Patchwork Granny Square Baby Blanket
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I love a good granny square, they are my 2nd favourite thing to crochet (my favourite is flowers of course!) When friends and family have a baby I like to make a baby blanket for the new arrival whenever I can. This year was particularly busy and I had 3 to do. I actually know 8 people who had babies this year but I’m afraid there just wasn’t time to make blankets for all of them!
Let me start by being very clear, none of these granny square designs are my own. I am just going to share details of the materials I used, the links to the pattern I used and a short description of how to did the border so that you could make a blanket like this one if you wanted to.
This post has had some major updates because some of the patterns I used are no longer available. Read on - I’ve explained fully where that has happened and found possible substitutes where I can.
If you’ve never crocheted before and have always wanted to learn how to then you might like to check out my article “What you need to get started Crochet” that lists the essentials that you’ll need to get going. This blanket is a little advanced for a beginner but if you start with the basics there is no reason at all that you can’t make something like this as your 3rd or 4th project.
Originally I was just going to do the amazing Casual Granny CAL from Redagape, but then I had a couple of favourites from the Hobbycraft Granny Square Month CAL so I just mixed it up from there really! I did adapt some patterns just a tiny bit so that all my squares ended up the same size. All my squares finished with a round of white which had 23 stitches on each side. I’ll explain below what I did with each one.
Here are the blanket stats:
Finished Size: 92cm x 92cm (36” x 36”)
Hook: 4mm (US size 6) my favourite is my Clover Amour Hook
Yarn: 4 x 100g balls of King Cole Paradise Beaches DK yarn. 1 ball each of Pink Gin, Pina Colada, Strawberry Daiquiri and White Lady
I found the King Cole DK yarn a little thinner than other DK but beautifully soft to work with. According to their website each 100g ball is 255m (279yds). I used all but a tiny amount of each colour, I had very little leftover on this one, very satisfying!
I made 25 granny square in all - all the links are in the paragraphs about each one below:
3 of the Heart Granny Square
6 of the Square 3 from the Casual Granny CAL
2 of the Circle in a Square from the Hobbycraft Granny Square Month CAL
2 Flowers at the End of the Rainbow Squares - also from the Hobbycraft Granny Square Month CAL
2 Daisy squares - I actually did 2 different ones (details below) but you’d probably want to pick and favourite and do them both the same
1 of the Compass Granny Squares from the Casual Granny CAL
2 of the Flower Granny Square from Winding Road Crochet
3 Solid Granny Squares
3 regular basic granny squares
The last square is a mystery. I can’t find the pattern I followed anywhere, maybe I made it up? I honestly can’t remember. I offer some alternatives below - I’m sorry!
UPDATE: There seems to be an issue with the Red Agape Blog so the Casual Granny CAL is no longer available there for free. This is a bit of an issue as lots of the squares are from the Casual Granny CAL. The good news is that you can buy all the patterns for all the Casual Granny CAL from Love crafts very inexpensively. For those hoping for free patterns I’ve been searching the internet and added similar free granny square patterns where I can.
The heart granny from the Casual Granny CAL by Redagape. (see above, this blog no longer exists) I made 3 of these, one yellow and pale pink, one pale pink and yellow and one dark pink and pale pink. I LOVE this square but it did take me quite a few attempts to get it right, it’s easy to get in a pickle with rounds 4 and 5. Persevere though as it’s totally worth it. I worked all 7 rounds exactly as the pattern and then finished with an 8th round of dc with some extra stitches in the corners so I ended up with 23 stitches on each side.
Update: Bella Coco has this heart granny square which would make a good substitute, you’ll have to add extra rounds to make it the same size as your other squares. Aim to end with 23 stitches on each side.
Square 3 of the Casual Granny CAL. (see above, this blog no longer exists) A lovely one colour square, I made 6 of these in total, 2 yellow, 2 pale pink and 2 darker pink. To finish this square I worked a round of trebles to finish with 23 stitches on each side again.
Update: Cypress Textiles has 4 free granny squares patterns available which might be a good substitute for this one. Again, obviously you’ll have to adjust the size to make them the same as all your others.
Circle in a Square by Lynda’s Craft Room for the Hobbycraft Granny Square Month CAL is a square that I love. It’s a little tricky to find on the Hobbycraft website now but it is there! You need to go to the Granny Square Month CAL from 2019 page and then scroll down almost to the bottom where you will see the ‘Circle in a square’ pattern on the right side. I made 2 of these, one with yellow and dark pink (very like the fruit salad sweets that we used to get as kids) and the other in pale and dark pink.
I made the square as the pattern up to and including round 6, then for round 7 I did a round of dc in white. I did some extra stitches in the corners and in the middle so I ended up with 23 stitches.
