May
okay so the circle granny square thing
So you start with a magic ring which is honestly the best way to do it even though some patterns will tell you to chain 4 and join or whatever. The magic ring just gives you a tighter center and you can actually close up that hole in the middle properly. You wrap the yarn around your fingers twice, pull through, chain 3 (this counts as your first double crochet basically), then work like 11 more double crochets into the ring. Pull it tight. That’s your first round.
I made one of these back in spring 2022 when I was supposed to be organizing my entire apartment but instead just sat on the couch with a ball of Red Heart Super Saver in that turquoise color they have. My cat kept trying to attack the working yarn which was super annoying but also I wasn’t gonna stop her because she looked hilarious.
the actual pattern part
Round 2 is where it starts to actually look like something. You’re gonna chain 3 again (always counts as first dc), then you put 2 dc in the same stitch. This is the corner basically. Then chain 2. Skip the next stitch, and in the following stitch you do 3 dc, chain 2. You keep doing this – 3 dc, chain 2, skip a stitch – all the way around. You should end up with like 6 or 8 corner spaces depending on how many you want. I usually do 8 because it makes a rounder square if that makes sense.
The thing that really annoyed me was trying to figure out where to put the slip stitch at the end of each round. Like some people say join to the top of the chain-3, some say join to the third chain, and honestly it looks slightly different depending on what you do. I just started joining to the top chain and calling it good enough because perfectionism is exhausting.
building it up
For round 3 you slip stitch over to the chain-2 space (or just start there if you’re doing the standing stitch thing which I never learned properly). Chain 3, 2 dc in same space, chain 2, 3 dc again in that same corner space. That’s your corner. Then chain 1, and in the next chain-2 space you do 3 dc, chain 2, 3 dc for the next corner. Keep going around doing corners in each chain-2 space with a chain-1 between them.
Round 4 is basically the same idea but now you have two spots between corners instead of one. So you do your corner (3 dc, chain 2, 3 dc) in the chain-2 space, then chain 1, then 3 dc in the chain-1 space from the previous round, chain 1 again, then your next corner. It’s pretty repetitive once you get the rhythm.
I used Caron Simply Soft for one of these in summer 2024 and it was way nicer to work with than the Red Heart honestly, less splitty. The color was called Plum Wine or something and I was making it while watching that terrible reality show about people buying houses they absolutely cannot afford… you know the one.
the annoying middle rounds
So here’s where people get confused including me for like the first five times I made these. Each round you’re adding one more chain-1 space between the corners. Round 5 has three spaces, round 6 has four spaces, whatever. You just keep stacking those 3-dc groups with chain-1 between them, and doing the corner thing (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in each corner space.
The pattern is literally the same every single round which should make it easier but somehow I still lost count constantly. I started using stitch markers in the corner spaces which helped but also I kept forgetting which corner I started at so then I’d end up with like 7 corners instead of 8 or whatever.
tension stuff nobody talks about
Your tension matters way more than you think it does. If you crochet tight, the circle is gonna cup and get all weird and ruffled. If you crochet loose, it’s gonna be floppy and the stitches look messy. I naturally crochet pretty tight so I had to like consciously make myself relax while doing these, which meant I couldn’t watch anything too intense on TV or I’d tense up and ruin the whole thing.
Also the yarn weight matters obviously. I’ve done these with worsted weight (that’s what most people use), but I also tried it once with some Bernat Blanket yarn which is like super bulky and it worked up really fast but looked kind of chunky and not as delicate. Used a 9mm hook for that one instead of the usual 5mm.
how to keep it actually circular
The trick to keeping it round instead of letting it turn into an octagon or whatever shape it wants to be is to make sure you’re doing the same number of stitches in each section between corners. Like if you have 4 chain-1 spaces between corners, every side should have 4 chain-1 spaces. Sounds obvious but it’s easy to accidentally skip one or add an extra.
Some people do a thing where they change where they start each round so the seam spirals instead of stacking up in one place, but I never bothered with that because honestly who cares. Unless you’re making something where the seam really shows, it doesn’t matter that much.
joining them together later
If you’re making a blanket or whatever with multiple circle granny squares, you gotta decide how big to make each one first. I usually stop at round 8 or 9 which makes them like 8 inches across or something, depends on your yarn and hook size though.
You can join them with slip stitches or single crochet or just whip stitch them together with a yarn needle. The slip stitch method is fastest but it makes kind of a bulky seam. The whip stitch is neater but takes forever and my hands cramp up. I usually do single crochet join because it’s like a middle ground.
