Granny Square LOVE

I confess, the granny square fascinates me.

It is a slow-building affection that has been a long time coming, I think.
Blame Pinterest and all its wonderful, colorful images…thousands of gorgeous afghans in every color combination and square motif imaginable. I am undone.

I currently have several granny projects going. But first, a few don’ts. 🙂

Don’t use your grannies in awkward clothing projects. There are a few cute patterns out there, but many are just plain frightening.

If you like any of the above clothing, my sincere apologies. I confess to rather classic taste, myself. So much so, that while I have tried several variations of colors lately, I have discovered a simple golden rule for ensuring a gorgeous granny every time…are you ready? Ta da…

…make the final round of each square THE SAME COLOR.

You don’t have to, certainly…but I am telling you, it just makes the blanket better. More visually appealing. Whatever. Personally, I get tired of using that much of the same color…but the end result is worth it. Here are a few of my favorites:

Edging in white:

Flowers, flowers, flowers…

Love this daisy pattern? Free here:
http://tillietulip.blogspot.com/2012/06/to-beg-chain-ch-5-and-join-to-form.html
Or here:
http://colorncream.blogspot.nl/2013/09/flower-square-tutorial-iii.html
Jewel tones, triad and monochromatic:

And some specialty squares…

The mitered granny:

And Circle of Friends (I just love this!)–

A little more about color:

I stumbled across a great color lesson recently, with fun visuals and helpful links, including a color combo and stripe generator!

Here is the blog:
http://www.craftyminx.com/2011/10/crochet-school-lesson-18-working-with-color.html

And the online color tools:
http://www.biscuitsandjam.com/stripe_maker.php

https://kuler.adobe.com/themes/mostpopular?time=30

Sooo, all of this to say that perhaps you remember my scrapghan from a few weeks back?

I confess, I did NOT have the space or time to lay mine out this neatly…

Nor this…

Truthfully, I had my sweet daughter hand me random circles as I crocheted. 🙂 She enjoyed snuggling…I think I have perfected crocheting while a child lays on my arm. Not so easy, but they are getting used to the back and forth motion!

It is turning out much as I hoped. I am using a continuous join, but making strips of two rows each, so that I can arrange them at the end and avoid having similar colors too close together.

Update: two strips finished!

I am looking forward to playing with the newly discovered internet color tools during my freetime later this week! Happy crocheting!