The Granny Squares Crochet Masterclass: Learn all the best techniques

1. Welcome to the Granny Squares Masterclass! : If you live on planet Earth, it's impossible to have never seen granny squares. They are literally everywhere. Since the late 1800s, they have been integrated into our decors and the invaded fashion in the 70s. They came back very recently. The choice of color and assembly have evolved, but they still remain the same good old granny squares. And no, it's not just for grannies. Hi, it's me again, Crochetmilie, the one who wants to influence as many people as possible to discover this beautiful hobby that is crochet. You may be one of those that I had the privilege of teaching in my last two crochet classes, the How to Crochet course, and the Amigurumi Masterclass. It's a great pleasure to present you my new course, The Granny Squares. The title is simple because it really encompasses all the concepts you will need to either be comfortable following any pattern that involves grannies or give to your creativity the freedom it needs to make your own masterpiece, either if you are right or left handed. I'm going to start by showing you different ways to crochet the classic granny and how to read the famous crochet graphs. Then you will learn the best assembly techniques, whether with the needle, with your hook, and even the inventive join as you go technique, which makes you integrate all the squares while crocheting their last row. You will also learn how to have straight squares using blocking. I have designed each lesson and project to make your work as enjoyable and aesthetically pleasing as possible. And as usual, small projects will be offered to you to put into practice all the concepts learned. In addition to combining the majority of the techniques from the course, the final project will be as charming as it is practical. You will be able to carry your materials to crochet grannies everywhere. Join me now and discover all the secrets of these little squares. See you soon! 3. Material & Techniques: Let's start by discovering the concept of granny square and how they can be used, as well as the material you will need to make them. As we can clearly see, that is about squares, which put together can form really all kinds of creations, and it allows you to explore your creativity by playing with all kinds of color combinations. Granny's can act too like pixels, to create all kind of pictures and patterns, a bit like quilts. They can also transform in hexagon grannies, which makes that you won't have enough of a lifetime to explore everything we can do with this technique. To be able to follow the lessons of the course, you will need just a hook and yarn. I'll show you in a few seconds how to choose them well, but if you would like to do the projects that I propose, here is the exact material that I used, which you will need. First, I will use Paris Drops brand worsted weight cotton yarn in natural, wheat, and rust color. Full details regarding quantity used for projects as well as where you can get them are written in the pattern that you can download in the documents under the video. We will use a 3. 5 millimeter hook, a yarn needle, stitch markers, scissors, and measure tape if necessary. And a blocking board, which is completely optional. I'll show you in another video which alternatives to choose. In general, you can make granny squares with any yarn, but just to show you an example with super bulky one, I did exactly the same pattern, but you see that the square is much bigger. So if you want it to go quick, that's a good tip, to use a thicker yarn. Just to the right, I made a square made of acrylic yarn, which is smaller and a little bit brighter, more malleable, which will make perfect baby blankets. Then we have the square made with cotton, a very stiff fiber, which makes that the project has a better holding for clothes and bags. And completely right, I tried the same square with sport weight wool. So a little bit thinner than the worsted weight one, which gives a nice soft and fibrous texture. Also perfect for accessories and clothing. You can choose the yarn you like depending on the project you wish to carry out. Regarding the choice of hook suitable for each type of yarn, know that to have a tighter project, you can take a hook a smaller size than normal. And for a more malleable project, you can choose a larger size. I have put on the screen the hooks that I used for each type of yarn. You have certainly already seen small squares stacked one on the other on a block or on a mat. It serves to block the squares, so to shape them so that they are all uniform before sewing them together. It is not mandatory, but it gives a nicer finish. The most popular ways to block are with a wooden board with small holes and metal rods. or a foam mattress where we can pin our squares. I'm going to show you how we proceed in one of the following videos. If you would like to avoid shopping and have an all inclusive option, I offer a box containing all the necessary materials for creating the three course projects. You can find the link under video or in my online store. If you know how to crochet, you are capable of making granny squares. To remind you, crochet is very mathematical. So to arrive at a square shape, you will have to start the first round with a multiple of 4. And with each additional round, increases will be made in each of the corners to form the square. And surprise! Don't panic if you absolutely don't understand these drawings. I'll explain everything and teach you how to read a crochet chart. Yes, at the end of the course, these little graphics will no longer intimidate you, because we are going to practice together how to read them correctly while crocheting. The advantage of knowing how to read a diagram is that it is a universal language, so no matter where in the world where the diagram was drawn, you will be able to crochet it. And for crocheters who are left handed, Watch the indication which will be at the top right of each video to have access to the version designed just for you. Are you ready to crochet your first granny squares? See you in the next video! 