Learn to Crochet - Traditional Granny Square Video Tutorial

The Traditional Granny Square is probably one of the most crocheted designs known to man, woman or child. It is used to make full size afghans, baby blankets, handbags, scarves, sweaters, shawls, hats, stitched in all sizes of yarns and threads, in every color combination imaginable, and pretty much universally loved by all. Most people will tell you that a Granny Square afghan reminds them of their grandmother or their great aunt or some other special person of some previous generation. I don't think the Granny Square has ever really gone out of style though.

There are many different designs for a granny square but today I'm going to show you a Traditional Granny Square and then you can watch the not-so-little video and follow along with hook and yarn to make one yourself.


This is the front of my sample square, made with the Red Heart worsted weight yarn that I had left over from the Special Olympics scarves I made a few months ago. I used a size J hook. You can use any size yarn or thread that you like, along with a hook sized appropriately for your yarn. You can also use as many or as few colors as you like and combine them in any way that you like. My grandmother used to make granny squares with alternating variegated and solid rounds, in many different colorways. She would then edge each block in black and join them in quilt-like patterns. The contrast between the colors and the black was quite striking.


Here is the back. Notice that all the stitches show their front side on the front of the square and their back side on the back of the square. This is because, when crocheting a granny square, you do not turn your work. You simply continue crocheting in the same direction around and around until the square is as big as you want it to be. I've seen granny square afghans that are just one gigantic square, begun just like this one and continued until the desired size. Not much finishing work on an afghan like that!


Here's a close-up of the center of the sample square. I love how the clusters seem to be disconnected from the other clusters of the same color.

Now go grab some yarn and a hook and have your scissors handy. Turn up the volume just a bit so you don't miss a thing. Click the play button, and in about 20 minutes or so, you will have yourself a pretty little granny square.



I must beg your pardon for the very end of the video where I seem to not finish my train of thought. My memory card was full and I was just going to say that you can stitch over that last tail when you join your squares together but I couldn't get my words out quite fast enough!

You can find the written pattern for this granny square by clicking HERE.

There are many different kinds of granny squares. At least one other you have seen here on Hooked On Needles already, but in the coming days and weeks, I will be making videos for many of them so you can see how they are done and hopefully add them to your list of favorites.

Happy Stitching!

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