This Saturday, August 15, is the 7th annual Granny Square Day, a celebration of one of the most loved and recognized forms of crochet. Founded in 2014 by Susan Regalia, the event is now hosted by Simply Crochet magazine. Read Simply Crochet's Granny Square Day 2020 blog post for five free crochet patterns that have been released for this event, information about how to participate on Instagram, and more.
Back in 2014, Susan noticed that the little squares on Instagram looked a lot like the patchwork arrangement of a classic granny square blanket. She asked crocheters to post pictures of granny squares online and the first virtual granny square afghan was created. Other hookers soon caught on to the concept and so Granny Square Day was born – bringing the worldwide crochet community together in a celebration of design and color.
Granny squares have traditionally been the realm of crocheters, but there are also plenty of examples of granny squares that are knit. You’ll find some knitting patterns in the resource list provided below.
Granny squares don’t even need to be square, as some of the examples in our list will show! The general construction method of working in rounds can be tweaked to form other shapes, before being joined together. Granny squares are extremely satisfying little projects that are easy to toss into a project bag, ready to work on no matter where you are. The supplies don’t take up much space, and once you’ve learned the basics, you often won’t even need to refer to a pattern!
On August 15th each year, people from all over the world will post pictures of granny squares on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms, using the hashtags #grannysquareday or #grannysquareday2020 (and you can also add the hashtag #northfieldyarn so we can find your creations, too). By the end of the day there are so many photos of squares that when you view these photos, virtual blankets are created!
Kelbourne Woolens Granny Square Projects
One of our favorite yarn companies, Kelbourne Woolens, hosts Crochet Summer every year (coincidentally, this event also started in 2014!). Check out their 2019 Crochet Summer round-up blog post for a peek at last year's creations. Their free Granny Square Day pattern, the Sub Rosa Earrings, can be whipped up in an afternoon using Kelbourne Woolens cotton/linen Mojave yarn. This pattern is a riff on KW's clean-lined Sub Rosa sweater (Ravelry link), which features a double column of granny squares on the front.
Kelbourne Woolens latest Year of Gifts kit, the Hosta Slippers, are also cleverly constructed from granny squares!
Granny Square Resources
Here are some resource links for learning more about Granny Squares and Granny Square Day, as well as patterns and lots of tutorials for basic to more complicated Granny Squares. Enjoy!!
Gathered How
Basic Granny Square patterns and much more about Granny Square Day 2020
https://www.gathered.how/knitting-and-crochet/crochet/granny-square-day/
What to Do with Crochet Granny Squares
Granny squares don’t always have to be used for blankets and afghans.
https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/granny-square-projects-978842
Basic Granny Square (Crochet)
A free Ravelry download for (as the name suggests) a very basic granny square.
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/basic-granny-square-9
How to Knit a Granny Square (Knit)
A free Ravelry download. Not all Granny Squares need to be crocheted!
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/how-to-knit-a-granny-square-2
Not-Quite-a-Granny-Square (Crochet)
A free Ravelry download for a fancier granny square. The pattern uses post stitches to create a non-traditional granny square with a lovely motif.
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/not-quite-a-granny-square
Granny’s Cloth Revamped (Knit)
Another free Ravelry download for a knit granny square.
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/grannys-cloth-revamped
365 Days of Granny Squares (Crochet)
There are lots of pop-ups & adds on this site and the patterns are not necessarily free, but there are some good YouTube tutorials that are inspiring, including ways to combine & attach squares together.
https://yarnutopia.com/365-days-of-granny-squares/
Pinterest “Granny Square” board
Fun Pinterest board with lots of examples of knit & crocheted granny squares.
https://www.pinterest.com/margaritacorcha/granny-square