Hello there!
I so love making granny squares. I had great fun with those I finished last week for Knit-a-square. I had another delve into my stash, and came across some yarn I bought on a whim once when I was in the UK. It was so cheap, it's acrylic/polyamide (I think) but it still feels soft and cosy. The colours are a bit too pale for knit-a-square so I decided that I'd make a baby blanket either to give away or to sell.
I'd noticed cute daisy squares on some other blogs, and I decided to make my own pattern. After a few attempts I think I got it, so here it is. I've not yet finished the whole blanket, but I thought you might like to join me :-)
You will need:
DK yarn in three colours
4 mm crochet hook
a tapestry needle
It's best to finish off and sew in the ends after finishing each part (as you can see on the photo).
Rnd 1 (yellow). Make a magic circle, 3 ch (counts as first dc) and 11 dc in the magic circle (12 dc). Slst into the 3rd ch of first stitch. Fasten off, weave in ends.
Rnd 2 (white). Puff stitches make up this row. To start, pull a loop of white yarn about 1 cm long through the top of one of the dcs, *yrh and pull another loop (3 loops on hook), repeat from * three more times (9 loops on hook), yrh, pull through all nine loops, yrh, pull through remaining loop. Initial puff stitch finished. Ch 1. For the next and subsequent puff stitches, pull a loop of yarn about 1 cm long through the top of the next dc, yrh, and pull another loop through, repeat three more times, yrh, pull yarn through 8 loops on hook, yrh, pull through remaining loop. Ch 1.
Continue until the end. You should have 12 puff stitches with 1 ch space between each. At the end, make one extra ch and slst to the top of the first stitch. Fasten off and weave in ends.
It may take you a while to get all your puff stitches to the same size. The first ones I made were a bit uneven, but you soon get into the rhythm.
Now the real "granny" part begins. You'll work into the ch spaces between the puff stitches.
Rnd 3 (blue). Attach yarn between two puff stitches, 3ch (counts as first dc), 2 dc in first ch sp, ch 1, 3 dc in next ch sp, ch1, 3 dc in next ch sp, ch 2.
*3 dc followed by ch 1 in each of next 2 ch sps, 3 dc followed by 2 ch in next ch sp.
Repeat from * to end. Slst to top of beginning 3 ch. Turn.
Rnd 4 : ch 3, in 2ch sp, work 2 dc, 2 ch, 3 dc. *3 dc in next ch sp, repeat form * twice. Then in corner 2 ch, work 3 dc, 2ch, 3 dc.
Carry on the rnd in the same manner. When you reach the end of the rnd, sl st in top of beginning 3ch. Turn.
Rnd 5: 3 ch, in ch sp work 2 dc, then carry on the round, working 3 dc into each sp, and 3dc, 2ch, 3dc in each corner. At the end of the rnd, slst into top of beginning 3 ch. Fasten off and weave in ends.
And there's your daisy baby afghan square. I can't wait to see how yours work out. I'll be back with a taa daah moment as soon as I've made enough to join them into a blanket.
