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This is a blanket I made for a family member as a gift.
In this easy to follow, step by step guide, I've explained how to create a gorgeous granny square blanket. I've fully explained how to calculate the size you want and how many squares you need, even including links to places where you can find tutorials for granny squares and how best to join the squares together. I've made several for gifts and they are always well received. It can also be used as a throw, as a picnic blanket or a baby blanket.
I've broken the process down into several steps
Step 1) Planning
First of all, work out how big you would like the blanket to be. There are tables online which show the size of regular blankets, so these can be useful for determining the measurements of your blanket. Write this down somewhere so you can refer to it later. The next thing to plan is the colour scheme, if you would like one. For example, in the blanket above, the recipient asked for blues, grey and red. Therefore, I chose several shades of blue, grey and red. You could also decide to have no colour scheme and use the colours of yarn you have in your stash.
Step 2) Make a square and calculate how many you need
Before you crochet all your squares, crochet one and measure how big it is, (including the outer edging if you will have edging, like in the picture above). Compare this to the size of the blanket you want and work out how many squares you need. This is easier if you do it in cm than in imperial measures, but you can do both.
For example, if I wanted to make a blanket that is 150cm long by 120cm wide, and one square measured 10cm by 10cm, then I would divide 150 by 10 to get 15 squares long and 120 by 10 to get 12 squares wide. I would then multiply these numbers together to calculate how many squares I needed total. Therefore, I would need 180 squares.
(If this is confusing, comment below and I'll try to help)
If the squares don't come out as a whole number, you could either add or subtract a little bit of the blanket, or crochet another square with a larger or smaller hook size.
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Once you have determined how many you need, work out roughly how many of each colour you would like. Such as, would you like more of one colour than another? Do you want a set pattern, eg stripes?
If you have 3 colours and you would like to have an even amount of each, divide your total number of squares by 3 and this is the number of squares you need in each colour.
Step 3) Crochet the squares
After you have done all the calculating, it's time to crochet all the squares!
I always keep a tally of how many squares I've done to avoid doing too many, (this has happened and it is very annoying especially if you are working to a deadline)
If you are unsure on how to crochet a granny square, there are many tutorials online, such as Bella Coco's tutorial, Wikihow tutorial and many others.
Step 4) Edging and joining the squares
Once you have crocheted all your squares, you can either edge them or begin joining them. There are methods of doing both of these at the same time, but I've always found it easier to edge all the squares, then slip stitch them together. If you don't want an edging on the squares, (I've also done one like this and I like both blankets), you can move straight onto joining them. If you are edging them, simply join the edging yarn where you fastened off and crochet another round.
My favourite way of joining the squares is by laying them out on the floor in rows, then joining the row together by slip stitching along the touching edges of each square. After I have enough rows, I join the rows together to form the blanket.
Step 5) Weaving in ends and finishing
After you have completed your blanket, you will notice that there are lots of little yarn ends. These need to be woven into the blanket to hide them. I always recommend weaving them in as you join the squares together, but I prefer to do it at the end as I don't like stopping the joining together to do something else. It's up to you. If you are unsure on how to weave in ends, there are lots of tutorials online and nearly all crochet books will have a section on how to weave in ends.
Once you have sorted out all the yarn tails, you can either admire your creation, or add an edging around the edge of the entire blanket. This can be nice if there isn't an edging around the squares, but I think it isn't necessary for a blanket if it the squares have been edged already.
Congratulations, you've finished your crochet granny square blanket!
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If you are struggling with anything, comment and I'll try to help.
Please feel free to save this page if you are working through a blanket and would like it for reference.
