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Shelley Husband
This eBook will give you all the skills you need to make Granny Squares.
Even if you have never picked up a hook and yarn before, I will show
you step by step how to make your very first granny square.
If you live in the US or a lot of other places in the world, then this version
is right for you. If you live in the UK, Australia, New Zealand or South
Africa, you may find the UK Terms version of this ebook more useful.
There are many, many ways to do this granny thing. These instructions
are my way. I'm not saying it's the only way, just the way that works best
for me. If you are interested in other ways, I have done a bit of a study of
granny squares over on my blog. It's a 4 part series that begins here.
You will discover there I have a few tricks and tips to make things look
even better once you get the hang of how to make granny squares.
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A lot of people use what's called "knife hold". I use it when using really
big hooks. It's basically an overhand hold.
There are many variations to each of these and no one "right" way. Just
do what feels right to you.
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Step 1 : yo (wrap your yarn over your hook from back to front).
That's 1 ch made.
Repeat the above steps 1 and 2 three times. This will mean you have 4
ch. (do more ch if you need more room to see what's happening.)
Step 1 : Insert you hook into the first ch as shown. You will have 2 loops
on your hook.
So to do that :
A dc stitch is quite high. It's a stitch made from the top down, so it's not
possible to start with a normal dc as we are at the bottom at our ring.
We need to get up to the height of a dc before we can begin. This is
why our first dc is replaced by 3 ch.
Steps
As we do the next bits, we'll want to hold the loose tail behind the ring
and work over it. This will help hide and secure the tail.
Making a dc
Making your first dc. (Check the video to see me making dc's here.)
Step 1 : yo, insert hook into the ring (make sure you go under the loose
tail too.)
Step 2 : yo again, and pull that strand at the back that leads to your ball
of yarn through to the front. You should have 3 loops on your hook.
A square has 4 corners, so it's time to make our fourth and last one.
Step 1 : ch 2. Done.
Step 1 : insert hook into the back of the 3rd chain of our st ch.
There you go. You've finished Round 1. Can you see you have 4 x 3 dc
shells & 4 x 2 ch corner spaces? That's what makes the first round of a
Granny Square.
HINT : Don't worry too much about your tension or tightness of stitches
the first time. You are learning and consistent tension will come with
practice.
Step 2 : 2 dc into the 2 ch space of the last round. You are kind of
working backwards a little bit. You insert your hook next to the 3 ch you
just made where the needle is pointing in the following picture. You
insert your hook the same as how the needle is pointing.
Making a corner
Step 3 : ss to 3rd ch of st ch. (Go back here if you need to see how to do
this again.)
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Now it's time to finish the corner we started at the beginning of the
round.
Step 1 : ch 1, 3 dc into last 2 ch space that we did our first shell of this
round in, ch 2 and join with ss to 3rd ch of st ch.
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You can just keep on going for a classic granny blanket, or you can
make squares of the same size to join together into a blanket. There are
no rules You can do what you want.
Turn the square over so the back is facing up and pull the tail through
the loop your hook was in loosely - not all the way tight.
Put your thumb nail right up under the base of the loop and now pull the
tail tight towards to centre of the square.
Thread the needle through the back of the stitch below the knot and then
through the base of the 3 dc shell. Pull it through, being careful not to
pull too tight as you will pucker the edge. Pull it back a bit if you do.
Easy fixed at this point.
Now for the tail left at the start. It's the same process as above. Make
sure you weave the tail back and forth a few times to make sure it's
secure.
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Holding on to the tail, work your 3 ch as normal. This can all get a bit
loose, but is easily tightened by pulling on both the tail and the working
yarn.
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Step 2 : Squirt it with steam from your iron, making sure you just hover
the iron over the square, not touching the pins or the square:
That's it. You now know all you need to make lots of Granny Squares.
Have fun playing!
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Coming soon...
Beyond the Granny - For those who only know how to crochet a Granny
Square, taking you into pattern reading and more complex patterns.
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