Not just another Granny Square – CAL (Granny Squares Galore!) part 1

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Hi guys, Abi here. I hope you are having a wonderfully sunny Sunday, the weather is gorgeous here!

Since I started crocheting back in 2015, I have always loved to take part in CALs. For those of you who are bombarded daily with acronyms and can’t immediately make a guess (me included!), CAL stands for Crochet ALong. The idea behind them is that the pattern is released in parts, allowing fellow crocheters to work on the same project whilst making new crafty friends all around the world.

So, as this blog is just a little fledgling at the minute, I thought it would be a nice idea to do a CAL, but with a few exceptions. I plan to release a new granny square pattern every Sunday; at the end of the year, I will release a post making all our little squares into a lovely new blanket ready for Christmas snuggling!

As each part of this CAL will be a granny square, it allows all of you readers to dip in and out, and still be able to make the final blanket! I will also release several different ideas throughout the year for things to make with your lovely little squares.

And as for the other twist; all CALs that I have taken part in have already been made and the pattern decided. For this CAL, not all patterns have been decided, and so if any fellow readers have a pattern they would love to share and feature in this blog, please feel free to contact me!

So, let’s get crocheting friends!

CAL – Part 1

Granny square – Shell in the middle

All crochet patterns and terms I use are in UK, but if you want them in US then check out this handy stitch converter.

Materials:

• 1 skein of chunky weight yarn. You can chose multiple colours; I used leftover paintbox yarn in dolphin and midnight blue.
• 4.5mm crochet hook.

Skills used/ required:

• Foundation chain
• Slip stitch (ss)
• Treble crochet stitch (tr)
• Changing colours
• Shell stitch

Foundation chain/ Row 0: In midnight blue yarn, chain 4 and finish with a ss into first chain to form a ring.

Row 1: Chain 3 (counts as 1 tr), two tr into the ring (making first shell stitch), chain 2 * 3 tr 2 chain . Repeat twice more from * , finish off with ss into third chain of 3 chain. Fasten off.

Row 2: Join dolphin blue yarn to any corner chain 2 space. Chain 3 (counts as 1 tr), (2tr, 2 chain, 3 tr) into chain 2 space, * chain 1, ( 3 tr, 2 chain, 3 tr ) into next chain 2 space. Repeat twice more from *, finish off with 1 chain and a ss into third chain of 3 chain. Fasten off.

Row 3: Join midnight blue yarn to any corner chain 2 space. Chain 3, (2 tr, 2 chain, 3 tr) into chain 2 space, * chain 1, 3tr into chain 1 space, chain 1, (3 tr, 2 chain, 3 tr) into chain 2 space. Repeat twice more from *, finish off with 3 tr into chain 1 space, chain 1 and ss into third chain of 3 chain. Fasten off.

Final Row: Join dolphin blue yarn to any corner chain 2 space. Chain 3, (2 tr, 2 chain, 3 tr) into chain 2 space, * chain 1, 3tr into chain 1 space, chain 1, 3 tr into chain 1 space, chain 1, (3 tr, 2 chain, 3 tr) into chain 2 space. Repeat twice more from *, 3 tr into chain 1 space, chain 1, 3 tr into chain 1 space. Finish off with a chain 1 and ss into third chain of 3 chain. Fasten off.

My square is 12cm by 12cm, but if you want to continue the pattern to make a bigger square feel free! All you need to do is add an extra shell stitch to every side as you increase. In the final post I can adjust for different size squares when stitching together to make the blanket, but obviously it would be much easier if all squares are similar in size!

Happy crafting!

Abigail

P.S. For all newbie crocheters, I will be releasing blog posts going over the basics of crochet in the next coming months, but please feel free to check out other amazing crochet intro books and blogs =)

Update:

For those find crochet diagrams easier than words, I have attached a diagram for the granny square above. I will be going over how to read crochet diagrams in upcoming blog posts.