Mar
Making the Granny Stitch Blanket Without Overthinking It
So I made this granny stitch blanket back in spring 2022 when I was basically living on my couch binge-watching The Office for the third time and I needed something to do with my hands. The granny stitch is different from granny squares though, which confused me at first because the name makes you think they’re the same thing but they’re really not.
The granny stitch is basically just clusters of double crochets with chain spaces between them. That’s it. You work it in rows back and forth, not in rounds like granny squares. I used Red Heart Super Saver in that Soft White color because it was cheap and I had like five skeins of it already sitting in my closet from another project I never finished.
What You Actually Need
You need yarn obviously. Medium weight works best, the stuff they call worsted weight or size 4. I’ve used Red Heart Super Saver, Caron One Pound (the grey one mostly), and once I tried Bernat Blanket but that was too thick and made the whole thing look weird and bulky. For the hook, I go with a 5.5mm or 6mm depending on how tight I’m crocheting that day.
The foundation chain is where everyone messes up including me every single time. You need a chain that’s a multiple of 4 plus 3 extra chains. So like 4, 8, 12, 16… pick your number, then add 3. For a baby blanket I did 83 chains which gave me a decent width. For a throw blanket you’re looking at probably 120-140 chains but honestly just chain until it looks about as wide as you want it.
The First Row That Sets Everything Up
Chain your foundation. Then chain 3 more for the turning chain. Skip the first 3 chains from your hook (this counts as your first double crochet even though you didn’t actually make one yet, which is annoying but whatever). In the 4th chain from your hook, work 2 double crochets.
Now skip 3 chains. In the next chain, work 3 double crochets, chain 1, then 3 more double crochets in that same stitch. That’s your granny cluster. Skip 3 chains again and make another cluster. Keep doing this across.
At the end of the row you won’t have enough chains left to make a full cluster. You’ll work 3 double crochets in the last chain. That’s your row.
Every Other Row Is the Same Which Is Nice
Chain 3, turn your work. Make 2 double crochets in the same space where your turning chain is coming from (basically between the last cluster and the edge). Now you’re gonna work clusters in every chain-1 space from the previous row. That chain-1 space is where you stick your hook and make your 3 dc, chain 1, 3 dc cluster.
The rhythm is pretty mindless once you get going. Find the chain space, make a cluster, find the next chain space, make a cluster. My cat kept sitting on the blanket while I was working on it which was super annoying because the yarn would get stuck under her.
At the end of the row you’ll see that gap between the last cluster and the turning chain from the previous row. Work 3 double crochets in the top of that turning chain. Chain 3, turn, repeat forever.
The Thing That Annoyed Me Most
Counting the foundation chain. I cannot stress enough how much I hate counting chains. I always lose count around 50-something and have to start over. And then when you finally finish and start the first row, you realize you miscounted anyway and now your blanket is slightly off. I’ve started just chaining extra and then unraveling the extras at the end because it’s less frustrating than starting over three times.
Also the edges can get wonky if you’re not consistent with your tension. My left edge always looks tighter than my right edge for some reason, probably because I’m right-handed and I pull differently or… I don’t know, it just happens.
Changing Colors If You Want To
You can change colors whenever you want. I made one with stripes using Caron Simply Soft in like four different colors—I think it was White, Grey Heather, Soft Blue, and maybe Bone? The color names are weird. Anyway, when you get to the end of a row and you want to switch colors, work your last double crochet until you have 2 loops left on the hook. Then grab your new color and pull it through to complete the stitch. Chain 3 with the new color and keep going.
Don’t cut the old color if you’re gonna use it again in a few rows. Just carry it up the side. It looks a little messy on the edge but honestly no one’s ever looked at the edge of my blankets that closely except me.
How Much Yarn You Need
This is impossible to answer exactly but I can give you estimates. For a baby blanket that’s maybe 30 by 36 inches, I used about 900 yards total. A throw blanket that’s around 50 by 60 inches took me almost 2500 yards. I always buy extra because running out of yarn in the middle is the worst and then you have to order more and wait and the dye lot might be different.
Red Heart Super Saver comes in those big skeins that have 364 yards each, so for a throw blanket get like 7 or 8 skeins to be safe. Caron One Pound has 812 yards per skein so you’d need 3 or 4 depending on your size.
Fixing Mistakes Without Ripping Everything Out
If you miss a chain space and realize it two rows later, you have options. You can rip back to the mistake which is the “correct” way but takes forever and is depressing. Or you can just… keep going and maybe add an extra cluster somewhere else to balance it out. I’ve done both. The second way is faster but you’ll always know the mistake is there even if no one else can see it.
If your cluster is too small or too big, it probably won’t matter much once the blanket is done. The texture of the granny stitch hides a lot of inconsistencies. That’s part of why I like it—it’s forgiving.
Making It Bigger or Smaller
The width is determined by your foundation chain. The length is just how many rows you work before you stop. I usually work until I run out of yarn or until the blanket is long enough to cover my legs on the couch. Very scientific measurements.
For a square blanket, you can measure as you go. Like every 10 rows, lay it flat and see if it’s getting close to square. I don’t usually make square blankets though because rectangles are more useful for actual blanket purposes.