Flowers at the End of the Rainbow is another pattern from the Hobbycraft Granny Square Month CAL, it’s the one directly below the Circle in a Square pattern so if you can find one you’ll find the other. This pattern is by The Wool Nest. I worked 2, one in all 4 colours and 1 just using the white with the dark and pale pink.
I worked up to and including round 6 and then finished with a round of white trbs
I made 2 daisy squares but from 2 different patterns. I actually don’t think I realised I was using 2 different patterns until now!! They are really similar but both lovely.
On the left here is the Daisy Square from the Casual Granny CAL, (see above, this blog no longer exists) I made it just as the pattern and then added a last round of htrb to bring the number to 23 stitches and to make it the same size as the others.
The daisy square on the right is Block F from the Tea on the Green CAL design by Lynda’s Craft room and The Wee House of Crochet.
I only did 1 of the Compass Squares from the Casual Granny CAL. (This blog no longer exists, but if you can work from a chart I’ve found a picture of the chart on pinterest) I worked it in all 3 colours as you can see. I found this one a bit fiddly hence there is only 1!! It was also finished with a htrb white final round.
Update: I’ve not found a good substitute for this anywhere else, I think I’d probably just do another of the '“circle in a square” (see above) squares if I were making this blanket again.
I worked 2 of the pretty flower granny square from Winding Road Crochet. The pattern finishes at round 5 so I just added another round of trbs and then a round of dc to bring the number of stitches on the sides to 23 to match the other squares.
I worked 3 solid granny squares. My favourite tutorial for this is from Bella Coco on You Tube. I made 1 in yellow, 1 in dark pink and 1 with white for the first 2 rounds and then finished in yellow. My solid Granny Squares had 6 rounds of trbs and then a round of DC to finish in white.
I made 3 regular good old traditional granny squares, the OG of granny squares! 1 in yellow, 1 in pale pink and 1 in darker pink. You probably already know how to make a granny square but this tutorial from Bella Coco is a good one. The only difference I make is that I don’t do chains between my 3 trb clusters like Sarah-Jayne does, I prefer a tighter square. Each one was 6 rounds plus a round of solid granny trbs in white to finish.
The Mystery square. This last one is a bit of a mystery. I have searched all my crochet books and folders of patterns but I can’t find it anywhere. I don’t even have a decent photo of it - silly billy that I am!
It’s a sort of filet style so you could substitute this maybe - Starburst Granny Square by Creative Jewish Mom
There is a lovely collection of 25 granny square patterns on the gathered website (previously Mollie Makes) which might give you some more options.
You can make whatever granny squares you like for your blanket, you just need them all to be the same size obviously but you achieve that by adding or removing rounds. If the size is close but not quite right you might find you can replace a round of DC with HDC or vice versa to get the sizing right. Blocking can sort out tiny differences in size to.
Once all your squares are made lay them out on the floor and mess about with the arrangement until you are happy with them.
This was the arrangement I used but you can mix them up however you like.
This is how I settled on the layout I used. It was a lovely summer day when I’d nearly got enough squares, I laid them all out on our picnic blanket and the kids helped me decide on a layout.
Once you’ve designed on your arrangement start joining. Usually I like to crochet granny squares together but to be honest I didn’t think I’d have enough yarn for that so I sewed them with a reverse mattress stitch. When you are sewing crochet together the most important thing to remember is not to pull the stitches too tight. If you can, lay the blanket out flat as you go so you can make sure you are not pulling it too tight and puckering it.
Now it’s time for the border.
I just worked rounds until I ran out of yarn. With some of the colours it was VERY tight, I had very little left so if your tension is different to mine it is possible you will be able to work a wider border or will need to make a narrower one. I’d recommend just working as much as you can with the yarn you have.
I worked:
1) a round of trebles in pale pink
2) a round of granny cluster in white (that’s 3 trebles in one stitch, skip 2 stitches and then work 3 trebles in the next stitch, all the way round. Start in a corner and if you don’t have exactly the right number of stitches at the next corner don’t worry. You can fudge crochet very easily without it ever noticing. Just count the stitches as you have left as you get near the next corner and then vary the number of stitches you leave between clusters a little. No one will ever notice!
3) a round of granny clusters in dark pink (that’s 3 trebles in each gap between the trebles in the round below
4) a round of trebles in yellow, one treble in each stitch
5) a round of trebles in pale pink
6) a final round of half trebles in dark pink
Here you can see when I did the first round in pale pink I worked the 23 stitches across the side of each square and 1 stitch in each corner gap.
In the corner I worked 2 trebles, 2 chain, 2 trebles
All finished!
Isn’t it pretty?
And here it is in use!
I love making baby blankets, they feel like a good long project that you can have on the go and pick up when you feel like it but they are not SO big that they take forever! Here are the others that I’ve made over the last few years.
I’ll be sharing this idea at these link ups
