THE RECTANGLE GRANNY
 

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The Rectangle Granny
c2005 Sandra Petit, http://www.crochetcabana.com

Note: Turns out I knew more about rectangle grannies than I thought. hee hee. So I'm dividing the pages with full pictures into sections so you won't have quite as long a load time. If you want to see everything at once with thumbnails, go to The Rectangle Granny.

A Granny Square is worked in rounds. When I say "working in rounds" I am talking about where you start in the middle and your piece grows outward, getting larger, until it is the size you need. Most grannies are worked on one side without turning. Most grannies are also square. But how many bodies do you know that are square? hee hee. For the most part, people are taller than they are round and a square granny afghan has to be much larger to accommodate height. If you make it rectangular, it can easily cover a person lying down.

We are going to learn different methods of making a rectangular granny. These are the methods I know. There may be others. I don't pretend to know everything about the granny, but I'm happy to share what I know.

If you do not know how to crochet at all, then you should first go to the Learning to Crochet pages.

Every piece of crochet begins with the slip knot and then a foundation chain. These are taught in other tutorials so I will not go over them again.

Figure 1

Very briefly, to make the foundation chain, you put the slip knot on your hook, then holding the piece that hangs down from your hook with the thumb and middle finger (or forefinger if that is more comfortable) of your left hand, bring the yarn over the hook coming from the back, then pull the yarn through the loop on your hook. If you don't hold that piece, it may move as you're trying to pull your thread through, making it more difficult to complete your chain. If you have trouble, you might try turning your hook slightly downward to catch the yarn.

You have now made your first chain. Yay! The chain should be about as large as the shank of your hook. You want to work loosely to make your chains for a rectangle because you will need to place several shells on each end, into one stitch.

The yarn coming from the skein is laying over your left index finger (if you are right handed) in whatever position you find most comfortable and which provides the necessary even tension. Some people wind it around the little finger as well. You should do whatever works for you. This might change over time as you get more comfortable with the craft.

In the tutorial below I will use the full word the first time I use it, then I will switch to the abbreviation.

Rectangle Granny Method 1:

For the first method we will loosely make a chain (ch) of 13 stitches (sts). Here's a pic

Important: The loop ON the hook is NOT counted as a stitch.

Round 1

Into the fourth ch from your hook (hk), make a double crochet (dc). (Note: The first 3 chains count as one dc. If you like to use ch 2 to bring your dc to height, just chain 12 for your foundation chain and go into the third chain from hook.)

Then into the SAME chain work 2 more dc, ch 2, 3 dc, (push those stitches to the side if you find your fifth chain is getting lost in them) ch 2, work 3 dc. So now you essentially have 3 shells (shell = 3 dc) separated by 2 chains. This forms the narrow end of your rectangle.

You will have 9 free chains. If you can't see 9 free chains, then your shells have swallowed up one or more. (note: If you chained 12 to begin and went into the third chain, then you will have 8 chains left) Push them aside. If you find your chains were worked too small and you have trouble getting all that into one stitch, then rip and rework your foundation chain. It's easier to do it now than to wait and get a rectangle you're not happy with.

Once you have your end made, you will complete one side.

ch 1, skip (sk) 2 ch (again, make sure you don't miss that one right next to your shells), 3 dc in next chain,

 To complete your first side you continue with shells and chain-1. Work ch 1, sk 2 ch, shell. If your side were longer, you would continue this until you get to the end. Just so you don't get confused, note that the picture below shows the second narrow end as well as the first side.

Now you are at the opposite end of your rectangle. You will make your end as you did the first one except you're not starting with a chain. So work (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc, ch 2, 3dc) in that last ch. Another way of writing this would be (shell, ch 2, shell, ch 2, shell) since we have already said that shell, in this pattern, is equal to 3 dc. Be aware that in a different pattern a shell may be something different, so pay attention to the abbreviations and special stitches noted in your pattern.

You will now be working on the opposite side of your foundation chain - in the "leftover" loop - to make your side

ch 1, sk 2 ch, work 3 dc into next ch. Note that you are working into the chain loop that is directly opposite the shell you made on the other side

Now ch 1, sk 2, and make a shell in the next free loop, opposite the next shell. (not pictured)

Now you have two choices.

You can ch 1, then join with a slip stitch (sl st) to the top chain of your beginning (beg) ch-3. (note that when a dash is used with ch, that means you are talking about something that already happened. The ch-3 was already made, and now you are working into it.) Another method is to join with a single crochet (sc) and start working right where you are. I'll show you the slip stitch method in round two and the single crochet method in round three.

In BOTH cases, you DO NOT TURN. You will work on the right side for the entire piece.

Links to the rest of the rectangle tutorial, with full pics
page 1  |  page 2  |  page 3  | page 4 (rows to rounds)  |  page 5 (join squares)  |  page 6 (Caroline's granny)

Rectangle Granny (all methods) with thumbnails

03/24/08

The buttons above were my first at the Cabana. I keep them for sentimental reasons. :-)

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