Completing a Granny Square Project

Yesterday I posted about how to make a solid coloured granny square. That post was inspired by the FreshStitches' Ravelry group Cowl Swap that I am hosting.

However, making a big granny square project requires more than just the squares... you've gotta attach them together and add a border, right?! Especially if you're making a cowl like we are!

There are infinite ways to attach granny squares together, but I'm going to show you the two ways wonderfully outlined by some of my favourite crochet blogs, Attic24 and BunnyMummy [Full credits for the pictures go to them!] Clicking on the pictures will link directly to their blogs! :) 

Here we go!

Attaching squares together can be a bit complicated when you want to make all the squares first, and THEN attach them. Here are two great ways to do it, though!

One way is the ever-popular whipstitching them together. This tutorial takes you through how to stitch them together so no seam shows up on the front side. Awesome, right? :) 

However, for people who don't want to use a needle, there is a great tutorial about how to slip-stitch granny squares together. Since the cowls we'll be one row of granny squares, you won't have to worry about overlapping the stitches-- it's work out pretty this way, too! 

Now that your squares are attached (after you get the five back from me... don't send me attached squares, please!), you have to choose if you want a border or not! 

Also from Attic24 and BunnyMummy are these two border methods that would be great for all the projects, regardless if you choose to keep yours as a scarf or connect it to be a cowl/infinity scarf!

BunnyMummy presents a Granny Square Border that produces a nice, straight edge... all with one little tip! You could do just the first row, or add multiple rows, like she does for this blanket:

Attic24, however, shows us a way to create a beautiful border for a granny square that is a bit more lace-y. 

And there you have it! Two ways to attach squares, two possible borders, and both from two wonderful sources.

:) 

Solid Granny Square Tutorial

Granny squares are one of my most favourite things to crochet! They look great with a variety of colours, but they're also great solid-coloured... and all it takes is a little tip to not have to start-and-finish the yarn (what feels like) a zillion times in order to get a solid square. 

This is based off of FreshStitches' Granny Square pattern. The yellow yarn did not like the posterboard I usually use for backgrounds, so it's on a blue blanket/fabric that I have. :)

First: Chain 6

Slip stitch into first chain to form a ring. Chain 3. 

All in ring: dc 2, ch 3, *[dc 3, ch 3], repeat from * two more times

(Check the picture below to see if you have it!)

Now, to join: Slip stitch into top of chain 3 chain, next two dc, and ch 3 space. (Four slip stitches total)

Joining stitch

Slip Stitching across

Now that we are in the new corner, chain 3 to start a new round:

For all the following rounds (Round 2 - 6, in this example): 

chain 3 between each corner cluster,

chain 1 between each side cluster

each cluster = 3 double crochet

Keep following these tips around and around, until you have all the rounds you need!

Now you're a pro at making solid-coloured granny squares!

Happy Crocheting! 

:) 

Crochet Handles- Granny Bag

Hey look! Do you see what I see? 

It's yet another Granny Square Bag!

This one is smaller (only 15 rounds) and has a more central colour palette, but it's pretty great, don't ya think?

This one is being entered into a Fair Entry Competition, under the category "Crochet: Bag". So I didn't exactly feel like attaching handles, and instead crocheted them! 

However, one thing I've learned from crocheting-bag-handle experience, is that making handles, then whipstitching them on does not work. 

Here is a brief tutorial, in case you want to crochet handles too!

First, I followed the same procedure as my other granny bag tutorial, all the way up to making the mouth of the bag, as seen below:

Next, I started the sides basically the same way, choosing a corner of a mouth, single crocheting down the rows we just made, and then single crocheting in each middle shell and ch-1 space. 

However, when I got all the way up the rows of the mouth on the other side, I started chaining my handles. I chained 80, to get the height I wanted. 

You can kind of see what I mean in the picture below:

You can see the blue rows that are the mouth of my bag. The green in one side, while the chains on the far left are the beginning of my handles. 

Then, start crocheting immediately down the other side.

 So you have something like this. You'll be working on both sides and the handles at the same time!

And then keep going around and around!

Because my bag was super small, I did a lot more sc2tog-ing. 

 On the second round of the sides only, not the handles, I did (sc2tog, sc in next 3).

On the third round: (sc2tog, sc in next 2). 

And voila! Crocheted handles that won't come unraveled!

:)

Happy Crocheting!

Hello September

Pretty much the same as the title. 

I attempted to think of "non-craft related" blog post ideas... but then things kind of went KA-BOOM!, so there's nothing of non-craft related thing to show pictures of. 

Thus, here are some pictures of craft items that may interest you: 

 Woodland animal fabric! They will make very cute (and hopefully inspiring project bags!) 

