Blue Granny Square Sweater

Crochet Granny Square Sweater from Zeens and Roger

Crochet your Own Sweater!

So good I made it twice, here is my second Granny Square Jumper!! I’m here to write about it again as, not content with leaving things as they are, I made adjustments which I think you will find useful.

If you haven’t seen my first post about how I made a super colourful version (with lots of fabulous yarn stashbusting), you can find that HERE, on a post imaginatively titled Granny Square Sweater. That’s where you will find the original recipe on how to crochet a jumper of your own. I also created a crochet video tutorial to show how to put everything together.

If you’re a beginner crocheter, you can make this sweater with the resources I have provided. However, it’s not just some granny squares stitched together. There is shaping (at the shoulders and sleeves), nice ribbing, and techniques that will up your skill level.

If you like this granny square sweater, perhaps you’ll like my other crochet ideas. Please peruse my free crochet patterns page. And if you really really like what you see, you can buy me a Ko Fi! Although, it’ll most likely be tea because I’m not a coffee drinker…

Colourful stash busting granny square sweater.
My stashbusting original Granny Square Sweater

What’s Changed?

Ok, so, it would be easy for me to say that this is just the same jumper as my original stashbusting sweater but that’s not technically true. Here are the things that I tweaked:

  • I used different yarn – a merino DK held with mohair lace weight.
  • I only used two colours.
  • The main body granny squares are smaller, allowing me to add width later by using a few rows of granny stripes at each side. This also made room for a slightly deeper neckline because….
  • I changed the shoulder tabs – fronts are longer than the orginal, and different to the back tabs.

The plan for this blog post is to talk you through these changes so they’re not scary. I have drawn up some rudimentary charts, which will help visual learners, and hopefully I won’t bamboozle you with information overload!

Black and Blue granny square sweater from Zeens and Roger

Using Mohair Yarn

As I’ve mentioned above, I used different yarn to make this black and blue fluffy jumper. The original is made with aran weight yarn with wool content. Rather fortuitously, my gauge is the same.

Whilst this black and blue sweater/jumper was also intended as a stash buster (using yarn I had leftover from other projects), I wasn’t sure there was enough of the black so ordered more. I vastly overestimated and have ended up with the same amount that I started with. A little bit more, in fact. So much for stash busting!

If you’re daunted by the fluffy stuff, fear not, read my blog post with some top tips for using mohair yarn. Ultimately, please don’t be scared. This is actually a really good project for mohair yarn because the stitches and design are simple. And holding the mohair with a non fluffy yarn, eases any anxiety too.

I used Drops Kid Silk, I had loads of Cobalt blue in stash from a neglected then rejected design idea.

Merino DK Yarn

I chose to use West Yorkshire Spinners Bo Peep Luxury Baby DK (double knit). The black (Incy Wincy) is leftover from a knitted jumper that went into a Vivienne Westwood inspired Sex Pistols jumper that was the husband’s Christmas present (I didn’t knit it, I asked MiL to do it!). There was leftover Drops Kid Silk black mohair from the same project as well.

More blue (Space Hopper) was purchased as I think I only had one ball in stash. This shade went beautifully with the Cobalt mohair.

I sometimes find that merino can be quite heavy, this one is lovely and light (probably because it’s a nylon mix). It doesn’t create a cumbersome jumper, which can be a bit much for an item of clothing.

Two Colours of Yarn

As a stashbuster, the choice of yarn was made for me. I didn’t have to worry about colour because black and blue were what I had and that was that.

The best thing about only using two colours is that for the main squares, you can float the yarn. No snipping, no time spent sewing in loads of ends, huzzah! Obviously, float along what you decide is the wrong side of the granny square.

I’ve worked out that for this jumper (an approximate size 3), I used:

  • 7x50g blue DK
  • 5x50g black DK
  • 4x25g blue mohair
  • 3x25g black mohair

As a general rule, every 100 grams of the DK merino uses a 25 gram ball of mohair. However, meterage is 112m per 50 gram ball of the DK (therefore 224m per 100g) and the meterage for the mohair is 210m per 25g ball. There’s a little bit of an imbalance so an extra ball of mohair is a good idea, to make up the shortfall.

The amount needed will vary depending on the size you make and how much adjusting you do. You will need more than me if you’re making a larger size. I have not done the maths to find out precisely how much for each size.

Float your yarn
Float your yarn

Cropped Granny Sweater

Two large granny squares are the basis for the main body panels of both sweaters. For this version, the two main squares are four rounds fewer than the colourful jumper. This is so the final sweater doesn’t have the length of the extra rounds but it has the width because I add granny stripes to each side of the front square.

Front and back granny squares have 19 rounds. The front square then has 5 granny stripes at each side. 19+5 is equivalent to a 24 round square for the width, which is one round more than version 1 (cos, why not?!). I added the shoulder tabs to the top, working into gaps between stripes, and gaps between clusters. See pics and charts below.

The back doesn’t have separate side stripes, instead, I crocheted around three sides of the square five times to get the same amount of extra sides and also add it across the top too. Hopefully this is not gobbeldegook!! It’s difficult to put into words but I think the charts are my saviour.

You can use the maths from the original post to work out gauge and measurements if you’re not keen on eyeballing.

Front panel
A pic highlighting how the front panel is put together. Granny Square, side stripes, and shoulder tabs.

Shoulder Tabs

If you make a sweater with the more basic elements, like I did for the original, by the time you’ve added shoulders and a waistband, the sweater is longer than it is wide. For version no.2 I wanted a more cropped style. In order to achieve this there are the additional steps, discussed above. They are arguably more tricky to wrap your head around but I absolutely love the result.

The first jumper has the same number of rows for both front and back shoulder tabs. It’s super easy to do it this way because it means you don’t need to think about maths and stitch placement too much.

However, what would happen if you attached different length tabs (front v back) to main body granny squares? Let’s say 8 rows for the front tabs and 3 rows for the back tabs. Your front body panel would be 5 rows longer than the back panel. This difference needs to be accommodated.

Below I have included the basic charts. I think they are the easiest way to show you all the shaping shenanigans. The charts are truncated so they show you the intention without literally showing every row. The real life jumper has 8 rows of front shoulder tabs (repeat the last two granny stripes rows of the chart to get 8) and 3 rows of back shoulder tabs (samesies as the chart).

Shoulder Tabs Clusters

The important bit is that shoulder tabs should end up the same width across at their last rows. Or thereabouts. I don’t think it matters if there is one stitch difference (mine were!). If there is more of a difference then it might be worth going back to the drawing board.

FYI, My shoulder tabs end measuring approx 16cm.

To begin, the first row of my front tabs has 7 full clusters, plus the end stitches. After four rows of shaping/decreasing and four rows of even granny striping, the tabs end with 6 full clusters and 1 stitch either side = 20 stitches.

The back tabs start with 6 full clusters plus the ends. These tabs are only three rows but because of a little manipulation/decrease at the neckline, I ended with 5 full clusters and 2 stitches at either end, that’s 19 stitches. I’m happy matching 20 stitches to 19. You can’t tell on the finished garment.

However many clusters you choose to add, make sure the width (no. of clusters per tab) isn’t going to create a massive neck hole.

Black and blue granny square sweater

Front Main Body

The first chart (below) is for the front of the jumper. Make the granny square first, then join as many stripes you want to either side. That’s the black and blue section of the chart. Then work the shoulder tabs. I have only shown one tab here but it gives you the picture of what you need to do for both. Don’t forget that more is explained in the colourful granny square sweater post, go check it out.

