granny squares Archives — Picking Up Stitches

Granny squares on the go!

July 10, 2017 by Annie Leave a Comment

Three large orange and white granny squares

Granny squares a go-go!

If there’s one thing I love about crocheting, and granny squares in particular, it’s that the projects are so portable. I take some yarn and a hook with me everywhere and have recently been crocheting on buses, Tubes and trains around London, in pubs and cafes, and out in the park. Each time, someone is bound to ask me what I’m making and to strike up a conversation.

So, I was really pleased recently to be asked by Annie (yes, another Annie!), the owner of The Village Haberdashery in West Hampstead, if I’d teach some beginners’ granny squares classes there… Spreading the granny-square love one stitch at a time! More about the classes here.

Now Annie gave me some Rico Essentials Merino DK yarn to take away to create some samples. I loved the shades she chose – mint, coral and rusty brown. They’re slightly retro, in a modern sort of way.
shades of wool and granny squares

I made the squares at another Haberdashery. This time not a craft supplies shop, but a gorgeous cafe, The Haberdashery in Crouch End, which is one of my favourite places to grab an elderflower soda on a hot day. soda in a jar and granny squares

I was really pleased with the results. If you fancy having a go, there are instructions for a basic granny square in the How To… section of my website here.

Retro style lamp and trhee granny squares

All things orange

After using the coral shade for those classic granny squares, I realised that when it comes to colourful inspiration, I’ve been surrounded by all things orange recently.

marigolds in a windowbox The windowsill is full of marigolds, I’ve just made a batch of citrus olives, with lots of orange zest in the marinade, and when I opened my kitchen cupboard, this is what I saw…

So while I was visiting The Village Haberdashery the other day, I snapped up some Hooked Zpagetti in peach, orange and white to experiment with. I used a 10mm plastic hook.

The result was some oversized granny square mats. They’re a little cumbersome to make though, so I won’t be taking these out on my travels with me, but they’re perfect to sit and make at home.

Here’s a peach and white one. What do you think?

large granny square mat with plant and orange glassward

Size doesn’t matter!

So after making these giant mats, I turned to something much smaller, which just goes to show how versatile granny squares can be. I found some muted orangey yarn in my stash, and some contrasting blue. With three simple two-round squares, I created a fun wristband.

It’s laced up with a plait, decorated with two little glass beads…

Laced up fastening of granny square wrostband

I think I’ll definitely be wearing this one while the sun’s shining!

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Springtime floral squares and flowers

May 4, 2017 by Annie Leave a Comment

Springtime floral squares – the inspiration

It’s springtime and time for some more floral inspiration. So, pale pInks and pastels, bright yellows and blues? Surprise – I’ve decided on a different spectrum this year. I love the texture of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino for crochet projects – so soft and light, and easy to hook, even if it’s not the cheapest yarn on the block. Quite often, I’ll pop along to my local wool shop Nest and pick out a few shades to get some inspiration.

This time I chose five colours – Kingfisher, Coral, Primrose, Lipstick and Duck Egg.

FIve shades of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino

Once out on the kitchen table they shouted out to me ‘flowers’! Maybe it was something to do with the fact that I’d just potted up some bedding plants in my window box and was surrounded by fresh looking greenery.

However, although I was sure the floral motif would crop up somewhere in this project, I was also keen to work up some granny squares. It’s been a while since I’ve crocheted any. There’s something so satisfying about crocheting granny squares. For a start they’re so portable – even on a short bus journey, there’s time to hook a round or two. And they’re a lovely way to experiment with combining colours.

Pile of floral granny squares

For this project, I decided to start my granny squares with a few circular rounds in the middle. I thought it gave a nod to the floral theme. I’d then add in a few little flowers, to see where inspiration took me… (By the way, this dressing table mat was embroidered last century by my grandmother – hope you like it. There’ll be more of her work featured on the site in the future.)

Little crochet flowers

The colours work really well together. But instead of using them in a completely random order, I decided on a few ‘rules’ to hold the project together.

The squares would have 6 rounds, and whichever colour I started with would also be the colour in round 4. The colour in the second round would also be the colour in round 6. I kept the Lipstick pink for round 3 in a couple of the colourways, and also made that shade the main petal colour in the little flowers. And I put primrose in each of the colourways, and as the middle round of the little flowers.

After making a mound of squares and flowers I decided that I’d use the little flowers as the joining motifs in the corners where squares meet.

Four colourways

My first two colourways were:

Kingfisher:

Floral square kingfisher colourway

Round 1 duck egg, Round 2 dark green, Round 3 lipstick, Round 4 duck egg, Round 5 primrose and outer edge kingfisher.

Coral:

Coral floral square colourway

Round 1 primrose, Round 2 coral, Round 3 duck egg, Round 4 primrose, Round 5 kingfisher, outer edge coral.

Duck Egg:

Floral square in duck egg colourway

Round 1 kingfisher, Round 2 duck egg, Round 3 lipstick, Round 4 kingfisher, Round 5 primrose, outer edge duck egg.

I loved the first three colourways so much, I popped back to the shop to buy an extra shade – Flame, and worked up another one.

Flame:

Floral granny square in flame colourway

Round 1 primrose, Round 2 flame, Round 3 kingfisher, Round 4 primrose, Round 5 duck egg, outer edge flame.

Now I’m busy working up a pile of squares and flowers before I decide exactly what to make with them. I’ve used them to head up this website already, as you can see at the top of the page, but can’t wait to combine them into a project.

Piles of floral squares

I’ve put the pattern for the squares and flowers here

I’m still busy crocheting, but, as I said, I haven’t quite decided what I’m going to turn them all into.

Any ideas anyone?

Floral squares and little flowers