It is wonderful to have a talented friend like Allison as one of our teachers at Harmony. She crochets, she knits, and she designs patterns. Allison has taught several crochet classes at Harmony; this Saturday she will be teaching an intermediate crochet class all about Granny Squares from 2-4 p.m. for just $15! There’s still time to sign up if you would like to join this class, and  for a few reasons why, just read her guest post below:

My beloved grandmother taught me to crochet on a very long summer car vacation along the East Coast the summer I turned 10 years old. The first thing she taught me? How to crochet a granny square.

I didn’t crochet again until I was an adult, but now that I’ve crocheted  for the last 10 years, granny squares have come to embody all that I love about crochet. The infinite possibilities that emerge with color or yarn choice, the versatility and possibilities of design, and maybe most importantly, the love which is passed on through something handmade to someone important.

Recently there has been an upsurge of interest in granny squares and all things vintage. Really talented designers are re-imagining the granny square in very modern ways. Startling and modern color combinations, different shapes and interesting interpretations are all over the web. Granny stripes, granny chevron ripples, granny triangles, circles, hexagons, or pentagons, and even two-color granny half square diagonals are being turned into afghans, pillows, hats, bags, sweaters, scarves – you name it!

Thankfully the very pleasing and very practical original granny square with it’s wonderful color unpredictability is back in vogue. Popularized as a way to use up bits of left-over yarn, crafty folk over the years have turned to the granny square whenever economic times get tough. Thankfully, the granny square and all it’s variations is here to stay.

Long live granny squares!