July – Square Fourteen
I think this is one of my favorite squares so far! The pattern can be found here. It made me think of fireworks and I just had to do it in red, white, and blue. I love how it turned out. Though if I did it again I’d probably just do the white either at the center or on the edging. It kind of breaks up the lines and makes their continuity hard to see.
I love working with cable stitches or post stitches. This square is made with front post double treble crochets.
Filed under The Granny Square Project
July – Square Thirteen
I have some mixed feelings about this square; the pattern for which can be found here. I have done several squares this year with a central motif themed for that particular month. Those squares were started with the motif, and then the square was created by working into it.
With this square however, the star is worked completely separate from the square. That is to say, the square could exist without the star, whereas the other squares would not be complete without their motifs.
The star is crocheted separately and then connected by single crochets thorough picots at each point on round 5. Somehow this just seamed like cheating to me. But, then I thought about it again. This project is about gaining appreciation for the vast variety possible with Granny Squares and I guess this is one of those possibilities. I do really like the 3D effect it gives the square.
I also really like how the granny square clusters in this square are not actually clusters, but v-stitches. ((dc, ch 1, dc) all in one stitch.) It keeps with the granny square tradition, but gives it a slightly different look that I found refreshing.
I did depart from the patter at row 10. Instead of completing the last rows in double crochets and single crochets respectively, I continued with the v-stitches and liked this much better. I had to do a second row of v-stitches instead of single crochets in the last color so that I would reach my seven inches.
One thing that I was worried about when I started this project was that I would find it difficult to make all my squares the same size. I was concerned that I would have problems with patterns designed to be larger or smaller squares than the seven inches I had decided on. However, this has proven to be a non issue. It has been relatively easy for me to decide if and how I need to modify squares, whether by changing gauge with my hook size, or by adding or omitting rows.
Well we’re half way through the project now! I have so many other projects that I want to do right now. After I finish the next square I hope to do that parasol that I mentioned. Then I want to make a dress for my daughter. Then I would like to see if I can get most of the rest of my squares done this fall because I’d like to get them connected before Christmas. I have a surprise recipient in mind for the project and would like it to be a Christmas present!
Filed under The Granny Square Project
June – Square Twelve
This square makes me think of the ’90s blue and white country cottage style with things like goose canisters and dishes.
It’s a simple daisy with the basic granny square following. I’ll put the pattern for this out on Ravelry and it will be free for one week! Use the following code to redeem for the free pattern through Tuesday August 12, 2014. FREEDAISYGRANNY
After that the pattern will be $1.50 here:
Filed under For Sale On Ravelry, The Granny Square Project
June – Square Eleven
I really like this square. It turned out very pretty. The 3-d effect is accomplished by working behind every other petal on the flower, and then picking the tip of the flower back up after a few rows to anchor it. I got the pattern for this square here.
If you look at the pictures on Ravelry, you can see how much you can change the look of this pattern by changing not only the colors, but the progression of color changes and even what rows you change the colors on.
I did not follow the pattern’s instruction on when to change colors and I really like how it came out. Also, the pattern is for nine-inch and twelve-inch squares. It provides additional rows for the twelve-inch. Since I only needed seven inches I used a smaller hook. I completed the rounds for a nine-inch square and still needed a little more width. I did not really like what the pattern called for so I just completed two more rounds of half-double crochets.
That reminds me of another note on this square. After the flower is completed, rounds are stitched in half-double crochets. Hdcs are not my favorite stitch. The rhythm of making the stitch just doesn’t flow quite as well as a double-crochet for me. That being said, I really like the look of the hdc rows instead of double-crochets.
Filed under The Granny Square Project
May – Square Ten
Here is another great square using the yarn I mentioned previously from my Grandmother’s stash. It was a bit difficult to work with. I’m not sure if that’s because it’s a wool blend, or due to it’s age, but I often had a hard time catching the yarn with my hook.
I found the neat pattern for this stand-out star here. The effect is created with Front Post Double Crochet stitches. I modified the edging a little to stay within my 7 inches. My star doesn’t stand out quite as well and I think that is also due to the yarn I used and it’s weight and age.
Filed under The Granny Square Project
Well, I have been remiss and failed to keep up with the 30 days of blog since last Tuesday. I have totally bombed the final week of 30 Days of Blog. Every day just seemed to be too much for me this year so I’ll have to see if I can do better next year.
I do have to say, however, as a working mother of two, 19 posts in 30 days is pretty good, and I believe it is more than I have ever done in a month. I’ve gotten more crocheting done in the last month than I probably have in the last year. I certainly do need to make more time for myself to crochet. I can’t normally do it every day, but at least a few times a week should be possible. I think I’ve proven that to myself this month at least.