Back Main Body

The second chart shows the back. Now, here is where it gets more than just a tweak, we’re making different adjustments to ensure everything is the same size and will fit together. You can see that rather than working some side stripes, the chart shows three worked sides of the square (chart has three rows/rounds, in real life I did five). This is to accommodate the different lengths of the front and back shoulder tabs. So, five additional rows along the top of the back, plus 3 shoulder tab rows = 8, which equals the same as the front tab rows.

Crikey, at this point, I feel like I need to say “Thaaaat’s Numberwang!”

Granny Stripe Sleeves

Sleeves remain the same, thank goodness! But because they are stripes, you still have loads of ends to sew in. I started using the ends to sew the sleeves together but it was a major faff so decided to sew them all in first and then sew together using a length of the DK. There’s no need to use the mohair as well when you’re sewing your pieces together.

Ready to Wear Crochet Sweater

And everything else is the same! When writing out the differences it feels like it’s quite complex but in real life, once you have the hook in your hand and the yarn gliding through your fingers, it’s actually a lot simpler. In no time whatsoever you’ll be wearing your new handmade jumper! And it will look great!!

Please share your makes on Instagram by tagging me @zeensandroger and using #ZeensAndRoger

Also, there’s Ravelry too. Adding your project there is super helpful as it helps others see what designs look like when made by others.

Crochet jumper schematic
Granny Square Sweater
Granny Square Sweater Pattern

Granny Square Sweater

How to Crochet a Granny Square Sweater

I didn’t mean to make this granny square sweater! Honest! I have other projects to work on but bright colours and my favourite stitch called to me. This quite often happens. I have a list of designs I “should” be working on when something else catches my eye. Usually, it’s quick and easy makes because I’m craving mindful crochet rather than brain-busting designs.

So, that’s where this granny square sweater comes in. I have just finished an intense commission which involved a lot of head scratching maths. Anything with the granny stitch is a counteractive remedy to the hard stuff so, because I have a very frazzled brain right now, this is a relatively basic “recipe” rather than a full on graded pattern.

It’s not quite as evil a recipe as on a Bake Off final, by which I mean, I do provide plenty of information! However, I haven’t written a round by round, row by row pattern. With my helpful video tutorial and charts below, you won’t need them.

It’s an eyeballing, intuitive project, that you can make up as you go along without worrying about getting the calculator out.

If you enjoy this blog post and the accompanying tutorial, perhaps you’d like to buy me a ko-fi! Thank you, you’re a superstar! You can find more of my Free Crochet Patterns HERE.

Watch the YouTube Tutorial on How to Make a Granny Square Sweater

And, you can read about my Black and Blue Granny Sweater HERE

TLDR

If you don’t fancy reading all the detail below and you are pretty crochet confident, this is it in a nutshell…

  • Get loads of different colours of aran weight yarn and a 4mm or 4.5 mm hook.
  • Make two granny squares in a size that are a similar width to a favourite jumper already in your wardrobe.
  • Add shoulder tabs (charts below).
  • Make two sleeves (charts below)
  • Sew together.
  • Add ribbing (either before or after it’s all sewn together).
  • Wash and block.

Watch the YouTube Tutorial on How to Make a Granny Square Sweater

Winging It

This “recipe” for my granny square sweater is for those who enjoy a laid back kind of project. I would love for you to have the confidence to make it up as you go. Play with placement of increases for sleeves, explore ways of basic shaping. Add length, add width. Shoulder tabs can be different too. Don’t like my crochet ribbing? Try a different one.

However, there are techniques here that will improve beginner crochet skills. The ribbing is fancier than a bog standard one, it is also attached with a Join-As-You-Go technique, which I love. There are shaped shoulder tabs for a nice neckline, and the sleeves aren’t just straight tubes. None of these things are set in stone. You can do what you want.

Also, the more you mess about with crochet by winging it, the more you understand the fibres you work with, and how crochet stitches behave. Crocheting your own clothes will become easier and your skills will grow. Therefore, just get started with experimenting and playing…

A colourful crochet Granny Square Sweater by Zeens and Roger.

Stashbusting Yarn

Let’s start with the yarn. I have lots of colourful aran weight wool leftover from a few different projects: My first garment design, the stripey Perfect Cardigan, All the Fun of the Fair, which is a granny stripe cowl/snood, and the second JW Anderson inspired cardigan I made for my sister. Plenty of colours in this lot! And it’s what I used to make my sweater.

I would say that 95% of stash used here is Paintbox Worsted Superwash (200m per 100g) and Paintbox Wool Mix aran (180m per 100g). There are a couple of other brands in there too. They have slightly different yardage/metreage but in the final jumper, you can’t tell. My fave is the wool mix aran, it’s much softer than the worsted superwash.

What Fibre?

You could use other yarns and fibres if that’s what you have in stash. The beauty of this jumper is that it is adaptable. Ultimately, the main body is a granny square so you just make it until it’s the right size. The sleeves would require more faffing but I quite enjoy the tinkering to get them just how I want them. More info on sleeves is further down the post.

Using acrylic? It’ll be grand for a few wears and washes without blocking (instead, use fabric conditioner and tumble dry so it doesn’t come out squeaky). Just know that it will grow and stretch a little bit upon wearing it. Usually, it’s not a drastic change but eventually, over time, acrylic sort of gives up and becomes flatter and more plasticky than its original fluffy self. That’s my experience anyway.

Using cotton? I can’t give much advice on a cotton version I’m afraid as I never make cotton garments. It’s just not my bag. There’s no bounce in the fibre. It stretches and drapes differently to wool and, so far, I’ve not required that for my designs. If I’m making a jumper I want warm wool. You may wish to make swatch to try it out (see below).

Granny Square sweater by Zeens and Roger

Choosing Colours for your Crochet

Yarn amounts (stash, leftovers) may have an influence on where you place the colours. The more colours you have, the more higgledy-piggledy and awesome it’s going to look. The fewer hues, the more “arranged” it will look. There are about 24/25 colours in mine. Some colours only feature once or twice as were only a few grams left of them.

I had the stash and balanced it all out following my gut. A couple of tips: don’t put all your brights together and evenly place the darker colours throughout. You can read more about how to choose colours for your crochet in another of my blog posts.

How much stash have you got? Use the smaller amounts early on in the squares, have you got enough for a sleeve row? You only need small lengths for the shoulder tabs too. Think about where to use the yarn in clever ways.

How Much Yarn do you Need to Crochet a Sweater?

How much yarn will you need to make your Granny Square Sweater? Oh crikey, how long is a piece of string? It depends on so many factors! The biggest one, however, is it depends on the size you’re making. There’s more info on sizing further down.

Most of the yarn I used is from Paintbox Yarns (aran & worsted, as I mentioned earlier). The worsted is 200m per 100 grams. I’m going to use this to work out how many metres I used. My jumper weighs about 810 grams, which means I used approx 1620 metres. You get this figure with the following equation: weight of the garment divided by the weight of a full ball, multiplied by the meters (or yards, if you prefer) in one full ball. Note that you will probably need more than this in reality as it’s made up of around 24 colours and you’re going to use various amounts of each.

The problem is that as it’s lots of leftovers, of many different colours, giving amounts for other sizes is difficult. Even giving specific amounts for the size I made is nearly impossible because I made no notes on my stash. Eek, sorry. But if you’re a hoarder like me, you’re gonna have loads of stash to use, yes?!