4. Granny #1: Start On The Side: We're now going to do our first granny square. It's the basic one, the classic granny. The version that I'll show you now will start and finish the rounds on one side of the square. The following videos will show you two other different versions, all this to make your granny square as aesthetically as possible. It will be up to you to choose which version you like the most. I will also show you three ways to integrate colors subtly. And to make granny squares enjoyable to do, I will also show how to have the least of threads possible to weave in at the end. With your 3. 5 mm hook and wheat color, you are going to tie a slip knot. Insert your hook inside, tighten the loop around the hook and you will begin by making 5 chain stitches. On the left side of the screen, you have the symbol which corresponds to the chain stitch. It is oval in shape and empty inside. You will now make a slip stitch in the first chain that you have done and it will form a ring. The symbol of the slip stitch is a solid black dot. Basically, we are going to come and crochet round 1 inside this ring. So we start round 1, you can chain 3, which will count as a double crochet. And the symbol this time is 3 small chains put one on top of the other. Now make your first real double crochet inside the ring that you made. Inside the space of the 5 chain stitches at the beginning. The double crochet symbol looks like a T with a small bar across it. And you're going to do another one, one another double crochet inside the same space. Since our chain 3 takes itself for a double crochet, we will have formed our first set of 3 double crochet, our first shell. You will continue by doing chain 2, which will constitute the first corner of the square. And you are going to make 3 double crochet, once again in the ring. So a set of 3 double crochet, a shell. To form the second corner of the square, you will chain 2, and you repeat 3 double crochet in the ring, followed by 2 chains, 2 more times. We have now finished our round 1. We are going to join with a slip stitch in the 3rd chain of the starting chain. The one who thinks it's a double crochet, just on top of it. And there you have it, the first round of your first granny square is now done. I'm showing you right now what it looks like on a diagram. In red you see the 5 chains that we did at the start. We then closed these 5 chains with a slip stitch. We started round 1 by doing chain 3, that counted like our first double crochet. Then we made 2 double crochet in the ring followed by 2 chains, which formed our first corner. We then continued by making 3 double crochet in the ring followed by 2 chains, therefore a shell, followed by the second corner, and we repeated this instruction 2 more times. And we finally completed round 1 by making a slip stitch at the top of the third chain of the starting chain. You may have noticed that I didn't make you use a stitch marker. It is intentional because I really want your eyes to get used to it, to the anatomy of each stitch. It will really make it easier for you when the time comes to assemble all your granny squares. I trust you. I'm sure that with all the practice you will do in this course, you will get there. We will now continue with round two. To start, you will chain 4 that will count for a double crochet plus a chain stitch you will understand why at the end of the round. You are going to make your first shell, your first set of 3 double crochet, in the first corner. So in the space of the 2 chain stitches. Followed by 2 chains. So we form the corner once again. And you make another shell, another set of 3 double crochets in the same corner, in the same space of the 2 chain stitches of round 1. You will continue by making 1 chain. And you repeat what you just did in the corner of the square. 2 sets of 3 double crochets separated by 2 chains. Your second corner is now done. We will continue on the side of the square by making 1 chain. So we separate each of the shells on the sides of the square by a single chain stitch. And you repeat the same pattern in your third corner. 