Does this make me a granny? (be kind!)

[fireheart]

So here is my first major crochet project. I've been making small granny squares, which are going to become another project in themselves, but I needed something to do with the leftover wool. So I decided to start making one big granny square blanket.

Partway through (around the second orange band) I then decided that instead of making the smaller granny squares first, that I'd work on the larger granny square blanket first and then make smaller ones from the leftover wool. I also did not learn how to change colours properly until the orange/yellow bands the second time around, so that's why the first few only go around 1/2-3/4 of the way through.

The eventual pattern is going to be the rainbow with alternating white and black bands in between each "rainbow". So it'll be rainbow, white, rainbow, black etc.
I'm also going to jazz it up a bit and do variations on the rainbow colour scheme with pastel and dark variations as well.

Anyway, here it is.

[Cazzi]

Well, if that makes you a granny, I must be an UberGranny

Currently, I have a 45L box full of various sized granny squares & hexagons waiting to be turned into several throws I have planned for friends birthdays.
And, another 4 45L boxes full of yarn I can't help acquiring

I also have another throw on the go with a striped wave pattern, have just finished a baby blanket & baby hats for my cousins expected offspring & am planning on a hat making spree for Christmas presents!

Keep up the good work, its amazing how fast you can get good at crochet with a bit of practice.
I've found YouTube invaluable for learning new stitches & techniques as I can't follow a pattern to save my life.

[Raveni]

That looks great! My son is working on a blanket like that so we can share it while watching TV on the couch.

[AnaKhouri]

I like it! I love the colors, I always prefer bright colors. I think it looks great, I can't crochet anything to save my life.

[fireheart]

Well, if that makes you a granny, I must be an UberGranny

Now I have this mental image of the Hell's Grannies from Monty Python...

Currently, I have a 45L box full of various sized granny squares & hexagons waiting to be turned into several throws I have planned for friends birthdays.
And, another 4 45L boxes full of yarn I can't help acquiring

I haven't done hexagons. My granny squares are pretty much 3-rounds each (so 4 gaps along each side). As for yarn, the yarn I used for what I've done so far all came from these kits from a magazine. They're expensive as a whole (nearly $17 AUD) but it's very much worth it. The kits both came with around 7 balls of wool (there's a grey ball that came with the second kit that I haven't used yet because I want to keep the pattern going), needles and a hook. I don't use the hooks-I prefer bamboo ones, mostly because they tend to be inline and easier to use. (Inline=where the "hook" is in line with the rest of the crochet hook, as opposed to a "not inline" where the hook part juts out over the rest of the hook)
The patterns are going to my mother.

I also have another throw on the go with a striped wave pattern, have just finished a baby blanket & baby hats for my cousins expected offspring & am planning on a hat making spree for Christmas presents!

I debated about making a baby blanket using granny squares, but the wool is too thin for me to consider doing so...it'd come out more like lace if anything.

Keep up the good work, its amazing how fast you can get good at crochet with a bit of practice.
I've found YouTube invaluable for learning new stitches & techniques as I can't follow a pattern to save my life.

I'm trying to learn how to read patterns, although it can be a tad confusing. The way I am eventually planning on doing it is when I get hold of a pattern I like, I plan on transcribing it into plain English so I know what the hell I'm doing. I know what the abbreviations mean, but it's also very easy for me to lose track.

I like it! I love the colors, I always prefer bright colors. I think it looks great, I can't crochet anything to save my life.

Thanks. I like the bright colours too . Plus, there's no hard or fast rule that says that granny squares need to be in ugly colours .
As for the granny square pattern i'm using, I found it on squidoo. If you've ever done fingerstitch as a kid, you have the basic chain stitch down pat. I'm still learning though and at this stage I can do single (double) crochet and double (treble) crochet along with slip and chain stitches and that's about it.

You CAN get an app for learning new stitches as well called iStitches. It's a free download and the basic stitches are free to download, but after that it's something like $2 each. (they cover knitting and crochet, the second set of each covers slightly more complex stitches, while the last one of each covers cables and lace respectively)

This blanket is going to be for home use, while the other blanket I'm doing with the granny squares (plural) is going to be for my classroom as a marker for the kids to come and sit down where they need to. (Surprisingly I can get K-4 to sit on the mat, after that, it's desks ahoy!)

ETA: in case anyone's wondering, I have not gotten around to sewing in the ends yet. I plan on doing this when I am in a position to get MORE wool.

[LesserSouthernFroglet]

Ubergranny here too! In the past 2 years I've done 3 queen size blankets, 4 lap-size blankets, a baby blanket and hooded jacket and about a dozen scarves. I also have a severe yarn addiction...

It looks great so far! I love the bright colours (most of the stuff I do is bright), and you're practicing, which is the most important thing.

There are some fabulous places online to get free patterns for blankets etc. Let me know if you want any links.

It's also the time of year here where yarn goes on sale at places like KMart and BigW. Both are good places to stock up while it's cheap.

