As I mentioned a couple weeks ago I plan on doing Wise Craft’s Granny Square Sampler Afghan this summer as a way to really learn how to crochet. Then I ended up having a wrist surgery which left me in a cast and unable to turn my wrist for 6 weeks! Was I out of this crochet a-long before I even started? Well, let me show you…
It ends up crocheting is something I can do pretty easily (easier than knitting anyway) without moving my left wrist. My form and squares might not be perfect, but for someone who has always struggled with crochet I’m pretty proud.
So, let’s talk about the squares. This week we were making three traditional granny squares, one that is 7 rounds and two that are 5 round. We were told we would need about twelve colors. I’m actually only working with seven right now though I might add in an eighth. I don’t mind using the same color twice in a square so hopefully I’ll be alright. I’m using three shades of teal blue, 2 reds, white and yellow. I may also add in a pop of orange if I can find one I like. I’m always admiring quilts in this palette so I figured “why not do the afghan in it?’. Lastly, it was suggested we may want to create rules for ourselves about how we use the colors. My rule is that white will be the center and outer row of each square. (Originally, my outer rows were black but I ended up ripping them out because it made everything look too dark.)
I struggled a bit getting started, but Blair had linked to some very good videos that really helped me get going. I did run into two problem with the patterns. The first one may have just been my reading the pattern wrong, but it seemed to me it was missing the final sets on 3Dc’s to finish all the rounds from round 3 on. I just went ahead and added them since if I didn’t each round would have four corners but only three sides. The second issue I had was that it said the 7 round pattern and 5 round pattern were exactly the same except for the number of rounds. Actually the 5 round pattern has an extra Ch stitch in round 2 after each corner that isn’t in the 7 round pattern. I didn’t catch it when I made my first 5 round square, but I don’t really think it makes much of a difference in the finished square.
I can’t wait for tomorrow to see our next squares. I know a couple of you said you were going to do this sampler too. I you’ve started we’d love to see your squares. You can link to them in comments on this post or add them to our Flickr group.
Β© 2005 – 2012 Kathy Lewinski & Susan Cornish
I am almost done with my 3rd one. You went with the white too- I like it a lot better. Nice job. I will have to take a photo of mine and post. We can do the ones this week on Sat. at the garage sale π
I finished mine too, but I have to wait for my husband to take the pictures and get them posted. I really like how yours turned out.
Nice. I was out of town last weekend so I’m a bit behind, but I’m working on mine π I feel like this is the best granny square I have made so far.