Tag: Granny Squares

A Blanket, a Tote Bag and Some Pumpkins

As I mentioned in my last post, I haven’t been doing much baking – although now that the temps & humidity are dropping I am hoping to get back into it – but one thing I have been doing is a decent amount of crocheting.

I’ve been working on a granny square tote bag. Out of nowhere these bags started popping up on my Instagram feed and I figured since I knew how to make a granny square why not try one. Well, it’s taken me a bit longer than I thought it would. First, I was trying to come up with different color variations so no two squares would be the same. I gave up on that plan quickly and then decided to settle on a few variations and work with those to create a pattern for the bag. I made a slight mistake while stitching them together but decided it was okay… It’s a prototype. LOL!  Then it was time to work the border and make handles… Not sure what happened but I didn’t like how it was coming out, so I ended up frogging the whole border and the handles to start over. I am at that point now. 

I recently finished a baby blanket in a ripple stitch pattern. While I normally like to use white as the accent/separator color the person requesting this blanket asked that I use green instead. While I initially had my doubts about how it would look, I ended up really liking the variation.

I also finished a few pumpkins to add to my Etsy shop. I made these pumpkins using the bobble stitch. It’s a fun stitch that gave the pumpkins a nice 3D texture. Some might say that they are reminiscent of a pumpkin with warts, but just in a more uniform pattern. Either way, they are cute! It was the first time I used the stitch and while it’s a super easy stitch that results in a nice design it is one that requires a lot of yarn. It’s a yarn eater! The reason is because the stitch consists of multiple double crochets that are grouped together in the same stitch. Not sure I would ever make something larger than these pumpkins using the stitch.

They are available on my Etsy shop now.  

I also have other pumpkins available that were made with a simpler stitch but are just as equally cute.

One great thing about these pumpkins is that they will last all season year after year!

And that’s about it when it comes to my yarn projects. I have some ideas for a few other things I would like to make but I haven’t gotten to them yet. Hopefully soon!

Granny Square Cardigan

While I’ve been crocheting for over 10 years it wasn’t until recently that I learned how to make a granny square. A little backwards since learning how to make a granny square is usually one of the first things you learn to make when you start crocheting. When you are pretty much self-taught though you learn things as you go and as you need. So, why did I finally learn? Well, I was asked if I could make a granny square cardigan and since I am always up for a challenge and I like to learn new things I said yes.

First though I had to learn how to make a granny square. Once I found a pattern that was simple enough to follow I used some extra yarn from my stash to test it out a few times to make sure I had the hang of it.

Next, I had to finalize the colors. The person who I was making it for had a color scheme in mind from a cardigan they already saw. They were looking for pastel colors so after going back and forth with different options she decided on the colors below.

Now, the fun part. I started making the granny squares. I made a few and sent her a picture to make sure she liked the colors once they were all put together.

Once I got the greenlight that those looked good I went ahead and continued to crochet more. Truth be told I didn’t have an exact pattern to follow for how many squares I needed. I looked at various patterns and pictures to get an idea. I knew that I had to make the equivalent to a size medium. From doing my research I initially went with making 30 squares and I placed them in the layout below. I had a feeling that it wasn’t completely right but I decided to move on to another part of the cardigan… the sleeves.

Normally with granny square cardigans the sleeves are made using granny squares as well, but, the person I was making it for requested the sleeves to be solid white and they didn’t want them to be granny squares. So, more research. I knew that when it came to making sleeves they needed to be tapered to accommodate a wider upper arm to a narrower wrist. But, I didn’t want to just wing it and start crocheting. I was able find a sweater pattern that had the sleeves broken down exactly as I needed them. The width on top was perfect to be placed in the center of two specific granny squares. I also went ahead and crocheted two additional squares and placed them in the empty spaces I had.

I started seaming together the squares for the back of the cardigan but I still had my doubts about the layout. It just didn’t seem like it was going to fit correctly.

I ended up crocheting four more granny squares and added an additional row to the back of the cardigan so it would sit better. I then finished seaming all the other squares together and then attached the arms and seamed them together. I tried it on and it fit perfectly.

And finally, I crocheted a border around the entire cardigan to give it a more finished look.

I am happy to say that the person I made this for was very happy with it. I may make one for myself one of these days!