Easy Crochet Granny Square Baby Blanket

In a previous post, we covered how to make an easy granny square. Now it’s time to attach these granny squares together, add a border, and complete this fun baby blanket. This blanket is easy, doesn’t take up a lot of time, and makes a beautiful finished product. Here is how we complete this easy crochet granny square baby blanket.

How to Attach Granny Squares Together

Materials:

• 12 Granny Squares ( you can find the pattern for the granny squares here)
• Yarn left over from making your granny squares (I used Premier Puzzle and the recommended hook on the package like in the image below )
• Crochet hook (preferably the hook size recommended on your yarn packaging.)
• embroidery needle
• Scissors

Instructions:

1. Lay out your granny squares in a 3 square by 4 square rectangle arranging them in the order you want them in the final blanket.
2. Start crocheting the squares together by taking 2 squares and facing them with the backs to each other, then single crocheting them together along one edge creating a raised ridge. (I crochet together 3 in a row, then crochet those rows together to make a 4 x 3 rectangle.)
3. Once the squares are attached, you are going to add a raised border. This border uses the front posts (shown in the video below) to make a raised single crochet that faces forward. Start anywhere on the side of the blanket. Tie your slip knot and add it to your hook. With your squares facing you go under a post at the edge of the blanket in the single crochet border you added to the squares. Loop over and finish the stitch as a single crochet. Continue going under each post and making a single crochet stitch until you reach the stitch where you started. I like marking my beginning stitch with a safety pin or paper clip.
4. When you reach a raised seam from attaching your squares, put your hook through the last hole before the rise and come out the other side. Make a single crochet stitch. Next  feed your hook through the end of the ride and make a single crochet stitch. Now you can feed your hook under the next post after the rise and continue your border.
5. Finish your blanket with a slip stitch into the beginning stitch and tuck and lock your tail.

Tucking Tails

     There are a couple of ways to get rid of all those tails, but you do not want to just cut them off without first locking them in place. To do so, you can use an embroidery needle, or crochet the tail in between two of your squares when you single crochet them together. 

1.      To use a needle: Thread the tail through the needle then starting at the base of the tail, “sew” the tail back and forth a couple of inches into the afghan. Now take the needle and go on top of the last place the tail came through, then follow back through to the base of your tail. This will lock the tail in place and help it stay secured.
2.     To crochet over a tail, when you are crocheting a line, lay the tail along the edge of the project and make sure your crochet stitch encases the tail.

Crochet Granny Square Baby Blanket Pattern

To print the instructions for the pattern, you can click here.

Inventing your own granny square pattern is quite easy so don’t be afraid to try new things. A basic granny square starts with a loop, then crocheting into that loop to create a square. Want a different look? Try making a granny square that uses the first row from the pattern above, then make your 2nd row a solid row of double crochet, then for your 3rd row, go back to the cluster of 3 double crochet. Try a different type of border, or attach the squares with an embroidery needle instead of crocheting them together.