Meet Mr Pickles who loves to sit on my very first crochet blanket (pattern from Lucy Attic24)
Learning to crochet is one of the best (in my opinion!) gifts we can give ourselves. Once learnt it stays with us for life and if you are anything like me it will travel with you where ever you go. I use it to calm myself in times of stress and overwhelm and it’s been my best friend throughout my treatment for breast cancer.
Crochet is muscle memory so the more you do the more your body will naturally remember the movements without having to think about it. Once this happens your mind is free to wonder and you can feel yourself de-stress from life. The only stress you will have is knowing you need to put the crochet down and get on with life! As my friend Laura from WOOL says, it's like yoga for the mind.
There are many versions of the granny square pattern which can feel confusing to begin with but in essence they all end up looking the same. It’s all a matter of preference which usually comes down to how we were taught. Some patterns have a ch-3 for the corners whilst others use ch-2. Some begin each round on a corner, some don’t. It really doesn’t matter which way you do it but when following a pattern it’s best to go with the designers method.
So before we begin here is a recap of the three basic stitches you will be using for the granny square.
ch: Chain is when you start with a stitch on the hook, yarn over hook and pull it through original stitch.
sl st: Slip Stitch is when you put your hook through the stitch (like a hole punch - front to back) then yarn over (you now have 3 on the hook) and pull it through both stitches so that you are left with one on the hook.
tr: Treble crochet is yarn over hook, put hook through the hole (front to back like a hole punch) and pick up the yarn (some would say yarn over) and pull it back through the hole. You now have 3 'stitches' on the hook. Now yarn over again (4 'stitches' on the hook), pull through two, yarn over and pull through two. You now have one stitch on the hook.
Download the free pattern pdf here