3 double crochet, chain 2, 3 double crochet. You are going to make chain 1 to separate the 2 shells between the 2 corners. And for the last one, the pattern will change slightly. You are going to make 3 double crochet, chain 2, . And only 2 double crochet in the same corner. And finishing round 2 by joining with a slip stitch in the beginning chain 4 space. You will see that 3 of these chains will become the missing double crochet from the last corner. On the diagram, I put the slip stitch, the small dot, so that you understand that you must do the slip stitch inside these 4 chains, and not on top of this one. We will now continue with the next round. Since the diagram starts to be a little too big for the screen, what we're going to do is that I'll make with you one side and one corner of round 3, with the instructions, and then I will display the diagram so you can continue to make the square, and we validate in the end together if everything is good. So we're going to start with chain 3, that count like our first double crochet, You'll make two double crochet in the same space to form your shell on the side of the square. You then make chain one that will separate the two shells from the side end corner in the chain two space. for the first corner, you do the same as usual. Three double crochet. Chain two, three double crochet in the same space. You will now continue your square with the diagram. We meet at the end to see if you did this correctly. I put you in red what we just did. You are going in counter clockwise and you complete your square. You will end up doing the chain 1 which separates the two shells. You can put the video on pause and we'll just meet again before making the last slip stitch to join the round. After making the last chain 1, you are going to make a slip stitch on top of the third chain to close round 3. Your square should looks like this. Make sure your shells are always made up of 3 double crochet, that they are separated by a chain 1 on the sides of the square, and in the corners, let them be separated by chain 2. Prepare now for round 4 because we are going to change color. A first way to change color subtly, it is to join it into the last stitch of the previous round. So in this case, we made a slip stitch. You can just undo a little bit and redo the slip stitch, but this time taking the colored yarn, rust or natural, it's your choice, and you pass it in both loops to finish your slip stitch. And we will be ready to continue with this color. But first, to avoid a nightmare of ends to weave in, I will show you a method that takes a few seconds but will hide the strands while securing them. You can cut the colored wheat yarn, we don't need it anymore. And with the two ends of colored threads, you can tie a double knot. You can remove your hook from the loop, but still leave a good space so as not to lose it. And we're going to go transport these two threads towards the last corner of the previous round. You will be able to do it with your yarn needle. You enter the 2 threads inside and you just pass through vertical strands of the last 3 double crochet to hide them behind the corner. We will now be ready to start round 4. Once again, I will show you how to get to the first corner and then I show you the diagram and you continue on your own. We will start by making 4 chains that count as 1 double crochet plus 1 chain stitch. Then you will make a set of 3 double crochets in the next space. Followed by a chain stitch. And you are going to do your corner again, as usual. 2 sets of 3 double crochets separated by 2 chain stitches. And here is the diagram for round 4. In red, this is what you just did. And to explain you the theory, each time we add a round, instructions for corners of the square will always remain the same. And on the sides, we will always add a shell, a set of 3 double crochet with a chain stitch that separates them. No matter the size of your granny square, this rule will still apply. So I'll let you work on round 4 with the new color, and we come together just before starting the last corner. We will learn how to hide the threads of color change. You can pause the video. Arriving at the last corner, what you're going to do is integrate the two threads of colors by crocheting the double crochet around them to hide them well in your shell. And we will continue. You make a chain stitch and you end up with two double crochet in the next space. You can always include the color changing strands. And you finish with a slip stitch in the chain 4 space. And that's it for your first granny square. Well done! The color changing threads are well hidden behind our last corner. You can cut off the overage. I will now show you how to bring in the ending thread so that it is invisible. After cutting the yarn, you can simply pull the loop. Do not enter the thread through the loop. Really pull it like that. And you will come and place a stitch marker in the back loop of the last stitch you made. In this case, it's the slip stitch. So yes, it is a very small braid, but it's really this strand here. Put the thread in the needle, and you will enter in the stitch after the next stitch. So you skip the next stitch, in this case, that will be the little chain one right here. So you skip it, you go enter the next stitch. It will be the first double crochet of the shell. So you get into both strands, from right side to wrong side, like this. You bring back your needle, your thread at the front of your square, and you go enter, once again, forward to backwards, in the little strand where you put your marker, in the back loop of last stitch. And you pull. You see, it creates a kind of fake stitch. It looks very uniform. It will really help you when you will sew squares together to not mistaken stitches. You will only be left with this thread and the beginning one to weave in. One way to do it, given that there are not many stitches where you can go with your thread, is to pass through the vertical strands of the double crochet, this way. and turn around a strand. You can do this two, three times so that the thread is very strong. And you can cut that thread. To weave in the beginning thread you can simply pass it around the strands from round one as I'm doing right now. That's all and just for your information that's the wrong side of the granny square and that's the right side. The double crochet are more defined on this side. You have just learned a bunch of techniques to make a beautiful granny square. In the next video, you will see a slightly different version of the same granny. 