Hello creative friends! Here is my Easy Granny Square Blanket for Beginners pattern. I do love to create beginner-friendly crochet patterns that inspire newbies to make something pretty right from the start. Of course, this classic granny square pattern is suitable for anyone who enjoys crochet. I like simple projects myself because my brain tends to get tired easily, and doing a simple repetitive pattern is relaxing and even therapeutic.
I do offer a few unique tips in this pattern that help to create a perfect finish for this blanket. If you are new to crochet, then you can check out my Beginner Crochet Series, which shows you everything you need to know to make this project. You will learn how to hold proper tension, all the basic stitches, and how to darn in your tail ends. This granny square blanket is a new and improved version of the very first Granny Square Blanket Pattern I created. In the first pattern, I am using a self-striping yarn, and you can certainly use a similar type of yarn in this project as well. Rather than changing colors for every round and every other round, you’d just carry on using the same yarn.
I am using the Bernat Premium yarn for this project, but you can use any number four medium-weight yarn you like. You can use this color palette, or create your own. I did a total of twenty-eight rounds which made the blanket 33″ x 33″ (84 cm x 84 cm), but you can make it any size you like. Another choice you have is to finish the last two rounds of the blanket with a different colored yarn, or perhaps use the neutral cream color. I made this blanket in the spring (which has been very cold and wet here in the Pacific Northwest), so the color pallet I chose was probably an unconscious desire for spring to finally arrive!
Helpful Information
Finished size = 33″ x 33″ (84 cm x 84 cm) with a total of 28 rounds
Total amount of yarn used (approximately) = 860 yards (790 meters)
- ch = chain
- st = st
- sl st = slip stitch
- dc = double crochet
- beg = beginning
Again, the yarn I am using for the Easy Granny Square Blanket for Beginners is Bernat Premium Yarn which is a number four medium-weight acrylic yarn. Each ball weighs 7 oz (198 g) and has 360 yds (329 m) of yarn per ball. I will list the approximate yardage used for each color in the supply list.
Supply List
- Bernat Premium Yarn in the following colors (Yarnspirations carries all the colors except Magenta, so Hot Pink would be a good substitute. These yarns are also available from Walmart in Canada, but the color selection online is limited.
- Aran (cream) 260 yds (238 m)
- Magenta (pink) 210 yds (192 m)
- Spring Green 105 yds (96 m)
- Gold (yellow) 130 yds (120 m)
- Sky Blue 155 yds (142 m)
- H-8 (5 mm) crochet hook
- Scissors
- Darning needle
- Hand steamer (optional)
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Round one: Aran-ch 5, sl st into beg ch to create a ring, ch 2 (counts as beg dc), 2 dc into ring, ch 2. *3 dc, ch 2 into the ring, repeat from * two more times. Skip the beg ch2 and join with a sl st into the top of the next dc. This is tip number one! By joining into the top of the dc, rather than the beg ch2, the beginning cluster looks more like all the other clusters.
Turn your work. This is tip number two! For the entire pattern, you will turn your work for each round. This is a wonderful technique to help prevent the blanket from becoming twisted and wonky. A common problem with blankets that are worked in the round (going in the same direction), is that the tension of the stitches can pull the whole project in one direction. This can be an issue for people who are still mastering their crochet tension. By turning your work with each round, the tension is balanced and this technique also creates a nice texture to the blanket.
If you are proficient with your tension and don’t want to turn your work with each round, then you can certainly just continue crocheting in the same direction, but I actually really like how this technique looks.
Round two: (after turning your work), sl st into ch2 sp. Ch 2 (counts as 1st dc), [ 2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc, ch 1] in ch2 sp, *[3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc, ch 1] in next ch2 sp. Repeat from * two more times. Skip the beg ch2 and join with a sl st into the top of the next dc, fasten off. Turn your work.
NOTE: If you want to use just one color of yarn or want to use a variegated or self-striping yarn, do not fasten off here. Simply turn your work and continue to work the pattern in continuous rounds. Each new round will start with a beginning 3 dc cluster along the straight edge.
Round three: Magenta-Join into any ch2 sp with a sl st, ch 2 (counts as 1st dc), [2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc, ch 1] in same ch2 sp, 3 dc, ch 1 in next ch1 sp, *[3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc, ch 1], in next ch2 sp, 3 dc, ch 1 in next ch1 sp. Repeat from * two more times. Skip the beg ch2 and join with a sl st into the top of the next dc, turn your work.
Round four: Sl st into ch1 sp. Ch 2 (counts as 1st dc), 2 dc, ch 1 in same ch1 sp, 3 dc, ch 1 in next ch1 sp, *[3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc, ch 1] in next ch2 sp, 3 dc, ch 1 in next ch1 sp, twice. Repeat from * two more times, [3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc, ch 1] in next ch2 sp. Skip the beg ch2 and join with a sl st into the top of the next dc, fasten off. Turn your work.
Round five: Aran-Join into any ch2 sp with a sl st, ch 2 (counts as 1st dc), [2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc, ch 1] in same ch2 sp, *3 dc, ch 1 in next ch1 sp, 3 times, [3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc, ch 1], in next ch2 sp. Repeat from * two more times, 3 dc, ch 1 in next ch1 sp, 3 times. Skip the beg ch2 and join with a sl st into the top of the next dc, fasten off and turn your work.
Rounds six and seven: Spring Green-repeat rounds three and four, and increase the sets of 3 dc on the straight edge for each round.
Round eight: Aran-repeat round five, and increase the sets of 3 dc, on the straight edges for each round.
NOTE: Each time you join a new color, join into a ch2 sp. This makes it easier to darn in your tail ends by having two dc clusters to sew into (for the most part). This is tip number three!
Continue to repeat rounds three and four with the Gold and Sky Blue, and repeat round five, using Aran, between the colored rounds. Again, you can continue to repeat the color sequence for as many rounds as you like.
For my blanket, I repeated the color sequence twice and then did one more round with the Aran color and one with the Magenta. The last round is simply done with double crochets. Whichever color you choose to have as your final round, use that color for the last two rounds…the granny square stitch round and the border round.
For the final round, join as before…sk beg ch2, sl st into the next dc, but don’t turn your work. Ch 2, 1 dc in the next st, 5 dc in the next ch2 sp, 1 dc in each st to the next corner. Repeat all the way around. You can fasten off with a slip stitch and darn in all your tail ends, or you can finish with an invisible stitch as shown below. This is tip number four!
Cut a tail, take the yarn off your hook, and thread on a darning needle. Sk beg ch2 and bring the needle in from the back of the next dc, going under two loops. Bring the needle back in between the ‘v’ stitch of the stitch the yarn comes out of. Adjust the yarn to look like a stitch. Darn in your tail ends and your Easy Granny Square Blanket for Beginners is done!
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