All I can give you is this, if you want to have matching ribbing on the cuffs, waistband and neck, ensure you have at least one full 100 gram ball of yarn for that. Maybe get two balls to be absolutely sure because I probably used approx 1 full ball of green but haven’t worked out how much exactly cos in my stash it was two partially used balls and some went in the main body of the jumper as well). Sorry again!

Zeens and Roger crochet design. Granny Square Jumper

How to Size your Granny Square Sweater

So, as you know by now, this is a recipe rather than a fully graded pattern, which means you might need to do some work! I will help you as much as possible here. And I will make sure it’s not painful. However, we are all making unique versions, right?

The absolute easiest way of making a jumper that’s going to fit you is to dig out your favourite fitting jumper and use that to work out how big to make your square. Take into account that your granny square sweater will stretch with wear (whether you’ve blocked it or not). Therefore, when I made mine, I made it approx 2 cm smaller than my favourite jumper, knowing it would stretch to become a similar size. There’s a slight risk of it stretching more than 2 or 3 cm but that’s ok for this project. We’re not after a fitted garment that’s super precise. This is a laid-back way of clothes making.

It’s worth mentioning, that the larger your square, the more it’s going to stretch. If each stitch stretches and you have more stitches, well, it’s going to make a difference. Fancy working up a gauge swatch, just in case?! Keep reading…

More Accurate Sizing

Ok, so I’ve popped this lil chart here as a useful guide to show a pretty standard width of a sweater with 10cm positive ease (positive ease = additional roominess in a garment, the opposite is negative ease, which makes a garment fitted against the body).

If you’re not sure about using your fav garment to measure against, you can always use this instead. You want your final granny square to be about this size in width. You can find more info about standard garment sizes on the Craft Yarn Council’s website.

Size1 (xs)2 (s)3 (m)4 (l)5 (xl)6 (2xl)7 (3xl)8 (4xl)9 (5xl)10 (6xl)
UK sizing46-810-1214-1618-2022-2426-2830-3234-3638-40
Width of granny  (cm)43.548.553.558.563.568.573.578.583.588.5

Sweater Length

At this point, you need to know that adding shoulder tabs and a waistband is going to add length to your jumper so the end result is that the sweater won’t actually be a square. Bear it in mind. With 4 rows of shoulder tabs and, just shy of 5cm for the waistband, my jumper is approx 57cm in length.

Granny Square Sweater by Zeens and Roger

Gauge and Blocking

To be totally accurate you may be tempted to make a gauge swatch. This is a good idea! You can check that your crochet tension isn’t wildy off from mine. Read about getting gauge on your crochet clothes here.

This can be intimidating, I totally get it. And, although I’m totally winging it, I do have a good understanding of how washing and wearing a garment can alter the clothes you make. This is actually big big subject and I don’t want to scare you off by writing a massive essay about it.

Blocking?

Simply put, blocking means to wash or steam your woolly items and then (gently or aggressively, depending on the situation) pin out to stretch the item as it dries. It will then be fixed in its new state. 

Spend a few minutes to work up a granny square that measures about 15cm (6 inches) and pop it in warm water (with a dash of detergent – I use wool wash soap for my handmade garments). Rinse, blot in a towel, then pin onto foam blocking boards and wait patiently for it to dry.

I didn’t mention it in the video tutorial but I pinned out and steam blocked my main pieces before sewing them together. It’s a really quick blocking method. I have a steamer but the steam function on an iron works too.
For me, this helps for more accurate sewing. The pieces are less likely to bunch or pucker.

The picture below shows what crochet looks like on the blocking boards. If you have a cat, it is pretty much guaranteed that they will want in on the blocking action.

Blocking crochet garments

Arghh, Maths! How Gauge Affects Size

I’m going to assume that you’ve read my quick blog post about gauge. My gauge for this project (after blocking) is about 8.5 rows per 10cm. If you don’t want to eyeball the granny square like did, you can use a formula to work out how big to make it instead. Using the measurement from your size in the chart above, multiply it by the row gauge (8.5) and divide by 10 (cos that’s how many centimetres get you 8.5 rows).

It turns out my eyeballing is surprisingly accurate. Check this out: 53.5 (size 3 as per the size chart) x 8.5 / 10 = 45.475. I worked 23 rounds of grannies. 23 x 2 =46!! Wowsers! (I’ve multiplied by 2 because we go around in a square, not rows. From the granny’s centre to the top, it’s 23 rows, from the centre to the bottom, it’s 23 rows).

And I know, I know I said you wouldn’t need a calculator. sorry about that. But technically it’s true if you’re winging it!

Granny squares
crochet granny squares

Make Your Granny Squares

You probably already know how to make a granny square but if not, I show you how in the video tutorial. I like to turn mine every round so that there’s no dreaded twist.

Once you have two granny squares that are the chosen size, add shoulder tabs to the top. I also demonstrate this in the vid. It’s a Granny stripe method with a touch of shaping so that the neck is a nice, rounded shape. See below for the charts.

On the bottom of the granny squares, work a row of UK dc (US sc) stitches. This is the base upon which you’ll work the waistband ribbing. Use the same colour that you’ll use for the ribbing.

By the way, at any point during this process, you’re going to have to sew in the eleventy bajillion ends. Hahahahahaha! Quite honestly, looking back, I don’t know how I did it without crying.

Add Shaped Shoulder Tabs

This is the next step beyond the most basic of boxy crochet garments. There is absolutely nothing wrong with basic square shaping for a crochet sweater. I make ’em sometimes. But here, let’s go one step further and add shoulder shaping. This creates a scoop neckline, which will sit nicely across your clavicles!

Of course, this is open to adapting in different ways. To keep it simple I have kept the front and back the same. I won’t mention too much more on this because I demonstrate how you can tweak this in another version of this gloriously colourful granny square sweater. Find out more in my Black and Blue Granny Square Sweater post.

Below is a chart showing the tabs attached to the main body (the granny square). I chose to add four rows for mine. You have the left and right tabs there. I should have drawn them mirrored. I didn’t. Oh well, it is still very useful to see them visually.

Please note that the number of clusters on the charts aren’t the same as the number I actually added to my size. This is an example of stitch placement and you will want to add additional clusters depending on your size.

And by the power of Photoshop, it should look like this! Sort of…

Shoulder Width: How Many Clusters?

The number of clusters you add for you shoulder tabs is possibly/probably going to be different from mine. The first row of my tabs had 6 full clusters rather than the 3 shown in the chart.

If you would like accurate measurements then Ysolda Teague has detailed charts for sizing. There’s a bit of jiggery pokery to calculate the specifics so you may wish to eyeball it instead. And seeing as that’s what this crochet sweater is all about, let’s do that! Go grab your fave jumper again and measure the shoulder widths.

According to your gauge, how many clusters can you crochet to fit in that width?

Sleeves

Crochet granny stripe sleeves

Ok, so you’ve got the main body done. Now for the sleeves. They’re worked flat, in rows.

I want shaping here, very basic shaping. Luckily, arm length can stay the same regardless of the size of the main body so what I’m sharing here is going to work for the majority of folks. Of course, it’ll be different if you’re not using aran or worsted yarn. Obvs, things will vary if your tension is different so work more or fewer rows if needed.

My sleeves measure 46cm without cuffs, I worked 41 rows. Decide how long you want your sleeves and work as many rows as you want. And don’t forget that the cuffs add to the length too. They are 4cm so in total, I have 50cm length sleeves. This works for me and my arms. I’m a fan of 50cm sleeves!

