Welcome to Couch Surfer Crochet!
Today we are starting on Week 1 of the Stash Buster Granny Square Crochet Along! If you missed the INTRO POST, here’s a quick recap.
This CAL will start on October 8th and run through November 12th. I wanted to be able to do the entire project start to finish before the holiday season really sets in on us and we run out of time for side projects! Weeks 1 – 4 we will be creating a certain number of squares. Week 5 will teach you how to join them all together. And Week 6 will teach you how to add a border to give it a nice finish!
This blanket pattern is designed to be a stash buster! Each week we will be creating a “SET” number of squares, but it is totally creatively open! Colors are all up to YOU! Each week the pattern is the basic granny square, the unique look comes from when we do color changes on each square.
If you’ve never heard the term “stash buster” before, it’s when you have LOTS and LOTS of bits of yarn with no idea what to do with them! I designed this pattern with the intention that it would be very colorful and very random. I didn’t want any two squares to look alike. Of course, if you want to make each week of squares exactly the same, that’s totally up to you! I think that would be a stunning finished piece if that’s what you choose to do!
October 8: Week 1 – 9 squares
October 15: Week 2 – 12 squares
October 22: Week 3 – 12 squares
October 29: Week 4 – 16 squares
November 5: Week 5 – JOINING
November 12: Week 6 – BORDER
What you will need:Yarn: Size 4 (medium weight) yarn. I used mostly Red Heart and Impeccable yarns since most of my stash comes from Michaels stores!
***since I used yarn from my stash I don’t have an exact amount needed, but I know you will need at least 400 yards of one solid color to do the joining and border!
Hook: Size I/9 5.5mm
Each week I will be referring to Color A, Color B, and Color C. These letters do not refer to a specific color, but an indication to change to a NEW color. Since this is a stash buster, I just threw all of my yarn bits into a bag and grabbed one at random for each color change. How you change colors is totally up to you!
Since learning to crochet I have noticed that everyone has a slightly different way to make a granny square that makes sense to them. The following pattern is the one that I find works best. If you do your granny squares in a slightly different way, that’s totally okay! Just follow the color changes to that your squares will fit in to the final pattern!
The square for week one will look like this when it’s finished:
Now onto the pattern for Week 1! We will be making 9 (NINE) of these squares.
R1: Using Color A, Ch 5, join with a slip stitch (sl st) to the 1st ch to form circle
R2: Ch 3, 2dc in circle, *ch 3, 3dc in circle, repeat twice, sl st to 3rd ch of starting ch3
R3: Switch to Color B: Starting in corner, Ch 3, [2dc, ch 3, 3dc in first corner], *ch 1, [3dc, ch 3, 3dc], repeat from * twice, ch 1, sl st to 3rd ch of starting ch3
R4: Ch 3, TURN, 2dc in same sp, ch 1, * (3 dc, 3 ch, 3 dc) in corner sp, ch 1, 3dc in next ch sp, ch 1, repeat from * around, ch 1, sl st to 3rd ch of starting ch3
R5: Ch 3, TURN, 2dc in same ch sp, ch 1, 3dc in next ch sp, *[3dc, ch 3, 3dc] in corner, ch 1, 3dc in next ch sp, ch 1, 3dc in next ch sp, ch 1, repeat from * around to last corner, ch 1, sl st to 3rd ch of starting ch3
R6: Switch to Color C: Starting in corner, Ch 3, [2dc, ch 3, 3dc in first corner], ch 1, *3dc in next ch sp, ch 1, 3dc in next ch sp, ch 1, 3dc in next ch sp, ch 1, [3dc, ch 3, 3dc] in corner, ch 1, repeat from * around, sl st to 3rd ch of starting ch3
I found these simple squares to be very relaxing to work on. These squares were easy to do and I love seeing all these different color combinations as I make each one! It’s already giving me ideas for colors I want to use together on future projects.
If you want to try a different style of CAL, check out the Mixed Stitch Blanket CAL. It’s made in rows with lots of colorful stripes!
Happy crocheting!
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