Jethro is a “throw it on and run out the door” kind of cardi …. my favorite for spring, and like the author says in her pattern blurb, I’m not over granny sweaters! It’s worked in a combination of crocheted granny squares (a great simple skill for inexperienced crocheters) and then the sleeves and ribbing are knitted, creating a really pretty, finished look.
Jethro is designed with a DK weight yarn, so it’s not too light, not too heavy … perfect for variable spring weather. I’m inclined to make it with a springy merino wool, like Sandnes Garn Double Sunday, but it would be equally awesome made with a blend like Berroco Vintage Baby and Berroco Vintage DK (which can be used interchangeably).
The desinger has graciously created a Youtube Playlist with support for skills.
Size
The sizes given are the actual finished full chest measurement of the garment. Choose a size that corresponds to 30-43 cm / 12-17” larger than your upper bust measurement, or the size that will give you the amount of ease you like. I recommend wearing this drop-shoulder style with a lot of positive ease.
For the Granny Squares you’ll needa total of: 615 (747, 893, 1348, 1385, 1503) metres or 675 (820, 980, 1480, 1520, 1650) yards.
NOTE: The joining round, which is shown in the picture in the main colour, is included in the yardage for the granny squares. If you are planning to make multicoloured granny squares with the joining round worked in your main colour (like the one in the picture), approximately 210 (227, 250, 410, 328, 365) metres or 230 (250, 275, 450, 360, 400) yards of your “granny square” yardage will be in your main colour.
For the sleeves and ribbing you’ll need: 227 (273, 328, 373, 419, 455) metres or 250 (300, 360, 410, 460, 500) yards of the main colour.
I think I might be sliding into the granny square bandwagon … last spring I blogged a bit about grannies but I didn’t really get the itch to join the gook until the summer yarns started drifting in (it also didn’t hurt that I saw a lady at the art gallery wearing. groovy crochet granny cardigan and I saw how beautiful they can be).
Anyway, I found the Granny Square Market Tote and thought it was a fun, cute simple project. The pattern is available for FREE with some support video tutorials, or if you want a more succinct printable version you can pay for that. It’s a simple construction, just 3 big granny squares that are joined together and folded up, so it’s very easy crocheting. I used 3 skeins of Berroco Modern Cotton and a 4.5mm/US7 crochet hook, so it was easy on materials too. I definitely recommend using a plant-based fibre for bags, they wear better. Berroco Modern Cotton is a blend of Cotton and Viscose (a cellulose based fibre made from plants … bamboo yarn is a cellulose fibre), which makes it soft, strong, and the viscose gives the yarn a smooth surface and slight sheen.
You can see notes on my modifications below (I didn’t do anything too intense to change the pattern, mostly I just added a strap and the instructions for that are below and in my notes on Ravelry.
Overall, I think it worked out really beautifully and I think the Trinity Tote will be next! Or maybe the Salena Sweater ….
I did the JAYGO (join-as-you-go) with the wrong sides facing (as described in the instructions), but the seams looked messy that way (I thought I did it correctly according to the video, but I could be wrong), so instead of ripping it all back I turned the bag inside-out and finished it with the wrong side out. The JAYGO technique is fast and avoids seaming, but for a nice straight seam you could skip it and just make 3 squares and sew them together.
I skipped the part in Square 3 round 13 where you join the tops of the two sides of the work together (I think it’s in the 6th line “(3Dc, Ch 1, JAYGO into Square 2 unworked Ch-3 space ….)” and just kept going around because I wanted to add a strap.
The pattern instructions don’t include a strap, despite the fact that there’s a strap in the picture. I added a strap, the instructions for how I did it are below.
Strap 1. Make the strap chain: after finishing joining the squares together, i rejoined the yarn at the chain space of one of the top-pointy parts (where you would want to attach a strap, and chained 62 sts (or about 15″ of chain).