Sleeve Width

Begin by working a foundation row of UK double crochet (US single crochet) using the ribbing colour. Check out my video tutorial for the foundation start. You need multiples of 3 plus 1. I worked 43 stitches for the beginning of my sleeves. After the first row of grannies appear, it measures approx 27cm at the wrist, and after you’ve worked 41 rows, the width at the other end (upper arm) measures 40cm. You might need to make yours narrower or wider than mine. Add or remove multiples of 3 stitches to change the sleeve width. Treat every 3 stitches as 2cm, so you’re adding or subtracting 2cm if you change the stitch count.

If you worked 43 stitches, the first row will have 13 granny clusters, plus the two ends.

Then add the JAYG cuffs. To be honest, you can add ribbing before or after you’ve constructed the jumper. I wanted them blocked at the same time so added them before. I’m not sure if I’d do this again but it worked in the way I wanted.

Next is a pic of the sleeve chart. Sorry for the hand-drawn nature of all my charts in this post. It was the quickest way of doing it!

Crochet chart  for sleeves

Below is a not particularly tidy way of demonstrating where I put the increases at the ends of each row. There are more regular increases at the beginning before I decided I didn’t need as many to get the shape required. Play around with increases as much as you desire to create different sleeve shaping.

Only after making this chart did I realise I only crocheted 41 rows not 42. Oops.

Crochet Ribbing

I decided to add ribbing for the cuffs and waistband before sewing the pieces together. I was happy with my measurements of everything and knew I wouldn’t need to make further adjustments. If you’re not sure, add these after you have sewn the main pieces together. That way, if you need to adjust the depth of the ribbing, you only need to undo those sections and not the whole thing. I added the neckband once everything else was constructed.

For this granny square sweater, I opted for my current favourite crochet rib stitch. It looks fabulous and is an interesting technique that’s more sophisticated than basic rib stitches. It’s still Back Loop Only, like a lot of ribbing but this time with a two row pattern repeat.

With the wrong side facing you, attach the yarn to where you want the ribbing and chain 8 for the cuffs, 10 for the waistband and for the diddy neckline, chain 6.

Working down towards the foundation/base I used a yarn over slip stitches (yoslst) and on the way back up on the next row it’s just a simple slip stitch. Once again, you can see a demo of this in the video tutorial.

As a written pattern, the ribbing looks like this:

Chain 10 (for example)
Row 1 (w/s): Working in back bumps, yoslst in second ch from hook, yoslst to end, sl st in next 2 sts of foundation row, turn. [9 sts]
Row 2 (r/s): Miss 2 sl sts, 9sl sts BLO, turn.
Row 3: ch1, 9yoslst BLO, turn.
Rep Rows 2 & 3 to end. 

Sew Everything Together

Remember to sew on the wrong sides to keep the right side as neat as possible. Use whip stitch, mattress stitch, whatever floats your boat.

1. Lay the front and back panels together (right sides together) and sew shoulder tabs together first.
2. Then, sew flat, the sleeves to the shoulders. Get them nicely lined up so that the centre of the upper sleeve is in line with the middle of the shoulder seam.
3. Fold everything in half and sew the sleeves and body in one fell swoop.
4. Add a round of UK dc (US sc) stitches around the neckband so there’s a foundation for the ribbing (matchy matchy with ribbing colour please).
5. Add neck ribbing (and cuffs & waistband if you left them to the end) and sew the ends to close.

Then, gently handwash and block if using wool yarn (yep, blocking again! I was thorough). The weight of itself should be enough to ensure it stretches appropriately. Once the excess water is gently squeezed out and blotted with towels, I didn’t bother to pin it out, just relied on the wet heft of it to stretch itself. [jeez, wet heft!]
If using acrylic, wash in a machine (not forgetting fabric conditioner to avoid the squeaky squeaky) and tumble dry.

Granny Square Sweater by Zeens and Roger

And there you have it. A Granny Square Sweater!! That was a lot of words, right?! Eek, my longest blog post I think.

Please do let me know when you make yours, I would absolutely love to see. Upload your project to Ravelry and tag me on Instagram. #zeensandroger

BTW, This post contains an affiliate link, which means, if you buy through the link I set up for Lovecrafts.com, I get a small percentage of what you spend (at no extra cost to you).

If you thought this was completely brilliant and amazing, please consider buying me a ko-fi!

Cheers! xxx

Free Crochet Pattern. Ribbed Mohair Hat

I don’t need a new crochet hat, I have plenty of hats, but when is that ever an excuse? As a crocheter compelled to make stuff, hats are pretty good palette cleansers in between more complex projects. They are also great stash busters and I am definitely a fan of a decent stashbuster.

The idea behind this crochet hat is to use my pretty leftovers of mohair yarn from all the fluffy adventures I’ve been on over the last couple of years.

Before you read on for the pattern and its details, I have also made a YouTube video tutorial, which you can find HERE. During the editing process I noticed that I tell everyone I used a 4.5mm hook to make the hat, I didn’t. I used a 5mm. Please ignore “Tutorial Zeens”, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Well, mostly she does, everything else is good information….

On a family Sunday walk, wearing my stashbusting crochet hat.

Notes on Making your Crochet Hat

making a rib stitch crochet hat

A Crochet Rib Stitch

I wanted to keep things simple but also use the best kind of crochet rib stitch. There are lots of hats crocheted in this kind of method but often I see a half treble (US half dc) worked in the back loop only. I love a htr back loop only but not for a rib. There are better options that are tidier and more effective, like the one I’ve used in this pattern.

For this hat I opted for a yarn over slip stitch (YO sl st) worked in the back loop only (BLO). It worked just as I wanted it to. It’s a stitch that would look great in fishermans’ rib style jumpers (must make one of these).

Please watch the video tutorial for a stitch demo. It’s one of those stitches that’s a little bit fiddly when you’re just learning but once it becomes a rhythm, it’s actually quite fun to do.

The stitch goes like this: Yarn over (YO), and insert hook into the stitch, yarn over and pull through all loops on hook.

Ribbed stitch crochet hat

The Yarn

The main yarn I used was a DK merino held with a laceweight kid silk mohair. If you have never used mohair yarn before but fancy giving it go, check out my tips of using mohair yarn.

The blips of contrast colours were a selection of all fluffy yarns in my stash leftover from previous projects. Mine range from laceweight to DK weight to chunky.

You can get fluffy yarn across all budgets and I threw everything into this hat regardless of weight or brand. The Christmas before last I made mohair and brushed alpaca scrunchies for my nieces. The leftovers are in this hat. The summer of that year I made a colourful cardigan out of MYPZ chunky mohair. (oh lordy, I called it DK in the video – another mistake!). I also had fluff from other projects too. Let’s chuck it all at the hat!

The colour changes are pretty lazy. Working with two strands all the time, whenever I wanted to introduce a new shade, I popped the one I didn’t want out of the way and laid a new strand with the one still in use. Then I swapped back when the contrast colour ran out, or whenever it felt right. When not in use, I floated most of the main colour across the wrong side of the work. Sometimes, if they were overly long, I’d snip them and rejoin later.

Crocheting a Hat to Fit

I worked 70 rows of 40 stitches. The piece of fabric measures 23 (the hat’s depth) x 47cm (the hat’s length). My head measures 56cm, which is quite a few centimeters more than the length of the hat. This is because you need negative ease in a hat so it stretches to fit. Standard negative ease is about 5-6cm for a hat. Mine is a little more than that as it will stretch out further upon wearing. Essentially my own head is “blocking” it out as I wear it.