The Border Situation
You don’t have to add a border but it makes the edges look more finished. I usually do a simple single crochet border all the way around. Work single crochets across the top and bottom edges, and when you get to the sides you gotta kinda eyeball how many stitches to put in each row-end space. I do about 2 or 3 single crochets per row-end depending on how it looks.
At the corners, work 3 single crochets in the same stitch to make it turn nicely. Then keep going around. You can do multiple rounds of single crochet if you want a thicker border. I usually do 2 or 3 rounds.
Some people get fancy with shell borders or picot borders but honestly that’s too much thinking for me. Single crochet is fine.
Weaving In Ends Which Everyone Hates
Every time you start new yarn or change colors, you have ends to weave in. I use a yarn needle and weave them into the back of the stitches for like 3 or 4 inches, then trim. Don’t trim too close or they’ll work their way out eventually. Leave maybe a quarter inch.
I usually save all the ends for the very end of the project and then sit down with a podcast or something and just power through them all at once. It takes forever but if you do it as you go, you’ll never finish the blanket because stopping to weave in ends every few rows kills all momentum.
Variations That Change the Look
You can work the granny stitch in the round instead of rows if you want a circular blanket or a square worked from the center out. The cluster pattern is the same but you’d join rounds instead of turning. I haven’t done this much because I prefer working in rows—it’s easier to watch TV and not have to think about where the round starts and ends.
Some people use half double crochets instead of double crochets for a denser fabric. I tried this once with Vanna’s Choice yarn in… I don’t remember the color, something purple. It worked fine but took longer because half double crochets are shorter so you need more rows to get the same length.
You can also change the number of chains between clusters. Instead of chain 1, you could chain 2 or 3 for a lacier look. More chains means bigger gaps which means the blanket works up faster but also isn’t as warm. Good for a summer blanket I guess but I mostly make blankets for cold weather.
Washing and Blocking
When you finish, the blanket might be a little wonky shaped. I usually just throw mine in the washing machine on delicate with cold water and then dry it on low heat. This is probably not the proper way to do it but it works fine for acrylic yarn. The washing evens out the tension and makes everything look more consistent.
If you used cotton or wool or something fancy, you’d want to hand wash and lay flat to dry. I don’t usually use fancy yarn for blankets because they need to be washable and I’m not hand-washing a blanket every time my dog lays on it.
Blocking means pinning the blanket out to specific measurements and getting it wet so it dries in that shape. People who are serious about crochet do this. I’ve done it maybe twice and it does make a difference but it’s a whole thing—you need blocking mats and pins and space to leave it laid out for like 24 hours. Usually I skip it.
Tension Issues and How to Deal
Your tension is probably gonna change as you work. At the beginning you might crochet tight because you’re focused. Then you get tired or distracted and loosen up. Then you take a break for three days and when you come back your tension is different again. This is normal and not really fixable unless you’re some kind of crochet robot.
The granny stitch is pretty good at hiding tension variations because of all the chain spaces and clusters. A tighter section just looks a little denser and a looser section looks a little more open. Once the whole blanket is done and washed, it all kind of evens out.
If your tension is wildly inconsistent like one section is super tight and another is super loose, you might want to rip back and redo it. But small variations are fine and honestly unavoidable.
Yarn Substitutions That Work
I’ve made granny stitch blankets with all kinds of yarn. Red Heart Super Saver is the classic cheap option and it works great despite what yarn snobs say. It’s scratchy at first but softens up after washing. Caron One Pound is similar but slightly softer. Caron Simply Soft is actually soft from the start but more expensive and the skeins are smaller.
Bernat Blanket yarn is super bulky and soft but too thick for granny stitch in my opinion—the clusters get huge and weird. Stick with worsted weight for the best results. Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice is nice if you can find it on sale. Paintbox Yarns Simply Chunky is good too but I’ve only used that once.
Cotton yarn works if you want a blanket that’s less static-y and more breathable. Lily Sugar’n Cream is cheap cotton but it’s usually for dishcloths so the skeins are tiny. You’d need a million of them for a blanket. I Love This Cotton from Hobby Lobby comes in bigger skeins and works better for blanket-sized projects.
Time Investment Reality Check
A baby blanket takes me maybe 10-12 hours of actual crocheting. A throw blanket is more like 30-40 hours depending on the size and how fast I’m working. That’s spread out over weeks or months usually because I don’t sit and crochet for 8 hours straight. I’ll do a few rows while watching TV, then not touch it for a week, then do more rows on the weekend.
The granny stitch works up reasonably fast because the chain spaces mean fewer actual stitches than a solid double crochet blanket. But it’s still gonna take a while. Don’t start a blanket thinking you’ll finish it in a weekend unless it’s a really small blanket or you have way more free time than I do.
Common Questions I’ve Gotten
People always ask if you can use different sized hooks with the same yarn. Yeah, you can. A bigger hook makes a looser fabric with bigger holes. A smaller hook makes a tighter fabric. I usually stick with the recommended hook size on the yarn label but sometimes go up one size if I want the blanket to work up faster.
Can you make a granny stitch blanket with self-striping yarn? Sure but it might look chaotic because the clusters will break up the color pooling in weird ways. I tried this once with some Red Heart Super Saver Stripes and it just looked kinda random instead of having nice stripes. Solid colors or doing your own color changes works better.
What’s the difference between granny stitch and granny squares? Granny squares are worked in rounds from the center out
