The Granny Square is a utilitarian way of using up yarn. Generally, when many people think of a Granny Square afghan they think of lots of smaller motifs joined together in bright colors. The Granny Square, which is a simple shell or fan stitch – three double crochets with a chain stitch then three double crochets again with a few chain stitches at the corner can be used to make a block as large as you wish. This is a pattern that I can almost make in my sleep. It’s versatile.
The best part about making one large Granny Square is that you can use up a little or a lot of yarn and make something unique and random or planned and bold. The reason that I make the Granny square so often is that I end up with a lot of small amounts of yarn from previous projects and I don’t like to waste yarn. Scrapghan patterns that have lots of colors are fun. Some people don’t like the unplanned, unmatched look. The bright colors don’t bother me as much as I really, really, really, REALLY do not like joining motifs. Joining colors is ok, especially since I found the craft life altering Russian Join so I don’t have to weave in ends.
I like color. Lately, I have been playing with random colors that are complimentary or as I like to say, “sort of” go together and then are tied together with a neutral like gray to make the color changes in the Granny Square really stand out.
Before looking down your nose at a Granny Square afghan consider that you can buy kits online that range from the tens to hundreds of dollars depending on the material and size of the finished afghan. A quick search online will yield lots of patterns for a Granny Square, and different variations – the Modern Granny, Rectangular Granny, Corner to Corner Granny, Granny Log Cabin and so on.
What I like most about a Granny Square in addition to the ease of making it is that you can take a small amount of yarn to start and then continue changing colors for each round or doing multiple rounds of a color and you can make something beautiful. I have never seen a solid color Granny Afghan. It can be done but why. The beauty of the pattern is that it is so simple that the colors do make a statement. One, two or five rounds of the same color offers a nice symmetry. Even numbered rounds, odd number rounds or even a Fibonacci sequence can be used as a plan for a colorful afghan.
Often when I start an afghan I don’t plan that far ahead of time, I gather what I think is enough to make an afghan, which is tricky when you have small oddballs of yarn. Remaining balls of yarn are great for Granny Afghans – because you can start with just a little bit of color and go from there. The negative comments about Granny Afghans makes me wonder why I make them. The simple answer is because I like them, they are warm, and I can use a bit of yarn to make something beautiful for someone else.
Happy Crocheting!
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