Blocking? Simply put, blocking means to wash or steam your woolly items and then (gently or aggressively) stretch out the item as it dries. It will then be fixed in its new state. I have no intention of properly blocking the hat. I have no intention of washing the hat at all (unless it falls into a muddy puddle or something) so I don’t think blocking is too urgent. It depends on your own personal preference for a project like this. Yes, a gentle steam block will even out stitches. And yes, it will create additional length and width by being stretched out. It depends on how particular you are as to whether you want to do it properly. This is a quick win crochet hat so I’ve just eyeballed it.

By all means, if you’re a harcore perfectionist, make up a swatch, wash it and leave to dry. You can then measure how many rows and stitches there are over 10cm (4 inches). From these measurements you can work out Gauge.

Here’s my unblocked gauge: 18 sts and 15 rows per 10cm. It varies a little bit here and there when the different weights of yarn are applied.

Crochet Ribbed Mohair Hat Pattern

Things You Need

  • 100g of DK yarn, I used West Yorkshire Spinners “Bo Peep”, which comes in 50g balls.
  • 25g kid silk mohair, laceweight. I used Drops.
  • Lots of different contrasting colours of various mohair, brushed alpaca, or similar.
  • You will need extra of everything for the pompom. If you’re shopping for the whole shebang, add 3x 50g dk and 2x 25g laceweight to your shopping basket for the main body of the hat.
  • 5mm hook. This is me going up a hook size than I’d normally use. I found it too fiddly to get the hook into the Back Loop Only (BLO) with a smaller hook.
Crochet hat in a gorse bush.

Hat Pattern

Chain 41
Row 1: In the second chain from hook YO sl st, YO sl st to end, turn. [40 sts]
Row 2 – Row 70 (or however many rows you need for a bigger/smaller noggin): 1ch, YO sl st BLO to end, turn. [40 sts]

This finished piece measures approx 23 x 47cm.

When changing colours, ensure ends are all on the “wrong side”. I didn’t worry about sewing them in. I am going to let their flyaway fibre structure do the work for me. Mohair never wants to let go so I’m pretty sure none of these contrast colours will work themselves loose. If in doubt, feel free to tie ends together before tidying up the ends with a pair of scissors.

When you fasten off, leave a long tail for sewing. Sew up the side using a whip stitch, do this wrong side out. I have demonstrated a way of doing this in the tutorial that ensures it’s pretty much invisible. Using the same length of yarn, run the needle along the top circumference of the hat, going in and out of the rows. Gently but firmly pull to close. Then, secure everything in place by working the needle around the gathers, back and forth, again and again to lock it all in place. Tie off but don’t snip just yet.

Crochet hat

Tiddly Om Pom Pom

I am not going to write a step by step process for pompom making. I am not good enough! But you will hear my delight in the video tutorial when I made the one for the hat. I have every confidence that you will be better than me at making a pompom. But at least I didn’t break the yarn this time. Be careful when tying off the pompom as I have a tendency to break the yarn by pulling too hard!

When attaching your big fluffy sphere to the hat, be firm with the tying so the pompom won’t loosely flap about atop your head. Once secure, I also tied all loose ends together and then snipped to trim rather than sew them in. No one has time for that, especially you aren’t going to see them.

If you don’t want to make a fool of yourself like I did you can always buy a ready made one?

Mohair hat

Crochet Bucket Hat – A Free Pattern & Tutorial

How to Crochet a Bucket Hat: click the pic for the YouTube tutorial

A Crochet Bucket Hat

The promise of summer is here! To celebrate, how about a crochet hat pattern!? Using just one roll of raffia, you can make a straw hat that’s perfect for protecting yourself from summer sun.

An impulse purchase has led to me having a roll of Wool and the Gang’s Ra Ra Raffia sat in my stash for about two years. I thought that one day inspiration might strike for it to become a cute clutch or little tote. Nope, it was a hat that won out in the end. This was due to some fine weather that was forecast for last weekend. A beachy time in Cornwall beckoned and I needed a hat! Alas, the hat wasn’t finished in time for Cornwall; such a shame because photos against a backdrop of sandy beaches would have looked awesome (although I did get some fab photos of my Perfect Cardigan)! Actually one version of the hat did get finished in time but I ended up frogging it half way down the A30. It was too big.

The tangled ball of papery yarn did not look quite so fancy anymore. Thankfully, it worked just as well after being ripped back. With some tweaks and adjustments, the second hat was completed yesterday and it fits like a dream!

Frogging on the A30

Seeing as I’m off work this week I have found some time to film a crochet hat tutorial and write up the crochet pattern. It’s called the Bucket hat because that is exactly what it is! Other name suggestions were “Kick the Bucket” and “Bargain Bucket.” Not sure either of those are the best names though…. What about the Blossom Bucket? Did you watch Blossom on telly back in the 90’s?! That’s a blast from the past!

Yesterday was a beautifully sunny day so me and the boys took a stroll down to the river for a few snap shots. The eldest was paid a few quid to be a photographer for me. Unfortunately, there aren’t many river pics included here because the river’s beaches were busy with loads of people. There was lots of joyous laughter and cheerful frolics going on. Those guys were definitely making the most of the first day of June.

The boy did a great job as chief photographer; he didn’t seem to mind when more shots and more angles were demanded. But I guess you don’t want a massively long story and to be honest, it doesn’t need one. So here follows the pattern….

Next book on the reading list. Haven’t started it yet.

To make a bucket hat, you need:

  • 1 roll of Ra Ra Raffia in Desert Palm (affiliate link).
  • 4mm hook
  • Stitch marker or 2.

Notes & tips

  • The pattern is written in UK terms but, honestly, it’s dead easy to convert: UK htr stitch = US hdc. UK dc = US sc.
  • My head measures 57cm – about average I guess…
  • Every two stitches measures approx 1cm.
  • You can make a hat smaller by missing out the last increase round, this will reduce the size by 4 sts.
  • You can make your hat bigger by working an extra (4 st) increase round.
  • Raffia has a bit of stretch to it. If it feels slightly tight at first, worry not, it will give after wear.
  • Made top down, the hat is worked as a spiral, increasing as you go.
  • Use the stitch marker to note the first st of each round, move after each round.
  • Watch the YouTube tutorial HERE.
Channeling the 90’s with a Blossom style hat!

Crochet Bucket Hat Pattern

  • Rnd 1: 8htr into a magic ring.
  • Rnd 2: inc around – 16 sts.
  • Rnd 3: *1 inc, 1htr; work from * 8 times – 24 sts.
  • Rnd 4: *1 inc, 2htr; work from * 8 times – 32 sts.
  • Rnd 5: *1 inc, 3htr; work from * 8 times – 40 sts.
  • Rnd 6: *1 inc, 4htr; work from * 8 times – 48 sts.
  • Rnd 7: *1 inc, 5htr; work from * 8 times – 56 sts.
  • Rnd 8: *1 inc, 6htr; work from * 8 times – 64 sts.
  • Rnd 9: *1 inc, 15htr; work from * 4 times – 68 sts.
  • Rnd 10: *1 inc, 16htr; work from * 4 times – 72 sts.
  • Rnd 11: *1 inc, 17htr; work from * 4 times – 76 sts.
  • Rnd 12: *1 inc, 18htr; work from * 4 times – 80 sts.
  • Rnd 13 – 22: htr around with no increases.
  • Rnd 23: Repeat rnd 3 – 120 sts.
  • Rnd 24- 27: htr around with no increases. (Any more rounds than this and the brim will curl in on itself).
  • Finish by making 3dc stitches followed by 3 slip stitches. Fasten off and weave in ends.
Half way hat. Before the brim was started. Finger indicates last increase round.
Crochet Bucket Hat
Side view of a crochet bucket hat.

