Fun with Grannies
One of the things Paul got me for my birthday was Jan Eaton’s book, 200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws, and Afghans: Crochet Squares to Mix and Match. I have been on a serious stash-busting mission and had already started some basic grannies with a pile of Ggh Wollywasch and similar weight yarns, and now I’m adding to them with fun combinations from the book. I figure I’ll post a few on the blog now and then, if you guys like seeing them. While I’m not totally in love with all of the colors I’m using together, I’m just going to have some faith that it will all work out in the end. This falls into my “ongoing, but no pressure” project pile, along with my knitted dish/face cloths (hello Xmas presents!).
I really like the book and the way that it’s set up; underneath the instructions for each square, it shows you three corresponding color-coordinated square patterns that you could mix to form a whole blanket, which is especially fun if you’re nervous about ‘designing’ your own blanket. I also love that each square works out to be the same size (assuming you use the same size hook and yarn for each). That saves me from having to do the calculations on my own, especially if I’m doing a stripey or stitch patterned square.
My only (small) beef is that there are no diagrams in this book. Diagrams are by no means standard, but I really love them. After going through the process of including them in my own book, I can understand leaving them out (cost, extra editing, space considerations, etc)– but I really do think they make it easier and faster for me to crochet so I appreciate books that include them. That aside- I totally recommend this book if you like making blankets, or bags, or pillows, or anything else out of squares!