2. Reinforce the strap chain: making sure not to twist the stitches, make 1 slip stitch in the chain space on the opposite pointy part, then 1 more slip st into the chain space to anchor things securely.
3. Work back across the strap chain: make 1 slip stitch in each chain, ending with a slip stitch in the chain space where the strap is joined.
4. Work around one side of the mouth of the bag: make 1 slip stitch in each DC stitch down 1 side of bag opening (skipping the ch1 spaces between the DC clusters), until you reach the other side of the handle chain, then make 1 slip stitch in chain space to anchor it.
5. Work back across strap chain: make 1 slip st in the outer leg of each stitch. At the bottom you can either fasten off and reattach on the other side of the strap, or slip stitch across the back (inside) of the base of the strap where it meets the chain space of the granny square.
6. Work back OPPOSITE side of strap: make 1 slip st in the outer leg of each stitch. slip stitch in chain space at bottom to anchor it.
7. Work around other side of the mouth of the bag: make 1 slip stitch in each DC stitch down 1 side of bag opening (skipping the ch1 spaces between the DC clusters), until you reach the other side of the handle chain, then make 1 slip stitch in chain space to anchor it.
In Part 1 of Crochet Grannies, we looked at granny squares. Today lets take a look look at the super-fun Granny Stripe! Granny Stripes are a bit scrappier than their cousin the square, but they are also simpler in some ways because they don’t need to be seamed. These projects are great stash-busters, and are marvellous opportunities if you like playing with colour and a little bit of chaos.
In honour of the granny STRIPE, here are some project ideas that bring crochet’s casual boho-chic back for some love …
Want a quick tour of the granny stripe? No problem, check out this video from Bella Coco, one of my favourite youtube crochet instructors (just remember that she’s British and uses UK crochet terms … see this chart converting American and British crochet terms)
Holly Woodward Designs
One of my favourite designers of the granny (stripe AND square) is Holly Woodward. Her designs are colourful, classic, elegant, and size-inclusive (to me that doesn’t just mean they are available in larger sizes, but that they also fit and look great on curvy bodies). She tends to design in DK weight yarn, so any of the following will work for her patterns:
The Attic 24 Granny Stripe Blanket is the ultimate in versatility … I can attest to this myself, I’ve made it, and it’s one of my favoruite throws at home (just kidding, I love all my babies equally). Simple strips of granny stitch mean there’s NO SEAMING! The pattern works two rows per colour to make a rick-rack-like effect, but you can go off-grid and do as many or as few as you like (I changed my colour every row – my appraoch to colour was leveraging contrast).
From time to time I muse about making this blanket with a mish-mash of Scandinavian colours from Sandnes Garn Double Sunday …. just. a whole bunch of beiges, roses, golds, yellows, dusty greens, blues, greys and neutrals.
If you want the extra vibrance and excitement of a yarn that shifts colour on it’ s own try a bright, ombre striped cotton like Berroco Vivo or a marled ombre merino like Schoppel Edition 3 (makes a great baby blanket).
Stashbusting Suggestions
You can use this project as a great way to use up stash, get creative with colour, or plan it out completely with a comprehensive palette. You can use any thickness of yarn you like, it’s easy to make it larger or smaller, just stay with the same thickness of yarn throughout (I recommend DK/Sport weight yarn or Worsted weight yarn, but lots of people have made it with fingering weight).
I made my blanket in left-over fingering weight yarn, and it took a while to complete and is a bit on the light side (I like to snoodle up under a blanket with a little weight to it). If you’re thinking this might be a great way to dispose of your sock-yarn stash (it is), you might want to consider combining yarns and holding a seocnd strand of a unifying colour throughout – either a simple fingering like Cascade Heritage or Berroco Vintage Sock, or a strand of lacewieght mohair like Drops Kid-Silk. A strand of neutral coloured mohair can do miraculous things to soften colour, texture, and bulk up a thin base yarn so your project moves faster!
