Adding a Chain Round to Granny squares...a tutorial

Hello Lovelies ,
Have you ever made a motif that calls for a "chain round"? The first time I encountered this technique was when I tried   Lucy's much loved Hexagon pattern back in 2009.

HERE is a lovely image of one of these hexagons at the chain round stage.I will admit I found it rather tricky at first....all those slip stitches........ not the easiest when you are  starting out in (or in my case getting reacquainted with) crochet.

As I've become better at crochet I don't find it so difficult and I can spot when a chain round has been used
In this stunning SQUARE....a chain round has been used to define the circle to excellent effect.It's visible as the little white stitches in THIS gorgeous blanket where it has been used every alternate round to create an interesting variation on the traditional granny. In my own Kaleidoscope BLANKET It's used to attach the final , joining round .

It's benefit is that it keeps a shape clearly defined by utilising slip stitches and chains rather than multiple stitches into the existing round.........what am I waffling on about ??

Lets look at a photo, this is a granny square made in the conventional manner......

In the example below the final colour change round is attached to a chain round......

Can you see any difference ?? Maybe not but I hope so . Can you see the way the orange square still looks very square , where as the pink square has wavy edges ? yes ...good ....that is the correct answer :0)

When I decided to add a white border to my (mostly)solid coloured grannies I wanted them them to retain their square shape.
I haven't used a chain round on a square shape before and was struggling about what to do on the corners. After a quick search of my flickr favourites I found THIS image. With I bit of experimenting I figured out what I think is the correct method....it may not be what others do but it's working for me so I thought I would share my method here.

Here we go with my Tutorial...... written as usual in U.S. crochet terms.....I think I'm pretty bi-lingual in crochet speak now but still think primarily in U.S. so I guess I should stick with that ( all my previous tutorials are U.S. terminology )
Start with a granny square....

NOTE :-  I make my granny squares with no chains between clusters and 2 chains in the corners ....see my granny square tutorial in my side bar.
If you use a different method you may need to adjust the chain and subsequent round .


Attach the colour of your choice using  the method of your choice in a space along any side of your square. Chain 3.......

slip stitch into the next space.......

Repeat along the side and when you reach a corner slip stitch into the chain space.....

Chain 4 .......

and slip stitch into the same space.......

Repeat this pattern around.  Here you can see I'm into the third side and you can clearly see the little "ears" made by the chains at each corner .......

Continue around , making an "ear" at each corner ( it's not clear in this photo but they are there )........

When you reach the starting chain insert you hook under the chain and slip stitch

This is the chain round completed. Do not fasten off .....

Chain 3 then make 2 double crochet (d.c.) under the loop created by the chain round........

In the next loop make 3 d.c. and repeat under every loop till you get to a corner..........

into the corner chain (ear) make 3 d.c., 2 chain, 3 d.c......

Repeat all the way around for your first square. On subsequent squares stop at the 3rd corner

Chain 1 then join to the adjoining block with a slip stitch .....

3 d.c. the slip stitch into the corresponding space. This is the join as you go method and there is a clear tutorial on how to do this HERE if you need more help......

Repeat along the side and complete the round as normal on the final side by slip stitching into the top of the initial 3 chain ......

When attaching squares to two existing blocks only complete two sides then join as you go to the two adjoining blocks. In the corner slip stitch into the corner of the first block you have attached to ......

Then into the corner of the one you are about to attach to (do not use any) chains  .......

Here is a peek of how my blocks are looking .......I'm not sure why I'm calling them blocks..... I suppose they remind me of babies blocks , but they also make me think of a paint box with all it's squares of colour.....

I've haven't been at work this week , so between housework,baking  and family outings I've managed to make good progress on  these two baby blankets....my first crochet commission :0)
This is the first .It still needs a border but I'm now joining the blocks on the second blanket so I can delay making a decision on that.

Hope your week is going well.
Jacquie x

All Change

Hello Lovelies,
well my latest project has changed so many times already and it's not finished yet . Do you find that happens to you ? I suppose many of us have set out to make a blanket that has turned into a cushion when we have got bored or become unsure of how much we love our WIP :0)
Originally I was going to make solid coloured squares for my baby blanket ....but for some reason I can't recal I made them with white centres .
On Sunday I laid out my 63 squares and played about with the random colours to try and get them evenly spaced...random is trickier than it looks........

Satisfied I noted down the order...... watched THIS great ,clear you tube video  on how to do single crochet ( U.S.) joining ,and began..........

Things were going O.K. though I was feeling a bit unsure how much I liked how this method looked in white....

By now it was time to go out anyway. We visited my brother and sister in laws house where the boys have cousins of their own age ( I think they are soooo lucky to have extended family nearby, and so am I )
My lovely sister in law was inquiring about what I was making at the moment. I told her that I was hoping to actually sell some of my crochet this year and that I was making things specifically for that reason.


I've thought about trying etsy or folksy and would appreciate any advice on using these sites.
It turns out I won't be listing my latest project anyway as my SIL said she would be happy to buy 2 baby blankets for a friend who is having twins.........and this friend is 34 weeks pregnant at the monent , and the babies are both girls. Phew 34 weeks ...they could come along any time soon.

