Purple Chair Crochet: Granny Square

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Left Overs (Work in Progress)

'Use it up
Wear it out
Make it do
Or do without.'

I like to think of myself as a bit of a minimalist. Or at least, I aspire to minimalism and truly believe the old cliches: "less is more" and "waste not, want not". Jaded by our consumer driven society, my charming husband and I decided long ago that we'd make what we could, fix what we could, buy thrift when we could, and buy new only things that were really made to last.

This mentality carries over into my crochet stash, where I'm keen to use up my random yarn and not let it go to waste. It's been a year and a half since I finished my Not-That-Ugly Scrappy Granny Blanket and I recently noticed the yarn bits were multiplying again. Time for some stash busting with the left overs!

This go 'round I stuck with just two rounds of granny. It makes the squares fast and fun, makes weaving in ends feel faster, and when the whole thing is finished it'll have a great retro granny feel (especially if I circle it in black). It's awesome how different granny squares can look.

L O V E

Mini stack of mini grannies.

My project within the project came into being from the surprise bits of yarn that don't have enough length to form even one round of a granny square. I'm taking those and knotting them together and winding them into a ball of their own. When I have 3 or 4, I'll make a little multi-colored floor mat for entrance to my house from the porch.

Minimalist living is surprisingly colorful.

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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Saturday, June 22, 2013

One of Ten (Work in Progress!)

Here it is!
Row One of Ten of my first ever *queen sized* granny square blanket!

I really did try to find something different than the granny square. Really, I looked all over the interwebs. But nothing seemed as timelessly funky as the granny square. Everything was either too trendy or too lacy or too ruffly or too plain. I'm a granny square girl.

As you can see, I've limited the blanket to 3 colors, but to make it more interesting (visually and to crochet), I've completely mixed up the color repetitions of each square. Initially I'd tried to bring in oranges and yellows, but not only are they impossible to find in a good shade that worked every which way, it also made my blanket look way too specific to the room that it's intended for (my grey, white, orange, yellow and black bedroom).

I read that a queen sized blanket is 86" (inches) x 86". Each of these squares is 8.5", making my first row 85" deep. 9 more of these, plus a border (a nice sized border, hopefully) and we'll be good to go! Just in time for autumn, most likely, although this blanket is intended to be our summer blanket (duvets are just too much in the summer!).

I'm using regular ol' cotton yarn, and a 5.5mm hook (my usual blanket hook). 7 rounds per granny, joining as I go, on and on, yada yada. Isn't it pretty! Notice that wasn't really a question. ;)

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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Friday, May 17, 2013

My Lumpy, Loopy Crocheted Top (finished!)

It's finished!

Whew.

First, excessive pictures.

Then, excessive words.

Yes, my mirror is broken. We're in the market for a legit full length mirror instead of these
$5 ones intended for a dorm-room. In the meantime, the broken mirror is what I work with.

Where does ones hands go during a self portrait? I'll never know.

Blurred front view.

Somewhat clearer back view

Nicely folded (unlike the rest of my laundry)

Lumpy. And Loopy.

Belt for sinching

The structure of this top is incredibly easy. If you can make a granny square (or any kind of crocheted square), you can make this. Each square is approximately 4.5" x 4.5", so this top will fit anyone size XS through L, I imagine. It's easy enough to shrink it down or make it bigger- either make your squares larger or smaller OR add in more squares in general (across, and at the shoulders). Here's a link to the *very basic and not even a little bit in English* "pattern" I followed. I think they may have done the sleeves a bit differently. No matter.

I love the look of this top, but I'm a bit disappointed with my squares. I tweaked what was available to me, and I noticed the squares were a bit on the lumpy side and dismissed it. For some reason I thought it would work itself out. Yeah, not so much. Still, I think it's pretty cute despite the lumpy, loopy look, and I intend to wear it (and just do better next time).

I am *loving* this crocheted clothes thing. Why didn't I pick it up sooner?

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Granny Square Variation

This idea has been in my head for awhile now. I've seen quite the variety of Granny Square blankets. It's amazing how one basic design can look so different based on something so simple as color change. I decided to do a little Granny Square Variation study to explore the most common styles of Grannies.

Basic Granny Square, 7 Ways

Square #1 - Solid Granny. No color changes; the purest granny of all.

Square #2: A different color every round, this granny is perhaps the most chaotic, but also ideal for stash-busting projects.

Square #3: By using one color for the very center round, and a solid color surrounding it, this granny ends up with a tiny cross in the center. This style is simple and beautiful, especially when used in large groupings.

Square #4: In this granny square, ever other round is the main color. When colors are separated by 1 round (or odd rounds) a wonderful striping occurs as the square gets larger. I think I'd enjoy a large, continuous granny square blanket with this pattern repeat. ;)

Square #5: Alternating colors for each round results in a busy, yet cohesive look.

Square #6: I've always thought grannies done in this style were like a faux-flower. It definitely saves the time of making a flower-square!

Square #7: Um, hello gorgeous. Few design elements are as stunning as a color gradient, in my opinion. A blanket full of these guys would be incredible and drool worthy.

I'm sure there are more square variation. I know of one I haven't included: a ric-a-rac style granny, where 1 color is repeated for 2 rounds, creating a zig-zag effect. I opted out of including that style, because I didn't think it would show very well- I tried to keep each square to 5 rounds.

I generally blog about things I'm already making, as opposed to making things specifically to blog them. This is a pretty rare instance where I made these guys with no other reason but to post them here on the inter-webs. This leads me to my next question: what to do with 7 seemingly random granny squares??

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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Saturday, March 23, 2013

Yellow! (Finished!)

I can show off this project now: Tah-Dah! A super simple blanket I made for a friend! She's getting married in approximately 2 months -today was the bridal shower- and at the moment is a quite in love with the color yellow (as well as her fiance... should probably mention him too).

I found some granny square blankets on Pinterest that were solid like this and found it surprisingly beautiful. I like the hidden "X"s that pop out when you look from afar.

Just a 7 round granny square, joined-as-you-go, with an ecru white border (I opted for 2dc clusters, as you see, for a speedy finish).

It's not huge; just a throw size. JoAnn's stopped carrying this color yellow. Good thing I bought as much as I did!!

Tasseled corners. They're for fun.

Here's an up close view of the tassels. I love the simplicity of the blanket- as long as the color matches, this blanket will look appropriate anywhere. Of course after I wrapped it up the thought occurred to me to add some doilies to it Dottie Angel style, but oh well. It is what it is, as they say. :)

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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Monday, February 18, 2013

Creativity is...

...messy.
And comes in shades of greens and blues.

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess

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Thursday, December 6, 2012

Oh Baby! (Charity)

Check out this lovely hat and blanket set I made for a friend's niece. Crocheting for charity is immensely rewarding (and beautiful)!

The blanket was made with 2 strands of incredibly soft "baby yarn", worked together, and the flowers are "Irish Roses" made with silk & bamboo blends- incredibly soft and beautiful. It's not the traditional baby-blanket look, which is good because babies grow up. :)

Have a Lovely Day!
~Jess
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