And That’s it!

Such a quick and easy hat to crochet! You can wear it with the brim turned up or turned down. I added four rounds to the brim in the end. However, it did look good with just three rounds. Try playing around with different rounds to see which you prefer. This sort of hat is very forgiving (I am a big fan of forgiving crochet, it hides a multitude of sins!).

OK, I think that’s it for now. I will let the photographs below do the talking. But before you scroll on, if you enjoyed this fabulous pattern, please support my crochet work by buying me a Ko-fi or, check out my Free Patterns page. Cheers x

Don’t forget to share your makes on Instagram #zeensandroger

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Crochet a hat for summer
Not quite Blossom
Crochet Bucket Hat
Tiny dot of a buzzard
Making hay whilst the sun shines
A crochet hat ready for summer sun
Zeens and Roger crochet bucket hat

Made it this far? Haha, well done!! But also, thank you. xxx

10 Crochet Cowl Patterns, The Ultimate Winter Accessories

I was at the very cold and windy beach yesterday when I realised how much I LOVED the crochet cowl I was wearing! Sat securely & snuggly around my neck, it wasn’t going anywhere. The best thing about a cowl is that there are no flappy scarf ends, breeze whipping them about my face! Neither will it slowly work itself free and slide to the ground. A crocheter can also hook up a handmade cowl pretty quickly.

I started counting up how many there were in my crochet collection. A LOT is the answer!! And they all get worn at this time of year. The ice cold weather this week isn’t set to rise above 3 degrees. A warm cowl is the first choice crochet accessory that I’m going to reach for.

Whether fancy 4ply or super chunky, there are all sorts of styles you can try. It doesn’t matter if you’re a beginner crocheter as there are loads of easy cowl patterns to try. It doesn’t have to be fancy stitches or anything, you could smoosh together four largish granny squares (5 inches would do it) and that’s a cowl. When I say smoosh, I mean sew them together in a row and then join ends to create a circle. Voila, a cowl has been made.

This blog post is also a blatant excuse to share loads of my designs to tempt you into getting the yarn and hooks out. Of course it is….

Leaping Waves

I love this ripple cowl so much! I gave it to my mum for Christmas one year. Do you know I have never seen her wear it!? Shocking! It’s a DK merino project and the soft, buttery merino feels beautiful against a delicate neck.

I called it Leaping Waves as the ripple stitch undulates around. It’s also a nod to Outlander, which i haven’t seen for years. Everyone loved that first season, didn’t they?!! You can find the pattern HERE.

Leaping Waves, a pretty crochet cowl

Isca Cowl

At one point last winter I briefly had red hair. It goes really well with the blue of my Isca cowl!

This pattern also comes with a matching head band too. You can find it HERE.

The mix of rib and bobbles stitches is one I would really like to visit again. It looks super sophisticated in this design. Especially as I’ve held a merino 4ply with a laceweight mohair. It’s gorgeous! The border of this design is a rib look that runs perpendicular to the verticle pattern on the main body, which is another feature that looks fab.

Striped Crochet Cowl Pattern

Companions, is a cowl and wrist warmers pattern set. I am so so pleased with this colourful stripey set. Ridiculously pleased. Every aspect works: the yarn, the pattern, the style. It’s exactly what I had imagined. This is the cowl I was wearing yesterday at the beach (the wrist warmers were left at home as I didn’t want them getting mucky whilst rooting through pebbles, looking for seashells!).

Companions. A crochet cowl and wrist warmer pattern.

Apres Ski, C2C Cowl

I’d say that this hat and cowl are suitable for beginners who fancy a quick project that’s simple yet visually effective. A corner to corner chevron? It’s all in the colour work. Here’s the YouTube tutorial to show you how. The same pattern can easily be turned into a hat too (it’s good to have options!). I use a thick woolly yarn that’s definitely going to keep you warm on the slopes. Or, more importantly, after the skiing while you have a drink or two. [disclaimer:: I have never been near a ski slope in my life]

I got the idea for a C2C chevron from the granny chevron I designed (below) which, in turn came from a big floofy version I did. (I am currently obsessed and delighted with how ideas beget ideas – it’s fascinating).

Granny Cowl

A couple of years ago I was asked to design a granny stitch cowl for the front cover of Mollie Makes magazine (still a very proud moment of mine). The brief was for it to look a bit like a shawl. A shawl that’s not a shawl! It turned out to be one of my most popular designs ever. It’s for sale on Ravelry, Etsy and LoveCrafts. I included a chart which shows the shaping on this one.

I see triangle cowls popping up more and more in the knitting and crochet community. I’ve got more than one design now too.

Brighter Future

Brighter Future, a crochet cowl.

See? Another triangular shaped crochet cowl!

Brighter Future is a really pretty cowl that hasn’t been popular at all! Poor thing. I think perhaps that is because it’s slightly different from my usual style. However, I am really pleased with its delicate stitches. Made in 4ply yarn, this keeps your neck warm but isn’t heavy or cumbersome. It doesn’t get in the way whilst you’re wearing it, which is a real boon.

All the Fun of the Fair

All the Fun of the Fair

This colourful granny stripe cowl is made in aran weight yarn. It was originally inspired by the stripes of the big top circus tents. It comes in two different sizes so you can have a small, neat one that fits more snuggly. Or this larger one (above) that has lots of colour and is, as the name suggests, pretty fun! I hope you like the post stitch ribbed edges too. It’s now pretty obvious to me from sharing these patterns that I have a thing for ribbed borders and edges. I don’t know if I’d noticed before).

Claudia Cowl

Claudia Crochet Cowl

The Claudia Cowl is a simple and beautiful one skein project. Make yourself something special out of that gorgeous hand dyed yarn you’ve been saving. The skein I used was bought for my by my friend Claudia of Crochet Luna when we were at Yarndale together in 2018. It has subtle stitch texture with a Join As You Go rib edging.

An Asymmetric Granny

I know I know, this blog post features a lot of granny stitch cowls! But I love Granny stitch, it’s my medicine and I make no apologies for that. For this design, I bought some chunky nep yarn one day when I fancied a splurge. It became this interesting shape of a granny triangle shawl. You may be curious to learn that the origin of this one came from all the scribbly sketching of different ideas for the Mollie Makes front cover.

It’s a free pattern on the blog HERE.

Have you made any? They don’t have to be small and simple. You can make elegant, double looping infinity scarves, or massive super chunky things that envelope your entire top half. There are loads of variants in between. Do have a favourite? Which one? Hopefully there’s something here to inspire you to get crocheting. Let me know how you get on!

Before I go there’s also a scarf and cowl bundle on Ravelry which is worth looking at. It’s a great starting point if you’re interested in quick but useful crochet projects.

xxx

Crochet Owl Decoration. Free pattern.

This is from one of my first ever published patterns here on the blog. The other day I looked back at it and ugh, it was so badly written. I had very little pattern writing experience in 2015 and it shows!! I am keeping the original blog post up, mostly for laughs, but also because I don’t see why I should hide it. Yes, I have improved quite a bit but the whole point of this blog is to record what I’ve been up to. I won’t edit that.

To accompany the updated pattern I also recorded a free video tutorial for my YouTube channel. Click on the pic above to go directly to the tutorial.

 

If you would like to support my crochet adventures, please consider subscribing to Patreon.

