If you love crocheting granny squares as much as I do, you’ve come to the right place.

Because I LOOOOOOVE me some granny squares. And basically anything that requires a granny stitch. It’s delightful to crochet, it’s practically mindless, and you get to make lots of different motifs using basically the same stitch over and over again. What’s not to love?

In case you’re someone like me, who used to make granny squares spontaneously and then have a giant basket of squares that you can’t bring yourself to sew together, I’ve got the perfect solution for you. STOP DOING WHAT YOU’RE DOING. Let me tell you about the “Join As You Go” method, so you can make squares and join them as you’re creating them…eliminating all of the sewing and extra work that you’ve been causing yourself.

The “Join As You Go” method of joining granny squares is my FAVORITE way of joining squares. To be honest with you, once I realized how much better it made my granny square life, I abandoned all other joining methods and only do this one. It’s how I make hats, gloves, cardigans, blankets….everything.

What you’re really doing with this method of joining is working in the final round of your granny square and joining it to the chain space of the adjacent square, in it’s corresponding points.

Note: I like to join my squares using a single crochet. If you prefer using a Slip Stitch, by all means do so! The instructions below, as well as the video instructions, are for a granny square with four rounds. You can use this method for joining any sized squares, just adjusting for the number of DC clusters required to get to the corner spaces.

Granny Square “Join As You Go” Crochet | Written Instructions

Abbreviations:

• Ch – chain stitch
• Chain Space – the space created between each group of Double Crochets
• SC – Single Crochet
• DC – Double Crochet

—

Basic Granny Squares

ROUND 1: Magic ring.  Ch 3, DC 2, Ch 2.  [DC 3, Ch 2.] 3 times. Join to first DC. (This will give you four groups of 3 DC with a double chain to separate each.)

ROUND 2: Ch 3. DC 2 in first chain space.  Ch 1. [DC 3 in next chain space. Ch 2. DC 3 in same space. Ch 1.] 3 times.  DC 3, Ch 2 in first chain space.  Join to first DC.

ROUND 3: Ch 3, DC 2 in first chain space.  Ch 1. [DC 3 in next chain space. Ch 1. DC 3 in next corner chain space. Ch 2. DC 3 in same space. Ch 1.] 3 times. DC 3 in next chain space, Ch 1. DC 3, Ch 2 in first chain space. Join to first DC.

ROUND 4: Ch 3, DC 2 in first chain space. Ch 1. [DC 3 in next chain space. Ch 1. DC 3 in next chain space. Ch 1. DC 2 in next corner chain space. Ch 2. DC 3 in same space. Ch 1.] 3 times. [DC 3 in next chain space, Ch 1.] 2 times. DC 3, Ch 2 in first chain space. Join to first DC.

—

Granny Squares for Joining

Complete Round 1 – Round 3 as written above.

ROUND 4: Ch 3, DC 2 in first chain space. Ch 1. [DC 3 in next chain space. Ch 1. DC 3 in next chain space. Ch 1. DC 2 in next corner chain space. Ch 2. DC 3 in same space. Ch 1.] 3 times. SC in corner space (Ch 2 space) of joining square. Ch 1. [DC 3 in next chain space of working square. SC in adjacent chain space of joining square.] 3 times. DC 3 in next chain space, Ch 1. SC in corner space of joining square. Ch 1. Join to first DC.

—

For all you visual folks, here’s a quick video showing you how to do the Join As You Go method! I also demonstrate how I manage color changes with granny squares.

It’s also important to mention that I am left handed. When I started out learning to crochet, there weren’t a lot of left handed crochet resources out there. And I wish I’d known how to use this service back then…but you can mirror videos with ease if you need to see them from a different perspective! Did you know that you can replace any YouTube video’s url with mirrorthevideo and it’ll automatically flip the video for you? Brilliant!

Here’s the link if you need a right handed perspective on the Join As You Go method: https://www.mirrorthevideo.com/watch?v=sw6rkgq26jI

I hope you’ve found this simple tutorial to be useful! I’ve got a couple of patterns in my arsenal that I want to share with you, and this Join As You Go method will be incredibly useful for them! Hint hint!

Happy Crocheting, y’all!