THE RECTANGLE GRANNY
 

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

Rectangle Granny Method 4 - Caroline's Rectangle Grannies
(tutorial created with permission granted from Caroline Francis 4/2005)

As I was putting off working on the pics for this tutorial *grin*, I was surfing the net and thought to look for rectangle granny squares. Somehow I ended up at Caroline Francis' pattern Rectangle Grannies (Yes, I know it says Caroline Poust, but she got married. Congrats, Caroline! She's the same lovely person.) This was a method I had not seen before, so I e-mailed Caroline and asked her permission to include it in this tutorial. Very kindly, Caroline gave permission. Caroline has a web site at http://crafts.freeservers.com/ but she is fixing to move it, so I can't make any guarantees on that one. Caroline is also a member of a great yahoo group called Happy Hookers.

Here's my how-to on Caroline's square. Any errors are mine alone.

For this method you will chain 8, then slip stitch into the first chain to form a ring. You are using a larger number in your foundation chain because you don't actually want a circle. You want more of an oval because you will fit more stitches on the sides than the ends. Don't worry if you don't understand this now, you will see as we go along.

Note that shell = 3 dc in this method also

Round 1

You start off the same as a regular granny (ch 3, 2dc in center of ring, ch 3, 3 dc)

Then you ch 1, 3 dc. This will be the side of your rectangle. It may not look like it will straighten out at this point, but it will.

Now follow the picture below - ch 3, shell, ch 3, shell, ch 1. You're almost finished round one.

work another shell, then ch 3, join with a slip stitch to top chain of beginning ch-3. Notice that you have two ch-1, which will be your sides, and we know from past methods that (ch 1, shell) is a side. And we have four ch-3. From past methods we also know that corners are (shell, ch 3, shell). I know at this point it doesn't look much like a square or a rectangle, but trust me. It will.

After you join to the beginning ch-3, sl st in the next 2 dc and in the ch-3 space. This puts you at the next corner. (note: If you've done the previous rectangles, you know that you can join with a dc or hdc and begin at the corner you just completed. I am, however, following Caroline's pattern which uses the slip stitch method. Both are just fine!! You can use either.

Round 2

You are ready to begin your second round now. Start with a beginning corner. (ch 3, 2 dc, ch 3, 3 dc)

ch 1, 3 dc in next ch-1 space (from previous round) - that's your first side

ch 1, work your second corner (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) in the ch-3 corner space of round one

ch 1 to separate your corners of the narrow end of your rectangle, then work your third corner as usual (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc)

ch 1, 3 dc to create your third side

ch 1, work corner in ch-3 corner space from round one (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc). Now you can see the shape of the rectangle, right? Coming along great!

Ch 1, then join with a slip stitch to the top chain in your beginning ch 3, then slip stitch in the next 2 dc and in the next ch-3 space to put you in the next corner, ready to begin round 3.

Round 3

To start your third (and last) round of this rectangle, you make a beginning corner (ch 3, 2 dc, ch 3, 3 dc).

(ch 1, 3 dc) twice to make your side, then ch 1 again and make your second corner (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc)

ch 1, 3 dc, ch 1, then work your third corner (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc).

By now you should see that all your corners are (3 d, ch 3, 3 dc) except for the first corner of each round which begins with a chain. All your sides are (ch 1, 3 dc). In other words unless it's a corner, you ch-1 between shells, including before and after your corners.

So what's your next step? ch 1 first, because you've just completed a corner, then work a side which is (ch 1, shell) twice

ch 1, fourth corner (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc)

ch 1, then work your last side, which in this case is just one shell (3 dc), then you ch 1 and...

Finish off.

There's your completed square. Of course, yours may be red or purple or blue or peach or variegated. Mine is green because it shows up well on the tutorials. I actually am not that fond of green, though this color green is not too bad. ;-) My favorite color is blue. There, now you know something about me you may not have known before.

Note that if you want to do more rounds to actually make something with this rectangle, you just continue as you've been doing, adding corners and sides. As Caroline notes, you skip all the dc stitches and work in the spaces created by your chains.

This is a great pattern and I hope you all take a moment to go have a look at Caroline's pattern and visit her web site. If you've of a mind to, you can even join the Happy Hookers group. These ladies have warm hearts and help a lot of folks. Kudos!

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial and, in fact, learned something. Notice I didn't tell you to pig out on chocolate throughout - that's because this was such a long tutorial I was afraid a sugar high would cause your hooks to shake. LOL But now that you're done, you can put that hook down and grab a snack size box of Bluebell chocolate ice cream. Yummy. I used to love to eat ice cream with those little wooden spoons. Somehow it just tasted better. Memories.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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