Basic Granny Square Pattern Tutorial + Helpful Tips

I’m sharing a quintessential crochet project with you today! The Basic Granny Square Pattern is as easy as it gets and you can make these squares on the go for a nice portable project to keep your hands busy.

If you haven’t ever followed a Knit or Crochet Pattern before, it’s not as difficult as you think and I have a bunch of Knit Blanket Ideas that you can make at home yourself.

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If you are looking for a simple pattern, but vibrant colors this granny square project is a great idea. You can easily use up scrap yarn to make these basic granny squares and join them into an afghan/ blanket, a scarf maybe, or even a table runner.

DON’T MISS: See how I put these squares together into a colorful Granny Square Blanket! I love how it turned out!!


crochet pattern for granny square

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*affiliate links have been used below

  • Size H or I crochet hook– these are 5mm or 5.5mm in size. Use a crochet hook size recommended for the type of yarn you are using. I would recommend using an ergonomic crochet hook– these are slightly more pricey but are more friendlier to your wrist in the long run.
  • Yarn– I have used 6 skeins of the Red Heart super saver yarn (7oz or 198gm each) here. The exact colors used have been listed and linked at the bottom of this post. You can choose to use any yarn you have that is #4 worsted.

how do you crochet granny squares

Today I will be showing you the step by step process to make this three-round basic granny square. You’ll need three colors of yarn for this: Color A= light pink, Color B= dark pink, and Color C= teal along with a 5.5mm crochet hook.

Terms used: ch= chain, dc= double crochet, sl st= slip stitch. One cluster = 3 double crochets. All terms are US Stitch Terms.

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Round 1: With Color A make a slip knot. Ch 4. Join to the first ch with a sl st to make a circle/loop  (or alternately make a magic loop).

Ch 2, 2dc into the loop (this forms the first cluster), ch 2, * 3dc, ch2* three times. Join with a slip stitch to the starting ch2. This completes the round and forms a square shape with 4 clusters.

Change to Color B and cut off Color A leaving a one-inch tail.

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Round 2: With Color B ch2, 2dc, ch2, 3dc into the ch 2 space below from round 1, ch1  *3dc, ch2, 3dc, ch1 into next ch2 space* three times.

Join with a slip stitch to the starting ch2. This completes the round and forms a square shape again with 8 clusters.

Change to Color C and cut off Color B leaving a one-inch tail.

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Round 3: With Color C ch2, 2dc, ch1 into the ch 1 space below from round 2, ch1, (3dc, ch2, 3dc) into next ch2 space, ch1  *3dc into the ch1 space below, (3dc, ch2, 3dc) into next ch2 space below , ch1* three times

Join with a slip stitch to the starting ch2. This completes the round and forms a square shape again with 12 clusters.

Cut off Color C leaving a one-inch tail and weave in the tail.

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basic granny square tutorial

To continue growing your Basic Granny Square infinitely: Join new color into any ch1 space below- ch2, 2dc, ch1. Then *3dc, ch1* into each of the ch1 spaces below and (3dc, ch2, 3dc, ch1) into each corner ch2 space.

Basic granny square DONE!

Once you have mastered the Basic Granny Square Pattern, you will want to make more of them! I love that you can mix and match the colors of yarn and each granny square looks new and different.

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The basic granny square is also great for beginners and a fun project for kids, beginner project. This summer, I have my mom and daughter making these granny squares with me and this is going to be one special afghan/blanket made with love.

Click here to pin this project onto your Pinterest board. Thank you!

NOTES AND TIPS:

  1. My biggest tip to you – weave those ends as you go! You do not want to end up with more than 100 granny squares with a yarn tail that needs to be tucked in.
  2. This basic granny square pattern is for just three rounds. You can totally continue to make larger granny squares. All you need to keep in mind- the corners have two clusters with a ch2 between them.
  3. While I absolutely love color and choosing colorful yarns is my jam- you might think otherwise and prefer a muted single color. Try making this granny square using one single color of yarn for all the rounds for a monochromatic look.
  4. I joined these granny squares into a beautiful blanket, find My Granny Square Blanket: 5 tips I learnt

NEW: Rainbow Scarf Crochet Pattern

FAQs

I’ve answered a few of the questions you have asked me about this project below

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  • Do you plan the colors or just random ones?? Since I was making this project with my mom and daughter I kept it simple. Use any three of the six colors to make a square. We then organized and grouped the blocks based on the outermost yarn color.
  • How much yarn did you need? To make 180 of these basic granny squares I used 6 Red Heart Supersaver yarn skeins. But I do have oddballs of yarn leftover for another project.

written pattern for granny square

Here is a Printable Basic Granny Square Pattern pdf for you to enjoy. Please do not redistribute or sell this. Thank you!

Why are granny squares popular?

A Basic Granny Square is an easy crochet skill to learn, uses up little yarn, and can be made with leftover yarn balls from other projects easily. Once you learn how to make a basic granny square, you can easily make a hundred of them and join them to make something special.

Details of the yarns/colors used in my blanket:

*affiliate links used

You can use ANY medium weight 4 yarn that you might have in your stash. Yarn substitutes have been listed below. These are the colors seen in my blanket

Yarn Substitutes: Craft Smart, Loops and Threads Impeccable, Mainstays, Caron Simply Soft, Caron One Pound, Vanna’s Choice.

basic granny square blanket

More free easy granny square patterns:

This Basic Granny Square Pattern is just the start friends! There are so many other easy designs that you can try and conquer and I am sure you will love them all!

Once you have mastered the basic Granny square:


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If you have any questions about this Basic Granny Square Pattern leave a comment below and we can chat more there. I love hearing and learning from you all 🙂

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4 Comments

  1. Hi there, thanks for such clear instructions on the granny square! How do I keep going with the same colour?

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