HAPPY PLACE IS LIVE! TLYC X HOBBII | DETAILS HERE

How To Crochet a Unique Granny Square Afghan Blanket

Untitled design (3)

Are you obsessed with intricate granny square blankets? Always wanted to make one of your own? Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how I designed this beautiful and unique granny square afghan in collaboration with Hosanna Revival.

This post contains affiliate links that support the content on TLYCBlog.com. All opinions are my own. Find my Privacy & Disclosures Policy here.

PIN THIS POST NOW!

Crochet an autumn-inspired afghan. Design and make your crochet blanket from scratch.Granny square multicolored afghan free pattern.

When Hosanna Revival first contacted me for a collaboration, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But their collection of beautiful journaling bibles for modern believers really spoke to my heart. Then they showed me their inspiration image – a watercolor granny square blanket. From that moment, the inspiration started to flow.

The wonderful people at Hosanna Revival challenged me to create a granny square afghan to complement their fall collection launch. Little did they know, I’ve been secretly obsessed with colorful granny square blankets for ages, and I’ve been looking for the perfect opportunity to make one.

The next month was filled with planning, prepping, making, and finishing. When I finally took the Autumn Granny Square Aghan off of the blocking boards, I could barely believe my eyes. I’m so excited to share that process with you, from start to finish. And I hope to inspire you to make your own granny square blanket.

Step 1 – Gather Your Supplies

Crochet an autumn-inspired afghan. Design and make your crochet blanket from scratch.Granny square multicolored afghan free pattern.

Based on the inspiration photo, I knew getting the colors right was going to be the most important part of this project. I shopped around to a few different yarn brands that offer a large selection of colors, and landed on StyleCraft DK.

Lovecrafts.com offers Stylecraft DK in nearly 90 colors. So it was very easy for me to select 11 colors that matched perfectly with the Hosanna Revival inspiration photo. I decided to get two skeins each of the colors for my squares, plus 3 skeins of an additional color to use for the border (“Graphite”). I made this choice since I wasn’t able to swatch with this yarn. I wanted to make sure I bought more than I needed so I wouldn’t run out.

My last step was to gather the remainder of my supplies. I collected a 5.5mm crochet hook, a pair of scissors, a tapestry needle, a tape measure, and my blocking supplies.

Step 2: Pick a Motif Pattern

Half of the fun in designing a project like this is choosing the granny square motif that you plan to use in your blanket. Traditional granny squares are always fun. But there are lots of other unique patterns currently available, or you could even come up with your own.

I stumbled upon the Triple Puff Granny Square by Emmy + LIEN during a Pinterest search and immediately fell in love. The puff stitches at the center of the square mimic the inspiration photo, and the use of the granny stitch on the outside of the square meant that I could easily adjust the size.

Crochet an autumn-inspired afghan. Design and make your crochet blanket from scratch.Granny square multicolored afghan free pattern.

Once my yarn arrived, I was able to make my first practice square. I decided to make my square with four rounds in the pattern and a 5th round for the border. I knew I was going to use the join as you go technique for granny squares, so I added just a traditional granny square border to my squares. Thankfully I was able to make a 5-inch square, which is exactly what I was hoping to achieve.

Step 3: Planning the Blanket

Before I could put my crochet hook to work, I had to make some decisions on how dimensions and color would play into my blanket.

First came the size. I knew I wanted to make a throw blanket, but there aren’t any hard and fast rules on how large a throw blanket needs to be. After another Pinterest search, I decided that a 55″ x 45″ throw blanket would be perfect. That meant I would need to make my blanket 11 squares tall by 9 squares wide, meaning I’d need to make 99 SQUARES!

After getting over the initial shock of how much crocheting I’d need to do, I had some time to play around with color. One of the things that endear me to granny square afghans is using a different color for each round. My squares would have 4 rounds before the border, so that meant I could use 4 colors per square.

Crochet an autumn-inspired afghan. Design and make your crochet blanket from scratch.Granny square multicolored afghan free pattern.

I took some time to make 9 different color palettes using the 11 colors I’d chosen for my blanket. When building the palettes, I had a few rules in mind:

  • Use each color evenly across the palettes. I certainly had my favorites in this palette, but I wanted to make sure every color got some love, and no color stood out more than others.
  • Don’t use the same color in the same round across palettes. For example, I made sure that no two palettes had Parchment for Round 1. This method made sure the palettes, and the overall blanket, felt random.
Crochet an autumn-inspired afghan. Design and make your crochet blanket from scratch.Granny square multicolored afghan free pattern.

Step 4: Making the Blanket

At long last, it was finally time to crochet! To make things a little easier on myself, I decided to batch my squares. I grabbed all of the colors I needed for a particular palette and made each of those squares before moving on to the next palette. My Type A brain loved the orderliness of having a small stack of granny squares that all looked the same. I also weaved in my ends before starting the next batch of squares.