That’s one of those things about Motherhood that you just don’t understand until your there yourself – complete lack of time. It’s amazing how fast you can get things done that used to take you the whole evening once you got home from work, because you have so many other things that have to get done too. On the other hand, something that used to take you 5 minutes takes you an hour because you have to stop and put a binki back in the baby’s mouth every 30 seconds, and tell the toddler for the 50th time to stop drinking out of the dog’s water dish (pretending to be a dog herself.)
I have gotten behind in keeping up with the dishes, (including the darn baby bottles and pump parts) and the laundry in order to do my posts this month. There have been a few times I was pulling diaper liners out of the dryer to stuff so that I could put them on a kid. But the traffic on my site has increased dramatically and I think a short-term intense campaign has been worth it. Now I just have to find the balance I need to keep up with both. One or two posts a week should do the trick.
I had hoped to get caught up on the Granny Square Project and didn’t get that done. But I am a lot closer to being on track than I was at the beginning of the month. This green yarn will be May’s second square. It’s actually a skein from my Grandma Townsend’s old stash that my Dad had given to me and I had previously started another project with. I honestly don’t even remember what it was going to be – maybe a Prayer Shawl. But didn’t like where it was going so it ended up in a bag with my yarn stash. I frogged it this morning and now have this nice pile ready to start Square Ten.
Thanks so much to my friend for inviting me to join the insanity for this year’s 30 Days of Blog. It has been great for me. See you next year!
May – Square Nine
If you haven’t noticed, I have been using yarn from my stash to make each of my squares and not buying any new. As a result, I’ve been using different yarn types together where I normally never would. The most common example of this has been using worsted weight Red Heart yarn with the lighter Caron Simply Soft. But this is more of a sampler piece, so that rule is temporarily suspended. Because the weights and textures are different, I often have to change the size of the crochet hook I’m using in order to maintain the same gauge after changing yarns.
May’s first square is another extremely simple Granny, however I found a lovely variegated cotton yarn in my stash that I used to make my family dish cloths for Christmas a few years back. The color just said “May” to me and the cotton texture will definitely stand out in the finished afghan.
April – Square Eight
April’s second square is blessedly more simple than the daffodil debacle. Yellow isn’t normally my color. Maybe I’m just not the bright and cheery personality that it implies, but it’s normally not the first color I would select. But I figured an April square for spring time would be yellow. And I was surprised to find myself refreshed by this little gem. The square is a little more than basic with an offset diamond in the center which requires a bit of shaping, and two chain-2 spaces at the center of each side to mix things up a little bit.
The original inspiration for the square can be found here but I’ve modified it and written my own pattern again. My pattern can be found on Ravelry, here. Additionally, I have added an optional replacement to round 5 to close the chain-2 spaces on each side and make solid rows instead. I think I like the open spaces however.
April – Square Seven
April’s first square is a daffodil. To give credit, I got the pattern here on Craftsy, for $3.99 but the pattern actually irritated me quite a bit.
It was very poorly written. Many of the instructions were incomplete and unprofessional. For example, when changing colors the instructions failed to indicate to finish off. This even included the end of the pattern. This may seem obvious, but most crochet instructions indicate that you should not finish off unless instructed to do so.
Some of the spacing in attaching the daffodil petals to the green were just wrong in my opinion. Also, the language used for many crochet instructions was not what is normally used in pattern instructions. “Sc into ring” is used instead of “sc in ring.” Into is just not necessary. “Arches” is used instead of ch-2 space.
I did not like how the block went from circle to square by working 3 dcs in between stitches instead of having made a ch 1 space in the previous row for that purpose as is usual with granny squares.
The pattern is marked as easy but I strongly disagree with that. I was able to figure it out and get it to work, however I don’t think that a beginner would have been able to pick it up and get a good result without help. For example, a picot stitch is used for the tip of the flower petals, however the pattern does not give specific stitch instructions for a picot. There are two issues with this. One: A picot is not a beginner stitch, it is a more advanced stitch. Two: There can be different ways of doing a picot so stitches like this should never be assumed. Additionally, 3-d work and shaping are generally not considered beginner level. I would really consider this more intermediate to advanced.
Finally, the thing that irritated me the most is the trumpet of the daffodil. The instructions say to work a round of single crochet in the front loop only of round 1. This would be great except that round 2 was NOT worked only in the back loop of round 1 so it was extremely difficult to work into the front loop of round 1.
All that being said, the square turned out very charming with another 3-d aspect. But I think I’ll take time tomorrow to rewrite the pattern and make these corrections mentioned and see if it turns out any better.
Filed under 30 Days of Blog - 2014, The Granny Square Project
March – Square Six
I’m finally back on the Granny Squares. This shamrock square turned out really cute. It’s hard to see in this picture, however the square is crocheted behind the shamrock giving it a 3D quality.
The shamrock is worked first and I used the same shamrock as my St. Patrick’s Day Garland. The rest is worked the same as January’s Square One again, starting with round 2 joined to the back of the shamrock. It is really easier than it might seem.
This square, as with all of them really, will look much better after I get it blocked.
Stitched In Love Crocheting 