A whale with baby safe eyes! This one is a free download that can be found here.

 To the right is a yarn cake that was made with a yarn winder! Yup, I took the plunge and bought a Knit Picks Yarn Winder-- for $20, it's a great value! I've been having a yarn-winding obsession lately! The only complaint I have is that there are no "directions" in the sense of how many yards/grams are recommended for one cake. I accidentally let one skein get so big the machine made a loud click. But it still works, so all is well!

A slug that has been named Violet! The name was obviously inspired by her colour, but has thus turned into a demand for two more slugs named Klaus and Sunny. 

Sunny should obviously be yellow-- any colour suggestions for Klaus? 

(Yay for book references!)

And last, but definitely my favourite, is my self-designed lion! :) 

Isn't he adorable?! 

His name is Singh the Lion. For a first animal design, not too shabby, right?! 

Singh will be making an appearance at the State Fair as my "Crocheted: Toy" entry. Fingers crossed!

Check out this blog for more Finished Objects!

Amigurumi, again!

Before the Amigurumi Break, there had to be some amigurumi completion, right? :) 

Hence, here are two recently Finished Objects!

 Remember the monster from the WIP Wednesday a few weeks ago? Here he is! His official name is Friday Monster. He was given to my grandfather after he managed to spend a whole Friday out of the hospital! (The two Fridays before, he had been admitted). 

And another finished item is a Monkey! He got some not-so-positive reviews, so he may stay tucked away in my personal collection. While he was supposed to be an entry in the Entry Competition, he's not nearly as big as I was hoping for; thus, another monkey shall be made (if time allows!) 

Now, I have some exciting craft-y news coming up! I'm hoping to share that within the week. And I'll have more finished items to show you next Friday! :)

Want to see more Finished Objects? Visit Tami Ami's Blog! Have a great, craft-filled weekend!

Amigurumi Break

Last week off before University courses begin again! I thought I'd spend the whole break crocheting my heart out, especially focusing on amigurumi.

But for one reason or another, I kept getting disappointed with the final amigurumi results-- all  I could do was focus on the little things that could be better. Instead of feeling like I was going to keep failing, I took an Amigurumi Break! 

With that said, I went on a hunt for another pattern. A bag? A blanket? A scarf? Yes to all the above!

 This is the one project I'm probably most excited for. The yarn is NaturallyCaron.Com's "Spa" yarn-- 70% acrylic and 30% bamboo. The pattern is Bellflower Infinity Scarf (Ravelry link). 

 Another scarf I have in the works is a Sampler Cowl. These motifs come from the book Beyond the Square Crochet Motifs. (Is it irony if the motifs I was most drawn to were squares? Oh well!) 

I'll be making another square like the bottom-left one in different colours. Then when I get my hands on the book Crochet Stitches Visual Encyclopedia, there will be 4 rectangles in between each square. It'll be bright, fun, and perfect for winter! :) 

Finally, more motifs! These will make a bag for my grandmother. I need one more motif before I start weaving in ends and sewing them together. The motifs are much bigger than they're supposed to be, so instead of 12 motifs, I'll only use 6. The pattern can be found here: African Flower Bag.








But what about a blanket? Well, I'm holding off until the new Crochet Today is released. Their last winter issue had beautiful blanket patterns, so I want to see if there are any in there that really call out to me. 

And that is my Work in Progress Wednesday! Check out Tami's blog to see more WIP Wednesday posts!

(not-so) Finished Objects

Oh, goodness. 

Well, I missed Saturday's post... and Wednesday's post... Can I give the excuse "It's been crazy"? 'Cause it really has been! There are no finished objects to report, but I thought I'd give a sample of ALL my "Work in Progress"s today. 

We'll start with this one! I'm using a pattern from the Craftsy course Design Your Own Monster. 

He uses elements from a few different patterns. All parts are crocheted (including the eyes and nose). However, I had to special order the Safety Eyes in order to complete him... hopefully he'll be completed soon!

Next up is the one I'm really excited for! Another FreshStitches' pattern, this Monkey will be entered into the State Fair as a Creative Competition entry. I am hoping he finishes to be at least 15" tall, as his category is Handmade Stuffed Animal, larger than 15". I'm really liking the shades of brown in this one, though! 

Next up is yet another FreshStitches pattern (it's a healthy obsession, I promise!) This one is free on Ravelry, Mr. Scrappy, the Scrap Animal. I'm not a fan of scrap projects at all, but as it's a category in the Fair, I thought "Hmm, may as well use the scraps I have laying around!" 








There are many, many more Work-in-Progress projects laying around, but they are calling out to me more than a very long blog post. :) Have a crafty-weekend, everyone!