I had jury duty a few months ago, and I thought it would be a great time to learn how to crochet. Fortunately, there was a lady in the jury room who already knew how to crochet, and she helped me make my first granny square. (I had a hard time realizing that with crochet you sometimes don't look at the stitches you've made, but look at the holes in between the stitches.) I made a couple of tiny granny squares, tried a hexagon or two, and then I went back to knitting after jury duty was over.
And then this group got started on Ravelry, the Giant Granny Crochet Along. And I felt compelled to join. This looked like a great way to use up some left over bits and balls of yarn. Of course, I was in San Francisco and far away from my stash. I went over to Imagknit and got some yarn just to get me started.
I only got four balls of yarn, and it doesn't take very long to do the beginning four rounds of a granny square. I decided to swatch. A lot.
I decided that an H hook was the right size. J was too big (I think I missed I somehow), and G was too small. After that, I tried out 4 double crochets instead of the standard 3, and it didn't seem to be worth doing. And then I bought 2 more balls of yarn so that I could add in 2 more rounds on my granny before I went home.
I crocheted almost all day on my first day back home! And now my giant granny looks something like this.
I'm happy with how many partial skeins I've used up, and I'm planning to really decimate my stash of worsted yarn.
I'm thinking about adding crochet as an event in my Knitting Olympics. You know, for when my knitting muscles get sore.
How about you? Do you crochet? Does that Ravelry group tempt you, too?
Hurray for giant grannies! Yours looks great! I dream in crochet these days. Grannies are addictive.
Posted by: Kirsten | January 19, 2010 at 11:29 PM
Wow lady, that is impressive! What a great way to use what's left from your other projects. I find crocheting so much simpler than knitting, but I don't crochet unless I really have a hankering. Which happens every 5 years or so.
Posted by: Antoinette | January 20, 2010 at 01:56 PM
I was so pumped to learn crochet, then I sucked at, got distracted by a couple new knitting projects and crochet just fell by the wayside. Maybe I should make mastering the granny square my Knitting Olympics goal.
Your granny square is awesome BTW!
Posted by: Kim | January 20, 2010 at 10:57 PM
I have not felt a desire to crochet. But your Granny Square is lovely!
Posted by: Brenda | January 21, 2010 at 01:59 PM
It looks fantastic! A great way to use up leftovers & stash.
Posted by: grumperina | January 21, 2010 at 11:43 PM
I just learned to crochet over Winter Break! I was going to do a giant granny, but was finding I just preferred making smaller squares; the patchwork look really appeals to me. Your giant granny is looking great!!
Posted by: whitney | January 22, 2010 at 09:56 AM
I crochet on occasion. Your work is lovely!
Posted by: Mildawg | January 22, 2010 at 03:53 PM
Love your giant granny! My mum's a dab hand at crochet but i've never attempted a granny. Would like to though.
Posted by: kelly | January 23, 2010 at 03:42 PM
A few months back I really wanted a crochet hexagon blanket. There are some really lovely ones on Ravelry. I brushed up on crochet techniques and made a few hexagons, but I never made any more.
Posted by: Erica | January 23, 2010 at 07:41 PM