Square One

Learn to crochet granny squares from your very first stitch, then make four things with them: coasters, a cushion, a tote bag and a blanket.

A granny square is the classic little square of crochet made from the middle outwards in rounds, from groups of three stitches. This book is for someone who has never crocheted. It starts with which hook and yarn to buy and how to hold them, teaches the four stitches granny squares need, and then builds your first square one round at a time.

How it teaches

• Every round written twice, in US terms and UK terms side by side. The two countries give the same stitch different names (the US double crochet is the UK treble), and following a pattern in the wrong set of words makes squares that come out the wrong size. Here you read whichever column you know, and a page explains the difference.
• Every round charted and counted. Each square has a stitch chart in standard symbols and a count to check at the end of every round, with a box to tick. Every written round was checked by a program that works it stitch by stitch over the round before, and every count, chart and yarn estimate comes from those rounds.
• The growth rule, so you never get lost. One sentence explains how any granny square grows, and a table gives the counts to round 16: count one side, compare it with the round number, and you know whether the round is right.
• Eight problems, pictured, with the fix for each: wavy, cupped, twisted, rounded corners, one odd corner, lumps, a gap where rounds start, and squares that come out different sizes. These are the problems beginners post about again and again in crochet help forums.
• The parts nobody warns you about: weaving in ends securely (and how to have fewer of them), blocking squares to the same size, and four ways to join squares, including join as you go.
• Real photographs of real crochet throughout: step-by-step stitch photographs, finished squares, blocking, joining and finished blankets.

What you make

1. Four coasters, about 4½ in (11 cm): three rounds and a frame round, in cotton.
2. A big granny cushion for a 16 in (40 cm) pad: one square worked round and round, twice, closed with a single-crochet seam. No little squares to join.
3. A solid-square tote, about 11 to 12 in (28 to 30 cm), with two straps: solid squares with no holes for keys to poke through, cotton, firm straps and an optional fabric lining.
4. A blanket, any size: baby, lap, throw or single bed, with how many squares each size needs, how much yarn, four colour plans, join as you go, and a three-round border.

Each project lists its yarn in yards and metres for every colour.

Also inside

A printable square tracker for planning a blanket, a worksheet that works out squares and yarn from your own first square, a one-page quick reference, and a glossary.

The file

One PDF, 53 pages, US Letter. The tracker and worksheet pages are made to print.