How to Crochet a Granny Square

Abby Richardson

Required Materials:

First you must travel down the dim hallway, where the only decor is a thermostat attached to one of the plain white walls. However, do not fret, as the hallway is short-lived and you will arrive at the laundry room. It may smell like laundry detergent and dust, as Great-Granny’s laundry room coexists with her extensive collection of random items used for crafts. Be sure not to get distracted by the wishbones, pony beads, or miniature animals. 

• Yarn: Select two colors of yarn from the selection of gradients and solids, feeling the difference between soft, thin baby skeins, and the almost scratchy, tightly twisted acrylic skeins. You choose two skeins of the same rough acrylic texture to avoid mixing different textures, both solids as well, one red and the other white.

• Hook: You will be able to obtain a metallic sage, size J crochet hook from the black beaded fruit bag that you keep unfinished crochet projects in. Look past the vibrant colors of the pineapple, jackfruit, bananas, and melon, and the irresistible feeling of rolling your hands against the layer of beads, and grab the hook from the inner pocket, along with your small silver folding scissors.

Making the Granny Square:

As all crochet projects begin, you will start by sitting on the couch, which, oddly, has a similar rough texture to the yarn, and you will make a slip knot, by looping the end of the yarn across the never-ending tail and pulling the middle through. 

Row 1: consists of chaining three, and working in two double crochets, chaining two and working in three more double crochets, and so on to make the base. The red yarn runs against your index finger, while the hook grabs the yarn and pulls it through loops, until a stitch is formed. The stitches form a red square the length of your eight-year-old thumb.

Row 2: begins with you creating the corner clusters of the granny square with chaining three, working in two double crochets, chaining two, and working in three double crochets, chaining one and starting again in the next hole. Your index finger may have a light red indent from the yarn sliding against your soft skin, but that’s not something you’ll mind as you continue. The white yarn will transform your little red square into a little red cross, with a border of white clusters holding it in place. The structure may look uneven. You might become frustrated and wonder why your piece has more or fewer stitches than it’s meant to. You’ll try to skip over them or join them prematurely. This may be caused by the need to count your stitches as you go, as Granny will remind you.

Rows 3-5: drag on with “Don’t be mad when you have to take out stitches because the count is off, if you’re not going to count them as you go.”

There will inevitably be other inconveniences as you continue making the square and your stitches may become tighter, your body more tense, but she will speak to you calmly and help you gently. She’ll take your piece in her cold, delicate hands and rework stitches for you, and, as she takes away rows, she will replace them with more refined ones. As you watch her take the time and patience to make the stitches neat, you will persevere through the minor inconveniences, finding the determination to complete the piece after the fifth consecutive row of the same pattern, the square increasing in stitches as you go. After following this pattern step-by-step repeatedly, you will have enough granny squares to form a larger work. You’ll come to the conclusion to turn them into an afghan, just like the one you saw on your great-great-grandmother’s rocking chair and the one that you imagine your great-grandmother’s bed dolls sitting upon. 

… your stitches may become tighter, your body more tense, but she will speak to you calmly and help you gently.

Note:

When you weave in the ends of your crochet project, though this may not have been your first one, you may feel sentimental and proud to follow in your great-grandmother’s footsteps. Maybe you’re even as proud as she was when she picked up crocheting and followed in her mother’s footsteps. You may not have realized this impact when making your stitches, but you’ll always feel close to her when you pick up a crochet hook, and remember how she used to get on you for not counting your stitches. In turn, you’ll never lose the childlike wonder that you had when you saw a bed doll dressed in an extravagant crochet dress of intricate detail for the first time, wanting to be able to make something just like she did. Though she may not crochet much anymore and you may only do it on occasion, she gave you a storage container filled with granny squares she wove ever so carefully. And she made sure to count her stitches, of course. Your plan is to one day turn them into a granny square afghan. A granny square afghan made by the best crocheter you knew growing up, and yourself.

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