Time to put my thinking cap on. How could I make two blankets quickly ??
The answer I came up with was to add a few more pink squares to the ones I already had, abandon the single crochet joining and make a wider white border .
So now I have a box of squares .........

And a Basket of differently  coloured squares.........

Which I'm adding a white border to  like this........

It's going well I think ,so stand by for a twin ta- dah pretty soon :0)

My reason for trying to sell my work is as part of the fund raising I'm doing for a cancer charity I'll be running for this year. I don't tend to mention my running here very often but I'm still loving it ...I may not be fast but I get there in the end :0)

Jacquie x

P.S. took the boys to see the new Muppet Movie yesterday (it's half term hols here) it was brilliant fun.

Life Indoors

Hello Lovelies,
this week I seem to have only left the house for work and the school run. It's been a very indoorsy sort of week.
This has mainly been due to the freezing weather we are having , but also because I'm feeling rather snotty and  generally bleugh with a cold that doesn't want to go away.
It may not have been a good week for fresh air, but it's been great for crochet progress. When I'm not feeling 100% I feel justified in relaxing with my hook :0)
Just yesterday the postman delivered some more yarn.....

Two balls of Stylecraft special DK . On the left it's Bluebell and on the right Aspen. I love these colours . Buying yarn online  is always tricky. THIS is what the photo of Aspen looks like ........ !?!
I would never had gone for that but luckily I saw what it really looks like in Heather's baby blanket. Bluebell was a gamble ...one that paid off ...love this colour too.

I've now made all the squares for my baby granny blanket , including some from these new colours . And as you can see I've added samples to my colour charts to remind me which colours to re-order when the time comes.....

As I gathered up my yarn yesterday afternoon I was rather taken by the  way the colours looked in the sun..........

A bit of sunshine and some sunny colours certainly help lift the spirits on a freezing day. Hot comfort food is also benificial.......

                                                 Rice pudding and raspberry jam...yum.


I'll leave you lovelies with some colourful artwork....another of my clever Mums creations ....

I love the colours and figures  in this scene.Did you notice the cute little dog....sweet :0)
Hope your Sunday is a good one .
Jacquie x
P.S. thank you for the comments and  awards you have given me lately....you are all so kind.

Square Crochet

Hello Lovelies,
literally within minutes of finishing my Kaleidoscope blanket I was off to my Stylecraft stash with my hook. I am officially a crochet addict :0)

Towards the end of a project I always start planning the next in my head. I was yearning for some granny square simpleness.

The lovely Heather at Little Tin Bird  had treated me to a sneak peek of her latest secret project a couple of weeks ago and I loved it ,a LOT ! Heather has finished her baby blanket now...... take a look at it here. Isn't it wonderful . I love the small blocks of colour .Heathers choice of colours is just gorgeous and even better , since it's also made from Stylecraft ,I had a similar selection already.

So that was my main inspiration for my latest project. I've been making these squares for just over a  week now .They are so quick and relaxing to make . I recon I'm about half way to the number needed for my latest  baby blanket.......

I love the look of the squares piled up on my ripple baby blanket ,made back in November last year.
As you can see I've made my squares with a white centre . I'm not sure how much I'm liking it but the plan is to join the squares with white using single crochet(U.K. double ) joining on the front . So hopefully that will make it look better.

I've been wanting to try this way of joining for a while now . Do take a look at Debbie's gorgeous blanket , with squares joined in this way . I love the extra texture it gives.

Trouble is that just today I found this on Pinterest....so now I'm tempted to do a white round of Double (U.K. treble )crochet on each square . Ooooh , dilemmas :0)

Speaking of Pinterest, I've been good and resisted joining so far . I've heard how addictive it can be and I already spend a lot of time online some days. It doesn't stop me looking at other lovelies collections though. Heather has a lovely collection of pins .
But I HAVE to link to Rachel's ....wow , it's huuuge and everything is such great eye candy :0)

Hope you enjoy the links .
Jacquie x

Snow Pretty

Hello Lovelies,
 we were lucky enough to get a good amount of snow here on Saturday night.The boys were more than a little excited by this .By 9.15 am on Sunday we were here.......

Before most sensible people had thought about setting out in the cold......

My boys really love sledging and I love watching their excited faces , cheeks rosy from the cold.

There's a wonderful view of the wintry landscape from up here too......

After a couple of hours it's back home to defrost.......hot chocolates for the boys ...

The house is particularly light with all the snow on the ground and my first bunch of Daffodils this year are just opening up .They look so bright and cheerful.......

Just gorgeous.......

As soon as we defrost the boys get a call to go and play with friends . I'm happy to walk them , the roads look   special with their wintry frosting..........

It's midday  and the sun is melting the snow on the branches quickly now.....

I decide to have a little walk before it's all gone.........

Along the snowy path I spot some livestock...

I'm glad these guys are behind two fences.But don't they look gorgeous in the snow...............

More creatures with four legs........

It's so quiet , the only sounds are my footsteps in the snow..........

Nearly home and these guys made me smile...they have mince pies for eyes(somebody likes their cockney rhyming slang ).........

Later in the day ,after a hot meal ,we even went out again. Back to the same slope, where the run is much faster now .The sun is setting but the children (and parents)  are having too much fun to notice the cold........

Actually I notice the cold, my fingers and toes are numb and I want to leave. But it was a fabulous day .....

Jacquie x