The classic granny square, explained stitch by stitch

If crochet has a national dish, it's the granny square. Four rounds, one stitch type, endless colour play. Once you can make one, you can make a blanket, a cushion, a bag or a cardigan.

What you need to know first

• Chain (ch) and slip stitch (sl st)
• Treble (tr) in UK terms, which is the US double crochet. Yarn over, insert hook, yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through two, yarn over and pull through two again.

The structure

A granny square is groups of 3 trebles separated by 1 chain, with 2 chains in each corner. Each round you work into the chain spaces of the previous round, never into the stitches themselves. That's what makes it fast and forgiving.

Round by round

Round 1: Ch 4, sl st into the first chain to make a ring. Ch 3 (counts as your first tr), 2 tr into the ring, ch 2, then [3 tr, ch 2] three more times. Sl st into the top of the starting ch 3. You have four clusters and four corner spaces.

Round 2: Sl st along into the nearest corner space. Ch 3, 2 tr, ch 2, 3 tr into that corner. Ch 1. In each of the next three corners work 3 tr, ch 2, 3 tr, with ch 1 between corners. Sl st to close.

Round 3: Same again, but now there is a side space between each corner: work 3 tr into each side space with ch 1 either side, and the 3 tr, ch 2, 3 tr shell into each corner.

Round 4 onwards: Keep going. Every round adds one more side cluster per edge.

Changing colour neatly

Finish a round, cut the yarn leaving 15cm, and pull the end through. Start the new colour in any corner space with a standing treble or a sl st and ch 3. Weave the ends in as you go rather than saving forty of them for the end.

Joining squares

• Whip stitch through the back loops only for a flat, nearly invisible seam.
• Join-as-you-go if you want to skip sewing altogether: work the last round of each new square while hooking into its neighbours.
• Dc seam on the right side for a raised, deliberate ridge.

The full written pattern is attached below as a free download. Make one square with each yarn in your stash and you've got a stash-buster blanket.

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