Or if you would prefer, for the price of a cup of coffee you can buy one of my other patterns from Ravelry or Lovecrafts. Thanks ever so much. x

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Materials:

  • Small amounts of DK yarn in coordinating colours
  • 3mm (C/2) hook
  • Stuffing
  • Fabric for lining approx 20cmx20cm
  • Buttons, felt pieces and embroidery thread for eyes
  • Sewing needle & darning needle

Abbreviations:

2trtog 2 treble sts together (US 2dctog) st(s) stitch(es) sp(s) space(s) ch chain ch-sp chain space htr  half treble crochet (US hdc) sl st slip stitch tr treble (US double crochet) rep repeat beg beginning

Special Stitches: 

2trtog: Yarn over, insert hook into st, yarn over and pull through, yarn over and pull through 2 loops (2 loops on hook), yarn over, insert hook into same st, yarn over and pull through (4 loops on hook), yarn over and pull through 2 loops (3 loops on hook), yarn over and pull through all 3 loops.

Notes:

  • Don’t crochet over your tail ends as you go or you will see them in your finished owl. Sew them in after you’ve completed the body.
  • Instructions are written in UK terms.
  • No turns at the end of the rounds.
  • The “2ch, 1tr” at the beg of rounds counts as a 2trtog.

Owl Body:

Chain 4 and join with a sl st or make a magic ring.

Rnd 1: 2ch, 1tr into circle, 1ch, (2trtog, 1ch) seven times, join with a sl st to the top of the first 2trtog. [8 2trtog]

Rnd 2: Sl st in next ch-sp, (2ch, 1tr, 1ch, 2trtog) into same ch-sp, 1ch,  *(2trtog, 1ch, 2trtog, 1ch) in next ch-sp; rep from around, join with a sl st to the top of the first 2trtog, fasten off. [16 2trtog]

Rnd 3: Join new colour with sl st in any ch-sp, 2ch, 1tr in first ch-sp, 1 ch,  *2trtog in next ch-sp, 1ch; rep from * around, join with a sl st to the top of the first 2trtog, fasten off.

Rnd 4 – 6: Repeat Rnd 3, changing colour each round.

Rnd 7: Sl st into any ch-sp, 3ch (counts as 1tr), 1tr in same ch-sp, 2tr in each ch-sp around, join with a sl st to the top of the 3ch. [32st]

Rnd 8: 2ch (counts as 1htr), 1htr in the top of each st around, join with a sl st to the top of the 2ch.

Rnd 9 -10: Repeat Rnd 8.

Fasten off leaving a long tail for sewing head closed.

Turn inside out and using a darning needle, weave ends. Turn back the right way. Take the scrap of fabric and place inside the owl and stuff. Tuck in fabric neatly. Whip stitch the top closed using a darning needle and the long tail.

Eyes

Cut out circles of felt, sew buttons to the felt and using contrasting embroidery thread sew to the owls face. (Separate out two strands from the thread to give a finer stitch).

Beak

Using a darning needle, stitch on a beak with yarn. First, stitch on a triangle shape, then use five or six more vertical stitches to fill in the space. Finish it off with a couple of horizontal stitches across the top of the beak. Or stitch/glue on a little triangle of felt!

Wings

Chain 9.

1htr in 3rd ch from hook, htr in next st, 1tr in each of the next 3 sts, htr in next st, (1dc, 3ch, 1dc) in last st, turn work to crochet down the other side of the chains: 1htr, 3tr, 2htr, sl st to the top of the first st. Fasten off leaving a tail for sewing wing to body.

Other options

Tufty ears: use a crochet hook to pull three 10cm strands of yarn through the corners of the owl’s ears, take the ends of the yarn and poke through the loop. Pull tight. Trim.

Crochet a hanging loop by attaching yarn to the top of his head with a sl st, ch25 and sl st to join to head. Sew in ends

Don’t forget to add your owls to Ravelry and tag #zeensandroger over on Instagram. Cheers!

Copyright Rosina Northcott. 2019.  zeensandroger.com

This pattern remains the property of Rosina Northcott/Zeens and Roger at all times and is for your own personal use only.  Please respect my work and do not copy, reproduce, redistribute or re-sell this pattern.  

 

Free Crochet Pattern. Easy Crochet Flower

This is a quick crochet flower tutorial that has kind of sprung from nowhere. I created it because I needed something quick and small to disguise some ugly bits on a blanket! It was quick enough to film a speedy tutorial too. I hope you like it!

To get to the tutorial please click on the picture above or go to my YouTube channel HERE. The written pattern is below.

If you would like to support my crochet adventures, please consider supporting me on Patreon. It would mean the world. Thank you. x

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Not the best pic; that flower is wonky!!

The pattern couldn’t be easier! It is so fast! Use any yarn you like along with the recommended hook size for that yarn. I use cotton dk with a 3.5mm hook.

Pattern:

Chain 5 and join with a slip stitch. (You can also chain 4 for a slightly smaller centre, or do as I do and use a magic circle!

UK version:

Into the ring *(2ch, 3tr, 2ch, 1dc); rep from * four more times. Fasten off and sew in ends. Boom, done!

US version:

Into the ring *(2ch, 3dc, 2ch, 1sc); rep from * four more times. Fasten off and sew in ends. Boom, done!

xxx

Granny Square Bag. Free Crochet Pattern & Video Tutorial

Only two weeks after the last crochet tutorial (an asymmetric granny stitch cowl) and here are two more that show you how to make a granny square bag! Sorry, I’m flooding you with granny stitch designs at the moment. I swear I do have other crochet ideas that involve different stitches!

By the way, my YouTube channel is HERE. Please feel free to visit for podcast watching, as well as finding helpful crochet video tutorials.

Crochet a Granny Square Bag

Here are all the things you need to get crocheting…

  1. To make your own crochet granny square bag you will need lots of lovely yarn in all your favorite colours. Mine is very much a stashbuster using double knit acrylic yarn. No need to buy yarn for this sort of project when you probably have plenty in your collection.
  2. You will also need a hook that matches the yarn weight. I used my trusty 4mm crochet hook. You may even try going down a hook size to ensure that your bag has decent structural integrity. You don’t want a floppy bag, do you?!
  3. You will also need some matching fabric (a polycotton will do nicely) and something to sew it (a machine is preferable but there’s nothing stopping you from sewing by hand). Along with, have some pins at the ready too. It’s also a good idea (but not essential) to get some interfacing to add to the sturdiness of the bag.
  4. Bag handles, don’t forget bag handles! You can cut them from old knackered bags, or, I have found them by googling “long bag handles” before and up they popped. You can get all kind of bags handles for around a fiver.

Video Tutorials

Join As You Go Granny Squares

This tutorial is based on a granny square bag I made a couple of years ago. The original blog post can be found HERE. There are lots of details in that post that will be super useful here. However, this is a slightly different version. I’ve made this new crochet bag a bit less fussy, which is always a winner for makers.

There are two video tutorials for this project. Firstly, there’s How to Crochet Join As You Go Granny Squares. I start by making one granny square and then at the time stamp of 5.25 I begin to join them together. At first this can seem a little daunting but once you get your head around the construction, joining as you go is really good fun. Not to mention a huge time saver!

When I crochet my grannies, I don’t add chains between the clusters. This comes in handy a bit later, which I explain in the second video tutorial….

Turn Granny Squares into a Bag

The second video tutorial talks you through how to crochet the bag together so that it goes from basic rectangle to a functioning, useful project.

My helpful vid link is here:How to Put the Granny Square Bag Together. When I watched it back that noticed I dismissively say “whatever” a bit too much! Oops.

My rectangle piece of crochet is 4×6 Join As you Go Granny Squares. Once the ends have been dutifully sewn in, it’s time to turn it into a fab bag. At the two short ends I added some crochet rows that will become the handles. Then work UK dc stitches / US sc stitches down both long sides, popping stitches into the trebles of each cluster.

