you do it in 2 or more colors, you get that circle pattern effect. Overall, it is a very pretty square!
 

I wanted to add that if you know of any Granny Square patterns I would like-either yours or one from another blog-please pass it along to me! I need a link of all original work in order to be able to use it, so please make sure you include it in your comment or message.

Until next week!

Granny Square a Week-Week Three

In looking at my bookmarks of some 40+ granny square patterns, I realized there was no way I would be able to decide each week which one would go next. So we will play it by chance. I either will go to a number randomizer or have my fiance choose between 1 and how ever many patterns I have left to choose from (I currently have 47 patterns waiting on stand by, I took 4 out that were holiday specific, so this week was 43. I am aiming for 49 completed blocks for the afghan).

This week he chose lucky number 13, which ended up being the most poorly written pattern I have ever come across. Not only did the pattern not make any sense, there were stitches missing and if followed to the letter, the square worked up crooked. And for an added bonus, they wrote incorrect instructions for a specialty stitch  (what they were calling a back post double crochet, was actually a front post double crochet, which yields a much different look.) It was just a huge mess and waste of time.

So we chose another number. This time it was 2. And it was this beauty:


Owl Granny Square by Repeat Crafter Me

But with a twist! As I was working this up-which is very easy, it just looks complicated-I realized the owl base looked like a cat. And since I am THE crazy cat lady, I made it into one.

The alternate square, I made it into the owl in the pattern. I like both, but my cat edges into first for me!

Yarn is Vanna's Choice in Goldfish and Dusty Blue.

Only adjustments is that I used a single crochet stitch for the last row, rather than a double. Mostly for size.
 Plus these will definitely need some blocking before assembly-the tugging and twisting while forming the square around the owl/cat kind of makes it a bit misshapen.


Until Next Week! 

Granny Square a Week-Week Two

This week, I chose the Mitered Granny Square. It is a basic granny square but slightly off center. Still a pretty easy to follow pattern. Here is the link for the pattern I followed (somewhat ) from the Crochet Again blog:

Mitered Granny Square

I say somewhat because I made a few minor adjustments:

• Instead of chaining 3 in the corners I chained 2. I liked the look of that one better.
• In the square for my 2 colored afghan, I ended up chaining 2 in between all stitches in the second round, too, simply because I liked how that turned out better.
• On both squares, then ended up being a skosh smaller than what I needed, so I edged them exactly the same as in the pattern, but instead of double I did single crochet. (Double came out to be far too big)
• For my second square, I skipped the round 2 on the pattern and went right into the mitered pattern.

I hope you like them. I really like how they turned out. If you remember, the one with 2 colors-red and blue- will be done for all the patterns. The second square will be done in colors that appeal to me. This week it is rainbow-my daughter loves My Little Pony, especially Rainbow Dash, so it is in honor of her.

Rainbow Block: Red Heart Super Saver in Bright Yellow, Pumpkin, Cherry Red, Paddy Green, Dark Orchid and Soft Navy
Red and Blue block is Little Boy Blue and Cherry Cherry in Vanna's Choice Baby

Hope to see you back here next week, I am planning to start doing the slightly more intricate patterns. And I have a few patterns that include hearts lined up for the month of February!

Donna

Granny Square a Week-Week One

Hello everyone who has decided to crochet along! I will be making a Granny Square every week for 2013. That way, by the end of the year, I have the makings of an afghan! My squares will be 5 inches square to make them easier to join at the end.

I have decided to do 2 squares of the same pattern every week except in different colorways. One set I am doing only in Cherry Cherry and Little Boy Blue from Vanna's Choice Baby. I love these two together and the picture does not adequately represent how they compliment one another. The red is a pinkish red but very bright and the blue has a turquoise undertone.

 

The second set I am going to be doing in a variety of my favorite colors-purple, pink, blue, green and a wee bit of orange. The first one I am going to do in Purple from Vanna's Choice and Forest from Impeccable(under the Loops and Threads name, it is a Michael's brand). Again, pictures do not do them justice. The purple is very much a true purple, not the blue in this picture.

Joining and edging will most likely be done with an ecru or cream color for both.

THIS week's pattern will be a very basic Traditional Granny Square to start us off easy. You can find a basic pattern everywhere, but here is one I like because it breaks down each step for the new crocheter.

About.com Easy Beginner Crochet Granny Square

As a side note: I am going to be making all my squares with a 5.5mm/I hook and 4 ply worsted weight yarn.

And here is how they turned out! 

Still deciding on next week's square. I hope to get them posted by Friday the latest.

Have a great week :)