6. Granny #3: The Reversible: We're going to work one last time with this classic granny pattern. This time it will be reversible. We will turn the project every row to crochet a row on the right side, and one row on the wrong side. This is the best method to have the square as straight as possible, and above all, if we plan to make a very big square like a blanket for example. We'll start the same way than our first granny, but this time with the magic circle. You can always decide which technique you like best to start with. And, since you have practiced with the two previous versions of granny, I'll leave the diagram here for you. You can complete row 1. And we finish the row with a slip stitch at the top of chain 3. And you can also pull the starting thread to close the circle. We continue with row 2. I don't know if you noticed in the previous diagrams, but each numbered row has an arrow pointing in the direction where you have to read the instructions. In this one, in the second row, the arrow points to the right, so we will follow the instructions in clockwise direction. But you will crochet in from right to left anyway because we are going to turn the granny like that. So we are going to come to work our row 2 from the wrong side. According to the diagram your chain 3 count for your first double crochet and you will do 2 more in the chain 2 space. Then chain 2 and 3 double crochet always in the same space to make your first corner. And you will continue like the other grannies, chain 1, which separates the 2 corner shells. And you continue with the same pattern in each corner. You follow the diagram clockwise. We meet at the end of row 2. And we close the row by doing a slip stitch at the top of chain 3. So you have your row 1 that currently is on the wrong side. And row 2 is on the right side. We will now continue with row 3. You see that the little arrow points to the left, so we will follow the instructions in the counterclockwise direction. So you can make your chain 3, turn your granny, and just continue with the diagram. What's nice about the reversible granny is that you will always start the same way. Your first chain 3 will always act like your first double crochet of the row, which makes it really easy to follow. I'll show you the diagram here. You can continue with row 3 and we meet at the end. We finish the row with, one more time, a slip stitch on the top of chain 3. Your granny should look like this. So you have a row on the right side and the wrong side alternately. You can see that it is very subtle and aesthetic as a way of doing it. For a comparison, on the left you have the granny we just made, and right the first version. For row 4, I will show one last way to change the color subtly. You can cut the thread and pull on it to release it. Turn your granny, given that we are going to do the next row on this side, and And with your hook, you come and get the thread to bring it to this corner. So you can go between double crochet like this to do it. Come out right here in the corner. You will attach the new color in the corner by making a double knot. And make sure you do it around the weak colored thread. Just to make it more secure. You will now be ready to crochet row 4. Make sure you're on the right side. The last row should be with wrong side facing you. So bring the new color to be ready to make your first chain three. And because of the color change, the fourth row in the diagram will start elsewhere, in a corner rather than on the side. But you know very well the granny square's anatomy, so you will be able to continue your pattern. And the important thing is to crochet the two from the corner around the two colored strands to secure them well. And it's worth it because it makes a very subtle color change, with no ends to weave in. I put here the diagram with the color change, which done in a corner, but know that you can proceed with the same technique if you would have liked to change of color in previous rows. Your first chain 3 will act as the first double crochet from the first shell in the corner. It will be the same if you change color every row. And just a little reminder, row 4, you will follow the diagram clockwise. You can put the video on pause, we meet at the end of the row. After closing row 4, I'll show you again how to make an invisible finish. The right side of row 4 facing you, you are going to put the marker on your last slip stitch in the back loop of it, Which is immediately after the last chain stitch that you made. You pick up your yarn needle again, and here, these are the chain 3, so this is the stitch where you are now, so it doesn't count. It won't be the next stitch either, but the next after it. So it seems a little far away, but trust me, it will work. So you pull your needle, you put it back in front of you, and you pass where is