Oh and you’re gonna have gaps between the circles when you join them obviously because they’re round. Some people fill those gaps with little flower motifs or just leave them as design elements. I tried filling them once with these tiny granny squares and it looked cute but took absolutely forever so never again.
color changes
Changing colors is pretty straightforward. You just finish your last stitch of the round with the new color – so like when you’re doing the final pull-through of your last dc, use the new color. Then continue with that color for the next round. Makes a clean color change without weird blips.
I made one with like five different colors from my stash, just random scraps of Red Heart and I think some Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn (which is actually pretty decent for the price). Each round was a different color and it looked kind of chaotic but also fun. Very 70s vibes.
The striping effect you get from changing colors each round is cool but you end up with a million ends to weave in which is literally the worst part of crochet. I just weave them in as I go now instead of saving them all for the end because past-me was an idiot for thinking that was a good system.
common problems I ran into
Sometimes the circle starts ruffling around round 5 or 6. That means you’re adding too many stitches or your tension is too loose. You can try going down a hook size or just being more mindful of keeping things snug.
If it’s cupping like a bowl, you’re not adding enough stitches or you’re crocheting too tight. Go up a hook size or consciously loosen up. I had one that cupped so bad it literally looked like a hat and I just frogged the whole thing and started over with a bigger hook.
The edges can get kinda wonky if you’re not consistent with your chain-2 corner spaces. Make sure you’re always chaining exactly 2, not accidentally doing 3 or only 1. Sounds dumb but I’ve done it plenty of times especially when watching TV or talking to someone.
what to actually make with these
Obviously blankets are the classic thing. You make like 30 or 40 of these depending on how big you want it, join them all together, add a border if you feel like it. Takes forever but looks impressive when it’s done.
I’ve also seen people make pillow covers with like 2 circles sewn together with stuffing in between. Cute but seems like it would be annoying to actually use as a pillow because of all the texture.
Coasters maybe? If you make them really small with thin yarn? I haven’t tried that but it could work. Or like a table runner situation where you join them in a line instead of making a whole blanket.
Honestly I mostly just make these when I want something mindless to do with my hands while watching stuff. The repetitive nature is kind of soothing once you get into the rhythm of it, even though I just said earlier that I mess up the count constantly because apparently I contain multitudes or whatever.
the border situation
If you want to square off a single circle granny square, you can add a border round where you basically just crochet in a square shape around the circle. At each of the 4 compass points (north south east west I guess?) you do a corner, and then you just kind of evenly space your stitches around the curves to connect those corners.
It’s not an exact science honestly. I just eyeball it and do single crochets around, adding extras in the curved parts so it lays flat, and doing corner increases at the four main corners. Sometimes it works perfectly and sometimes one side is weirdly longer than the others but that’s crochet baby.
You could also do a shell border or picot border if you want it to stay round and just look fancier. Chain spaces with dc clusters make a nice scalloped edge. Or just leave it as is, raw edges are fine.
yarn amounts and planning
I never measure yarn usage properly so I can’t tell you exactly how much you need. For one circle granny square that’s like 8 inches across, maybe 50-75 yards? That’s a total guess though. If you’re making a blanket just buy way more than you think you need because running out of yarn halfway through is the actual worst.
Or use scraps and make it scrappy which is what I usually end up doing anyway because I have terrible yarn hoarding habits and need to use up the stash somehow. The random color combinations usually turn out better than the planned ones in my experience, which is either charming or chaotic depending on your perspective.
I tried to make a planned color palette one time with Paintbox yarns (which are nice btw, good color range) in like coordinating blues and greens, and it looked fine but kind of boring compared to the one I made with literally whatever random acrylics I grabbed from the bin.
hooks and tools
You don’t need anything special. A hook in the right size for your yarn, scissors, yarn needle for weaving in ends. Stitch markers help if you’re like me and lose count constantly. I use the little plastic bulb pin ones, nothing fancy.
Some people swear by ergonomic hooks but I just use whatever cheap aluminum hooks I got from the craft store years ago and they’re fine. My hands don’t hurt usually unless I’m doing like a marathon crochet session which doesn’t happen often because I have the attention span of a goldfish.
A blocking mat would probably make these look nicer and more even but I’ve never bothered. Just pin it to a towel or something if you really want to block it, spray it with water, let it dry. I did that once and it did make a difference but also it took like two days to dry completely so effort versus reward ratio seemed off.
Anyway that’s pretty much the whole deal with circle granny squares. They’re not complicated once you get the basic pattern down, it’s just the same thing over and over with one more space added each round. Make the center, do the corners, fill in between the corners, repeat until it’s big enough. End off and weave in your ends or don’t, I’m not your supervisor.
