How to crochet the traditional granny square

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Dear crafters,

The traditional granny square does not need any introduction since it is the most common crochet motif of all the crochet shapes possible, besides the circle and the triangle. It would be a rarity if you are someone who is learning how to crochet and has not tried to make a large blanket from traditional granny squares. Despite the fact that crocheting the traditional granny square is one of the easiest techniques in the art of crocheting, blankets made from these squares turn out so beautiful because of the infinite ways of mixing the colors. Take a look at the images below to see how our traditional blankets turned. Most crocheters use leftover yarn from other projects to crochet such a blanket. If you were to use brand new yarn, then you would need quite a lot of skeins! The traditional granny square is not a yarn eater, but it still requires lots of skeins when crocheting a large project! 25 skeins of 150m each were necessary to complete the blue&pink throw shown in the image, whereas the super-coolorful one was made from left over yarn! Oh, and here is another useful tip: traditional granny squares can be joined to form a square blanket or a rectangular blanket.

However, making blankets is not the only possible way to use the traditional granny square. Many, many patterns use the traditional granny square as a basis for an item. Hence, there is absolutely no limit to how you can use this basic crochet motif. Therefore, let’s begin!

Abbreviations:
ch – chain;
ch-sp – chain space;
beg ch – beginning chain;
sl st – slip stitch;
dc – double crochet stitch;
sc – single crochet stitch;
YO – yarn over.

Instructions on how to crochet the traditional granny square:
The traditional granny square is done in rows. The size of the traditional granny square increases on each row. As such, you can stop increasing a square at any point at your choice. The traditional granny square is something different from the solid square. The first one uses lots of chain spaces, whereas the second one comes as a solid block without chain spaces, except the corners.

Using your preferred crochet hook, chain 4 and join with a sl st to the beginning of the chain to form a ring.

Row 1: Ch3 (counts as a dc here and throughout); 2dc in the ring; ch2 to form the 1st corner; 3dc in the ring; ch2 to form 2nd corner; 3dc in the ring; ch2 to form 3rd corner; 3dc in the ring; (ch1 and insert your hook in top ch of the beg-ch3, YO hook once and pull the yarn through, as if making a single crochet stitch which will count as the second ch of the ch2 used to form the corner; leave the 2 loops on your hook) to form the 4th corner. (4 corners, 1 set of 3dc on each side of the square, 4 sets of 3dc in total on row 1)

Row 2: Continue from the 2 loops on your hook, ch3; 2dc in the same ch-sp as beg-ch3 which is the last executed corner from previous row; ch1; (3dc, ch2, 3dc) in the next ch2-sp which is the 1st corner; ch1; (3dc, ch2, 3dc) in the next ch2-sp which is the 2nd corner; ch1; (3dc, ch2, 3dc) in the next ch2-sp which is the 3rd corner; ch1; (3dc, ch1 and join with top ch of beg-ch3 as if making a sc) in the last ch-sp from previous row which is the 4th corner. (4 corners, 2 sets of 3dc and 1 ch1-sp on each side of the square, 8 sets of 3dc and 4 ch1-sps in total on row 2)

Row 3: Continue from the 2 loops on your hook, ch3; 2dc in the same ch-sp as beg-ch3 which is the last executed corner from previous row; *ch1; 3dc in next ch1-sp; ch1*; (3dc, ch2, 3dc) in the next ch2-sp which is the 1st corner; repeat from * to * once; (3dc, ch2, 3dc) in the next ch2-sp which is the 2nd corner; repeat from * to * once; (3dc, ch2, 3dc) in the next ch2-sp which is the 3rd corner; repeat from * to * once; (3dc, ch1 and join with top ch of beg-ch3 as if making a sc) in the last ch-sp from previous row which is the 4th corner. (4 corners, 3 sets of 3dc and 2 ch2-sps on each side of the square, 12 sets of 3dc and 8 ch1-sps in total on row 3)

Row 4: Continue from the 2 loops on your hook, ch3; 2dc in the same ch-sp as beg-ch3 which is the last executed corner from previous row; *ch1; 3dc in next ch1-sp; ch1; 3dc in next ch1-sp; ch1*; (3dc, ch2, 3dc) in the next ch2-sp which is the 1st corner; repeat from * to * once; (3dc, ch2, 3dc) in the next ch2-sp which is the 2nd corner; repeat from * to * once; (3dc, ch2, 3dc) in the next ch2-sp which is the 3rd corner; repeat from * to * once; (3dc, ch1 and join with top ch of beg-ch3 as if making a sc) in the last ch-sp from previous row which is the 4th corner. (4 corners, 4 sets of 3dc and 3 ch1-sps on each side of the square, 16 sets of 3dc and 12 ch1-sps in total on row 4)

Dear fellow crafters, if you were to make more rows to increase the size of your traditional granny square, then all you need to do is repeat the previous steps. The increasing is done while executing the instructions given between * and *. Therefore, row 5 will sum up 4 corners, 5 sets of 3dc and 4 ch1-sps on each side of the square, 20 sets of 3dc and 16 ch1-sps in total and so on for each continuing row. We even made squares of up to 55 rows, as shown in the pictures below which showcase smaller blankets and even a square throw made from 15 skeins of fluffy furry yarn.

That is all, fellow crocheters! If you prefer video instructions instead, then please watch our old tutorials posted on our Youtube channel on how to crochet the traditional granny square. We sincerely hope our written instructions were helpful! Thank you kindly for following us and for supporting us and our work through subscriptions, likes, shares and small donations!

The Coolorfuls.

 

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