your marker, and you pull. Just to show you quickly the anatomy of the stitches, so here you have the fake one stitch of your chain 3, that we just made. Here you have your second double crochet, and the third, from the first shell. So everything is beautiful, you have the exact number of stitches. It gives you a nice finish. You can weave in the ends as usual. You have just finished the last version of the classic granny, but this pattern is also customizable in changing the number of chain stitches, which separate each shell, which will make it either tighter or more airy. For example, you might decide to add a chain stitch to each corner and between each shell, which would give you this kind of square with plenty of space between the shells. And you could also decide to remove a chain stitch between each of them, which you would give a tighter square. We will now learn together the importance of the next step, blocking. 7. Why And How to Block Your Granny: Although it's an optional step, blocking will ensure that the assembly of all your granny squares will look more professional, because it's almost impossible to have a very straight square without blocking it. It will also standardize all your squares if ever you had slight different tension from one square to another. Well, I didn't really know what term to use between wetting, soaking, watering, you can't do them all. The important thing is that your granny square is moistened. to take the desired form. You can either pass it under water, spray it, or use a steam machine. Remove excess water by squeezing it in a towel and you are ready to place it on your blocking board. If you have a precise measurement, you can use a measuring tape to see how many centimeters from diameter you are going to pin your square. I will now show you the different blocking accessories you can use. First, we have the wooden board, which is very pretty and very practical because each hole is separated by 1 cm, so no need to measure it with a tape. Simply count the distance between the holes to place your small sticks. In this case, my granny square measures 10 by 10 cm, so I'm going to put down my little sticks so that they are separated by 10 cm. Make sure each stick are towards each other. You are now ready to lay your granny squares. You will insert each of the corners on the four sticks. You have to stretch a little bit the granny, so that it takes its shape. So you will have a slightly bigger granny, but never smaller. And you can stack a square on the other, perhaps leaving a small centimeter of space. between each to let the air circulate. And all you have to do is wait for it to dry. The other option, which is easily accessible, small styrofoam mats. They are often sold in packs of four so you can block a bigger project. They come with pins that you can use at every corner of the square and also on the sides. The grid is divided into inches so you can do the conversion with your tape measure to make sure to have your 10. centimeter or any other measurement. Unlike the blocking board, you can't stack them one over the other, but you can very well put them one next to the other and let them dry. The last option is within the reach of anyone. With measuring tape, pins, and a fabric surface, you could block your little squares all over the house, but especially warn your family members to avoid unfortunate accidents. Now let's learn how to join our grannies together. 8. Join With Needle: The easiest way to assemble your grannies is with a yarn needle and a thread, either of the same color or with a contrasting one. Note that your grannies must absolutely have the same number of stitches on each of their sides, so it doesn't matter the kind of granny you crocheted, as long as the total number of stitches and size are the same. Also, it's good to know that it's easier to assemble granny squares which have two chains in each of their corners. You can reserve one for sew with the side square and the other to sew with the square above. This is what a graph looks like that asks you to sew two squares together. There will be a small dotted line between the two squares. And if you assemble several squares, it will look like this. And as I told you a few seconds earlier, when there are two chains in every corner, it's very practical because you will be able to pair them together. One when you are going to sew on one side and save the other for when you will sew crosswise. Don't worry, we'll practice together in the third project of the course. Here are the four assembly techniques that I will show you today. There will be the whip stitch, the invisible stitch, the reversible stitch, and the mattress stitch. The names are maybe not the same you can see elsewhere because I saw several videos using the same stitch name but which was a little bit different. So go ahead with the finish it gives. And usually if you buy a crochet pattern the designer will specify how to sew. The whip stitch is the simplest. You can work with grannies with their right side facing you and it's now where your knowledge about stitches anatomy will be super important to know where to start and which stitch pair together with the other granny. We will start by entering the needle in the chain stitch that is just before the first shell on the side. You can either enter in the corner space or in the chain like I'm doing right now. It's easier if you put the two squares