Last week, I went out Christmas shopping with my boyfriend, Chad, and his brother, Lucas. After lots of wandering around and brainstorming, we decided that something handmade would be the best gift for their mom.

Last year, I went with them down to visit their parents for Christmas. They have a large family on both their mom and dad’s side, and since they both live in different areas, our holiday got split between the two.

For Christmas Day, we spent it with their mom’s side of the family, and WOW! Big family, big tree, lots of gifts and mmm… delicious food!

This year, I will be working all day on Christmas, so I will not be going with them to visit, but I am looking forward to seeing his mom’s pictures from the occasion.

Back to last week. I’m sure you can guess what these granny squares will turn into - a nice, cozy blanket!

I really love the traditional granny square pattern, but for this one, I was thinking more like the Square Washcloths I made back in October using the free pattern from Corina of Stitch11.
The only thing I wasn’t about with this pattern was the joining method.
Following the pattern, your joins are done in the middle of one of the sides of the washcloth, creating a seam. I wanted squares that looked seamless. After a little thought, I concluded that in order to achieve this, the join would have to be done in a chain space, or corner, without the need to slip stitch over stitches to get to the other chain space.

This tutorial will be split into two posts, one for the Solid Granny Square, and then one for Joining the Granny Squares.

Before I begin on the pattern, this basic granny square pattern is great for lots of different things!

~ You can use thread or perhaps a sock weight yarn, and attach the square to the front of a card or make some jewelry with them.

~ You can use it with cotton yarn to make a set of coasters. You could even add a larger one as a placemat, or trivet.

~ With cotton yarn and it larger, it will also make a great washcloth.

~ Making it larger and using worsted weight or chunky weight yarn, it would make a nice pillow.

~ You could join the squares to make a scarf, or table runner.

~ With a smaller weight yarn, you could make these into a belt, or headband.

The possibilities are truly endless. If you would like to see a tutorial for creating any of these items using the granny square/s before I get around to it, feel free to leave me a comment :)

Enjoy!

Materials:
- Worsted Weight Yarn - I used Yarn Bee’s Soft Secret in Mushrooom, Smoke & Bitter Sweet.
- H8/5mm Hook
- Tapestry Needle for Weaving in Ends - I like to use a #18, or 20

Materials Notes:
This pattern will work with any yarn and hook size!

 The Soft Secret yarn is a lighter worsted weight yarn. Using a heavier yarn such as Red Heart's Super Saver or With Love yarns, Bernat's Super Value yarn, Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn, or Caron's One Pound will work great for this pattern, but the squares will work up larger.

Time Spent:
I worked up the 4.5” square in 9.5 minutes, and with the additional row in roughly 13.5 minutes plus weaving time.

Measurements:
Each of my squares measures 5.5”, but if you desire 4.5” squares, simply leave off Round 5.

Abbreviations:
DC - Double Crochet

Soft Secret Yarn Review included as well as Photo Tutorials for working the Solid Granny as stated in my pattern, Re-Attaching Yarn, Invisible Join and Weaving in Ends. Great for beginners!