Catherine's Crochet Corner

This last week or so, I have distracted myself from granny squares by…..making different granny squares!

Yeah, the logic escapes me too. However, I shall attempt to explain.

I had a good week of doing squares for my Around the World quilt, plodding on with the different colour sets, and then I had a day where every. single. square. came out either too big or too small. Every one. Every single one had to be frogged and redone, until it got to the point where I would have happily thrown the whole lot in the bin and burned it.

Which obviously I didn’t really want to do, so I took a deep breath, put the tiny squares away, and picked up a different project. There’s no point keeping going with a project on a day like that! But I have to keep crocheting, that’s just what I do, so a different project it was.

Which just so happens to also involve granny square, but at least with this one I’m using my regular 4.5mm hook – plus it’s join as you go, so there’s much, much less anxiously checking on sizes to make sure it all fits together! Also, as it’s a Christmas present, it has much more of a deadline than my Around the World quilt, which, as you know, is for myself to replace the one I killed.

I’m calling it Granny Go Mad, because obviously it’s all granny squares, but there’s no plan, there’s no specified size, I’m just winging it. The one rule is what I’m calling a ‘rule of two’, which is that all the squares I make have a multiple of two in rounds – so two rounds, or four, or eight, etc. That way it’s easier to fit them all together. Because I really have no design plan here – I’m just messing around with some yarn!

As you can see, some ‘blocks’ are somewhat themed and/or planned, colour-wise, but others are just very random.

Some details for you!

I’m using a 4.5mm hook and Stylecraft Special DK in plum, mushroom, fuschia purple and powder pink. I’m turning the granny squares after each round. There is a ch1 between each cluster, and ch2 in the corners. I’m joining as I go (using this method), and mostly also sewing my ends in as I go!

I have three balls of each colour, and the plan is just to keep going until they’re used up. It’s a Christmas present for carer J’s eldest daughter, who I’ve known for six years (she comes and helps out, and I have definitely been adopted as an ‘auntie Catherine’ figure), and I figure it’ll end up definitely big enough for her bed, and most likely big enough for her to wrap it around herself so she can imagine she’s being hugged. Which is what all good blankets are, really, aren’t they? A loving hug from gifter to giftee.

I will get back to the Around the World quilt. I have 60 squares to go, plus about 30 from the beginning that I’m 100% certain I’m going to have to redo because I tightened up after that, so it genuinely would not take me long. I just value my sanity 😛 also, as I say, we’re heading rapidly towards Christmas, and my blanket can wait until I’m done with Christmas crafting, if necessary 😀

On the subject of Christmas, I will be back in a few days with another blogpost and *gasp* an actual pattern for you all! I’m very excited to share it with you.

See you soon!