Granny stripes can also be wickedly sophisticated in solid, neutral blocks … the crocheting might get a bit boring, but the finished product is simple and stunning.
When I first started writing this post I thought it was going to be fast, easy, and brief … boy was I naive! There’s a lot of awesomeness to share when it comes to the beloved granny crochet. As I wrote, I found myself with too much inspiring material, so I’ve broken it down into two parts: Modular grannies like squares or hexagons, and granny stripes. Projects featuring granny squares can be made in one piece or from multiple pieces that are sewn together. Granny stripe projects tend to be worked in one piece. Today, we feature the squares, and next time we look at the stripes!
Why Grannies?
The other day in our KNITSANA Mindfulness Workshop/Group we were chatting about how crochet, has been making a big come-back, especially among Gen-Z, and it got me thinking about how much this boho-chic aesthetic has to offer! The venerable granny square can sometimes get a bad rap among Baby Boomer & Gen-X demographics, but I think the Zeds have the right idea, because everything has beauty and anything can be reenvisioned to bring it out. Plus, there is something SO SATISFYING about those simple, rhythmic crochet stitches … possibly a perfect medium for growing a fibre-arts-based mindfulness practice?
In honour of the granny square, here are some project ideas that bring crochet’s casual boho-chic back for some love …
Never made a granny? Not sure you want to make an entire granny project? No problem, take one for a test drive with your scrap yarn! Staci of Very Pink Knits (she’s one of my very favourite Youtube instructors) has a FREE pattern for a basic Granny Square Blanket and made a tutorial video (see above), so make a square, try it out and see for yourself.
Holly Woodward Designs
One of my favourite designers of the granny (stripe AND square) is Holly Woodward. Her designs are colourful, classic, elegant, and size-inclusive (to me that doesn’t just mean they are available in larger sizes, but that they also fit and look great on curvy bodies). She tends to design in DK weight yarn, so any of the following will work for her patterns:
The pattern reimagines the granny square as a boxy, slightly cropped cardie …. what I see is what Coco Chanel might have manifested if she’d been designing in the 70s.
Size
XS/S, (M/L, XL/2X, 3X/4X)
Bust: 40, (48, 56, 64)”
Finished Width: 20, (24, 28, 32)”
Finished Length: 20, (22, 24, 26)”
This top is designed to be worn with 0-6” of positive ease at the bust.
Model is 6’ tall, has a 33” bust, and is wearing a size small with 3” of positive ease.
For best fit, choose a size that is 0-6” larger than your corresponding bust measurement.
Ariana is an updated granny cardie …. the squares are cleverly tilted on their sides making the lines less boxy. The trim around the sleeve cuffs, the bottom band, and the neckband are all picked up in knitting.
Size
S/M/L (XL/2X/3X)
FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Bust (closed): 40 (65)“ / 101.5 (165) cm
Length: 22” / 56 cm
Yarn Options
You’ll need 3(4) balls of the main colour (MC), and 2(3) balls/skeins in each of three contrast colours (CC1, CC2, CC3) …. a total of 9(13) balls/skeins.
Grannies come in all shapes & sizes, and they can be multi-colored or monochrome. For market bags, try using a soft, silky yarn that’s also sturdy, like Berroco Modern Cotton DK or Berroco Modern Cotton. This bag is made with 13 granny squares that are seamed together.
COLOUR: If you want a multi-colour that does the work for you, I suggest going with a yarn that works up in an ombre or stripes (variegated yarns always look meh when crocheted, the colours pool in little clumps). I recommend using 2 skeins of Berroco Vivo and the crochet hook sizes recommended in the pattern – it should look spectacular!
Hexagon Market Bag
Seaming’s not your thing? Then try a bag that’s made from one GIANT granny!
If the idea of sewing together a basket of little squares makes you feel a bit avoidant, maybe you’re a giant granny kind of person? Grannie squares don’t have to end after their fourth round, you can keep expanding out as far as you like until your blanket is as big as you want it to be!
