The Humble Granny Square

I have always abhorred waste.

This, logically, leads gobs of bits floating around me, reminiscent of Saturn’s rings only with crafting materials rather than comet leftovers. Thus, out of necessity and the pursuit of sanity, I am forever seeking ways to simplify my life. This means trying to reign in not only my penchant for gathering but also collecting all manners of methods to bust said stashes of this and that.

Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, I present one of my favorite ways to get rid of those itty bitty balls (cakes) of yarn left over after larger afghan-y projects: the granny square.

Granny Squares are great because they are versatile. A square can be used for a scarf, wraps, afghans, bags, hats and (as illustrated in my latest project) ponchos. The only downside of granny squares is that you need to weave in all those annoying ends. That has to be, by far, my least favorite part of crochet, but as a trade off for making something fun, wear-able, gift-able and sale-able it’s worth it. There are countless boards out there on Pinterest about them so I plan, in the near future, to try other types of square. There are even some that have round centers; that looks fun!

So next time you find yourself drowning in a sea of tiny bits of yarn, consider the humble granny square. Keep a pile of them handy whenever you need to whip stitch your way into a great new project that also helps get rid of those tiny bits in your stash.

NOTE: For the project below I based it loosely on the Drops Pattern entitled “Summer of 69,” which seems appropriate. I really like their patterns, even if sometimes their instructions are somewhat lacking.