Fold the whole thing in half and slip stitch the sides together. This is the basic pocket created and a few extra steps are needed to finish off. Next is to attach the handles. You’ll see from the tutorial that I am not precious about my stitches but I would gently suggest you take more care than me.

Once you have the handles in place you could absolutely stop there. I make no judgement about this as sometimes it’ll be perfect right here. However, let’s say you want to keep a crochet WIP in your fancy new granny square bag, what’s going to fall through those lil holes?

There is no way that I am prepared to lose my crochet hooks so I am fully prepared to sew a pretty lining to make it super sturdy and structurally sound.

Lining a Crochet Bag

I use a similar technique each time I choose to line my crochet bags. I used it in my Hotchpotch Granny Stripe Purse, for example. And if you’re tempted to go one step further, I have a video tutorial for How to Attach a Zipper to your Crochet too!

When I suspect that you might be able to see through crochet stitches of a bag, I like to add a double lining. This is so that you can only see prettiness between any gaps. I am quite laid back in my approach to measuring for lining and don’t often get the tape measure out. The lining technique is demonstrated in the second video from about 17 minutes.

Please see below for some accompanying pictures. Not quite step by step photos but they will help you put your own crochet bag together, especially for when you get to add the bag lining. Like I said, I would always advise lining a granny square bag. How else do you stop things falling through the holes!?

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xxx

Asymmetric Granny Cowl. Free Crochet Pattern and Tutorial.

It has taken an age but I finally found time to record a new crochet tutorial! Hurray! Thank you for being so patient with me. Video tutorials take a lot of time to put together so it’s very easy to drop it lower on the list when something else pops up. Please click on the picture above to go to the tutorial or HERE to my YouTube channel. Don’t forget my Free Patterns page too, that’s HERE

Materials & Notes to make your Crochet Cowl

  • One colour: 2x 100g (135m) balls of chunky yarn. I used Stylecraft Alpaca Tweed.
  • Stripey version: 3x 100g (135m) balls of chunky yarn.
  • 8mm hook.
  • Written in UK terms (converting is dead easy, a UK tr is a US dc, that’s it!).
  • 3ch counts as a stitch (st/s).
  • I have a loose tension, go up a hook size if you don’t!
  • Scroll down for a “chart” showing colour changes and a it more info.

Crochet Cowl Pattern

Chain 28
Row 1: 1tr in 4th ch from hook, miss 2 sts, *3tr, miss 2 sts; rep from * to the last st, 2tr in last st, turn.

Row 2: 3ch, 3tr in each sp along to end, 1tr in last st, turn.

Row 3: 3ch, 1tr in same st, 3tr in each space along to end, finishing with 2tr in last st, turn.

Row 4 – 24: Rep Rows 2&3 ten times and Row 2 once more.

Row 25 (increase row): 3ch, 2tr in same sp, cont as Row 2 to end.

Row 26: Rep Row 3.

Row 27: Rep Row 2.

Row 28 (increase row): Begin as Row 3, end with 3tr in last st, turn.

Row 29: Rep Row 2.

Row 30:  Rep Row 3.

Row 31 – 45: Alternately rep Rows 25- 27 and Rows 28 – 30.

Row 46 (edging): 3ch, 3tr in each sp along, (3tr, 2ch, 3tr) in corner sp, 3tr in each sp to end. Fasten off leaving a long tail for sewing.

Sew the short piece to the other end of the straight side (see chart below). Add tassels if desired! Voila, one seriously speedy granny cowl. Because you’re using chunky yarn with as big hook, you can crochet this in next to no time at all.

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Cheers! x

Free Crochet Pattern: Granny Market Bag

This granny stitch market bag was first published last summer in an issue of Olann And (a lovely Irish magazine that, very sadly, isn’t going anymore). I designed it especially for them after hearing about their online magazine through a fellow designer friend.

What you need to crochet your own crochet market bag

  • Cotton DK Classique Stylecraft, 100% cotton, 50g, 92 metres/100 yds, in Fondant x4 (Yarn B), Leaf x1 (Yarn C) & Nocturne x1 (Yarn A). Option 2: Fondant x3, Leaf x1 & Nocturne x2.
  • 3.5mm hook.

Measurements
16 inches (41 cm) across x 15 inches (39 cm) deep

Abbreviations  (UK terms)
Ch = chain, Htr = half treble (US hdc), Rep = repeat, Sl st = slip stitch, St(s) = stitch(es), Tr = treble (US dc), Yrh = yarn round hook.

Special Stitches
The crab stitch (also known as the reverse double)
Chain 1, insert hook in the st to the right, yrh and pull through st, yrh and pull through both loops.

Notes

  • Do not turn after rounds
  • 3ch &2ch at the beginning of rows count as stitches
  • Be careful not to twist the chains when making the handles
  • Please note that this crochet pattern is written in UK terms. All you need to remember is that a UK tr is a US dc .

Crochet Market Bag Pattern

With Yarn A chain 4 and join with a slip stitch. Or use a magic ring
Rnd 1: 3ch, 11tr into ring, join with a sl st  to the top of the initial 3ch [12 st]

Rnd 2: 3ch,1tr into same st, 2tr in each st around, join with a sl st  to the top of the initial 3ch [24]

Rnd 3: 3ch,1tr into same st, *1 tr in next st, 2tr in next; rep from * around, join with a sl st  to the top of the initial 3ch [36]

Rnd 4: 3ch,1tr into same st, *1tr in next 2 st, 2tr in next; rep from * around, join with a sl st  to the top of the initial 3ch [48]

Rnd 5: 3ch,1tr into same st, *1tr in next 3 st, 2tr in next; rep from * around, join with a sl st  to the top of the initial 3ch [60]

Rnd 6: 3ch, 3tr in same space, miss 2st, *4tr in next st, miss 2 st; rp from * around, join with a sl st  to the top of initial 3ch [20 clusters of 4tr]

Rnd 7: 3ch, 2tr in space between clusters, 3tr between 2nd & 3rd tr of cluster, *3tr between clusters, 3tr between 2nd & 3rd tr of cluster; rep from * around, join with a sl st  to the top of initial 3ch [40 clusters of 3tr]

Rnd 8: 3ch, 2tr in same space, *3tr in next space between clusters; rep around, join with a sl st  to the top of initial 3ch

Rnd 9 – 37: Rep Rnd 8

At the end of Rnd 11 fasten off and attach Yarn B or for Option 2 attach Yarn B after Rnd 17

Rnd 38: Attach Yarn C to any st, 3ch, 1tr in each st around, join with a sl st  to the top of initial 3ch [120]

Rnd 39 – 40: Rep Rnd 38

Rnd 41: 2ch, 1htr in next 4st, 65ch, miss 40sts, 1htr in next 20st, 65ch, miss 40sts, 1htr in next 15sts, join with a sl st to the top of initial 2ch [170]

Rnd 42: 2ch, 1htr in next 4st, 1htr in each ch along, 1htr in next 20sts, 1htr in each ch along, 1htr in next 15sts, join with a sl st to the top of initial 2ch

Rnd 43: 2ch, 1htr around, join with a sl st to the top of initial 2ch

Rnd 44: crab st around, join with a sl st to the first st.

Fasten off and sew in ends. Go shopping!!

I adapted the pattern too. Check out the simple changes I made for this khaki/grey market bag HERE. It has become my main shopping bag and it fits a ridiculous amount in it!

Ok, I think that’s it! Enjoy your weekend. x

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