[Cazzi]

I debated about making a baby blanket using granny squares, but the wool is too thin for me to consider doing so...it'd come out more like lace if anything.

Google "wedding Ring Shawls" .. quite a sweet tradition
My MIL (now ex) made a knitted one for my daughters christening.

I'm trying to learn how to read patterns, although it can be a tad confusing. The way I am eventually planning on doing it is when I get hold of a pattern I like, I plan on transcribing it into plain English so I know what the hell I'm doing. I know what the abbreviations mean, but it's also very easy for me to lose track.

Another reason I like YouTube, there are lots of step by step videos on how to do the actual stitches as well as how to make items.

ETA: in case anyone's wondering, I have not gotten around to sewing in the ends yet. I plan on doing this when I am in a position to get MORE wool.

If you have a Freecycle group or similar near you, that can be a good source for odds and ends, as can be charity shops. Can pick up part used balls of wool for pennies

I've also asked for & received old hand knitted stuff & unravelled it. Good old-fashioned recycling rulz

[fireheart]

If you have a Freecycle group or similar near you, that can be a good source for odds and ends, as can be charity shops. Can pick up part used balls of wool for pennies

Will try the op shops (all of them down here are charity ones) again for wool...the one near my house has plenty of wool, but no crochet hooks .

I've also asked for & received old hand knitted stuff & unravelled it. Good old-fashioned recycling rulz

At the Waldorf school I did my first teaching prac at, the librarian/special ed lady actually did just that...she had a sweater that she unravelled, then made a cable-knit cardigan for herself. Don't even get me STARTED on cable knitting (so far I can knit, purl, stocking stitch and reverse stocking stitch)

Ubergranny here too! In the past 2 years I've done 3 queen size blankets, 4 lap-size blankets, a baby blanket and hooded jacket and about a dozen scarves. I also have a severe yarn addiction...

I am working on 3 blankets at the moment as of now: the one in the pic, one with the leftovers from said pic (but individual squares) and one with the wool I've been getting from the Knit and Stitch collection-basically any of the crochet squares and some of the wool that is too tough for me to knit with (such as the furry wool)

It's also the time of year here where yarn goes on sale at places like KMart and BigW. Both are good places to stock up while it's cheap.

How good is the wool there? I was considering getting some white and black for the bands in between my regular bands. My local Big W's (both of them) only seem to carry baby wool and the Carnival 8 ply, while Kmart carries their home brand stuff (of which I have a gigantic ball that I'm going to donate to work because I do not ever plan on using that particular colour), some of their baby stuff and some novelty yarn that I can't use at all.

[Kaylyn]

I perfected my crochet technique on granny squares growing up.

Nowadays I'm a fan of celtic crochet, another motif-style crochet technique in which you make several different types of motifs, weave them together by poking what is usually a stringier motif (lacier, with LONG chains) through the holes of a more granny-style motif, and crocheting around the edge of the interwoven set to secure them, then crocheting the blocks together rather than whipstitching them with a needle. An example (an afghan I made last year for a friend):



I like Caron Simply Soft acrylic for big projects like this. It's not scratchy like a lot of the cheaper acrylics. Red Heart also has two variations on a softer acrylic (compared to their Super Sandpaper--I mean Saver brand). If you want wool or want to experiment with some interesting, perhaps luxury, fiber blends and don't want to spend a lot of money, I've been using Knitpicks. Almost done with a knitted shawl using laceweight, and recently picked up some cashmere blend fingering weight for another project (and because I wanted to use cashmere! and it is SO SOFT!). I've gotten wool fiber from them before and have attempted spinning in the past, but I'm not very good at it.

[Elspeth]

i learned on granny squares too. The sides never end when it gets bigger. I am currently starting on making 10 jelly roll quilts for my family and part of my hubby's family. I did one as a test for the hubby and it took about 3 hours of sewing. Had my Mom take a picture for me, http://twitpic.com/dcrnnl

I am running up one more test (mine) to make sure I have this down. Then 10 by Thanksgiving so I can then back them with polar fleece between then and Christmas. Yes I am insane, why do you ask?

[LesserSouthernFroglet]

The Kmart and BigW yarns are usually just an acrylic - if you're using wool, probably not a good mix. I find that for blankets and other hard-to-wash large items that acrylic is more practical - you can toss it in the washing machine and dryer on gentle cycles and it comes out just like it went in. They're good for practicing on too, using real wool gets real expensive, real fast.

Is the yarn from the magazine wool, acrylic, bamboo or blend?

Most of my yarns are from a sadly, now defunct Tassie chain called Chicken Feed. Acrylic, $2 for a 100g ball of 8ply, in solid and variegated colours, in a huge range. $5 for a 200g 14ply. In contrast, the baby blanket I did was a machine washable baby wool in merino, $8 for a 50g ball at Spotlight...

Kaylyn, that rug is gorgeous.