Once an entire stack of granny squares was complete, I decided to block them. I pinned each square individually to my blocking boards, and then use my handheld garment steamer to steam them into shape. This extra step makes sure that each of my squares is picture-perfect and the right size.

Crochet an autumn-inspired afghan. Design and make your crochet blanket from scratch.Granny square multicolored afghan free pattern.

Next came seaming, which I know is no one’s favorite part of making a granny square blanket. Enter Hooked by Robin. I found her crochet continuous join as you go granny square method on YouTube and a light switch went off. Her technique for connecting all 99 of the squares in an easy, fun, and efficient way made this step much less daunting.

The last step in making my blanket was adding the border and doing a final blocking. For the border, I went for a traditional granny stitch. The blanket itself was already so beautiful that I didn’t want to distract from it with an embellished border. The simple border keeps the focus on each of those adorable squares. Blocking the finished blanket lent even more drape and softness to the project, which I couldn’t get enough of.

Step 5: Photographing the Blanket

When you work this hard on a project, you better believe there needs to be photo proof. I’m so grateful to the team at Hosanna Revival for setting up a professional photo shoot for my finished granny square blanket. In addition to shooting the blanket, we shot several of the pieces in their fall collection, including some cozy sweatshirts, prayer journals, and the puzzle that inspired my blanket.

I don’t often spend much time in front of the camera, but the gals at Hosanna Revival really made me feel comfortable. They shone a huge spotlight on the project that we worked on together, and I’m so grateful for the encouragement and positivity. It also helps that I got a few new headshots out of the deal 🙂

Crochet an autumn-inspired afghan. Design and make your crochet blanket from scratch.Granny square multicolored afghan free pattern.

I hope the Autumn Granny Square Blanket inspires you to take on your own unique granny square afghan. Remember to go at your own pace, take some risks, and the more colors the merrier!

If you do decide to take on a granny square afghan, please share it with me on Instagram and tag @TLYarnCrafts. I would love to see it.

And be sure to check out the full fall collection now available from Hosanna Revival HERE. I personally can’t wait to get my hands on a five-year prayer journal and document how God continues to work in my life. Shop the collection HERE.

Thanks for checking out this post! Now drop down into the comments and let me know the bright ideas you have for your very own crochet granny square afghan.

Crochet an autumn-inspired afghan. Design and make your crochet blanket from scratch.Granny square multicolored afghan free pattern.

did you love this post?

share this post:

Seasons:
Skill Level:
Craft:
Pattern Type:
Yarn Weight:
Price:
Tags:

Keep Creating

35 Quick and Easy Project Ideas by TL Yarn Crafts

CROCHET INSPO: 35 Quick Project Ideas

SABRINA SHRUG // FREE PATTERN

Top Tips for Men's Crochet

Comments

  1. AvatarSam says

    I LOVE granny squares!! This blanket is stunning with it’s gorgeous jewel tones! With so many beautiful colors, did you end up needing to bust into your 2nd ball of each color??

  2. AvatarMina says

    I literally picked up a hook for the first time two days ago. This is my goal. But I have a long way to go lol. Right now just practicing making a chain and basic crochet. Figuring out how to hole the hook and yarn is the most challenging for me!

  3. AvatarJo says

    Where is the free version of this pattern? The section on the bottom says a free version is available but it keeps looping back to this post with no actual instructions for the granny square

    • Toni L.Toni L. says

      Hi – the free version of this pattern is what you saw at the end of the blog post. I did not post the granny square pattern, as I am not the author. THere is a link to the free pattern as published by the original author, Eline of Emmy + LIEN. You can find that free square pattern here – LINK

  4. AvatarLoris Lutke says

    Hi Toni ! I love your patterns! Your Granny Square Blanket is Gorgeous! Although I’ve never made one, I would love to try this but I need information about what kind of blocking boards, pins & hand held garment steamer to buy. I would love to know what kind you use. Thanks!

  5. AvatarDaria says

    You are gorgeous. Your work is gorgeous. And I feel inspired by this beautiful yarn and the color designs for the granny square blanket. Thank you!

  6. AvatarBeth Grindle says

    I so love the way you leave no guessing as to how to do any of your projects. I so love the way you love to teach us new tricks. Waiting on my thumb to heal so I can get back at my projects. Thank you Tony for your love for crochet.

  7. AvatarLupita says

    You are so inspiring! I have been wanting to make something like this for years. This might be the year I actually start! ❤

  8. AvatarJill Bess says

    They are out of most of the yarn colors for your gorgeous fall granny square afghan! Where else can I get these colors? Just love your afghan and photo shoot! Darling!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

keep exploring