wrong sides together and you just go and insert your needle from front to back and back to front on the other side. And you turn around your thread like this. Make sure you don't skip a stitch. To really go into the two stitches which are opposite each other. You can pull the thread time to time to make it very solid. And you continue like this until the end of the square. At the end you will see I will enter the first chain stitch right after the last shell of both grannies. So you joined two grannies together with the whip stitch. And this is what it would look like if I had took the thread of the same color. Now we will learn to make the invisible stitch. So you are going to put your two grannies good side together. And we will start sewing. It's the same principle as the whip stitch. You will start in the chain which is just before the first double crochet of the first shell. So it's right here. You're going to go into the back loop only of the two grannies. Since the wrong side is facing you, it will be the strands which are outside of the two squares, like that. And you're going to enter your needle front to back and back to front in the next loops, like this. And the last seam will be done in the first chain. that constitutes the corner. You can put the squares back to right side and pull the thread. And there is your invisible seam. And this seam is very easy to undo if you don't block your thread at the end. Now, let's see together the reversible stitch. A very easy and nice one to do. And the appearance of the seam will be similar on both sides of the granny. This time we will start by simply passing our needle in both corners. You can sew the grannies flat. And what you're going to do is that you will pass from the inside towards the outside of the junction of the two grannies in one of the stitches. And you will enter the corresponding stitch of the other square, again inside to outside of the two grannies junction. And you alternate like that. You can pull the thread time to time to properly tighten your seam. And at the end, just go into the last corners. You see that with a contrasting color, it's not a very pretty technique. But with a thread of the same color, it's very subtle and it makes also a nice seam on the back. It is for this reason that I called it the reversible stitch. The mattress stitch looks a lot like the invisible one. except that it is much stronger, less stretchy. So I show you how to do it now. It's a little more complicated but the finish is worth it. You will enter again in the back loop of the chain right next to the first shell of the corresponding corner. And you will re enter the first chain stitch and exit through the top of the loop of the next stitch. You will do the same thing on the other side. Enter the first stitch again, and exit through the back loop of the next stitch. And you still continue like this. You enter the stitch where you went previously, you enter from the front towards the back, and you come out of the back four, into the next other loop. And you go like that, zigzag, from one granny to another. It may seem confusing at first but with practice it goes very well. You enter the stitch which is already taken and you exit through the next stitch. And every now and then you can pull on the strand to tighten well until that you no longer see the sewing thread. And in the end you should finish in the corresponding chain to the side of the granny. And check if your thread is well pulled all the way through the seam. And that's it for the last assembly technique with a needle. You see, it's a very solid stitch and even the contrasting color does not even appear. We will now learn how to join grannies with crochet stitches. 9. Join With Stitches : Another way to join our granny squares is using our hook and basic stitches. The same principles as you have learned about assembly with the needle will apply. We will learn in this lesson how to join two squares with slip stitch, with single crochet, reversed single crochet and flat slip stitch. The graphs will look like this by telling you which stitches use between squares. And I forgot to tell you the previous lesson you. If you do an assembly of squares which will make a large rectangle or a large square like a blanket, for example, I recommend going one way at a time. So you will join all your squares together in the vertical or horizontal direction, and you do the opposite afterwards. You are going to join the two grannies together with a slip stitch in the corresponding stitches of each square. You can start by entering the corresponding corners and join the thread to them. You can make a little chain stitch just to secure the thread from the beginning. And then you're going to go into the both loops of each square and you make a slip stitch. It's that simple. And you can hold both squares so that their wrong sides are facing each other. When you arrive in a chain space, you can just make a slip stitch through both spaces. So it should look like this. And note that with a strand of contrasting color, this is not the best method for joining. It doesn't look very pretty. So if you do the slip stitch method, it's better to take a thread with the same color. At the end of the square, you can go join in both spaces. This type of assembly gives you a texture between the two grannies. And like I told you, it's much better with a thread of the same color. And this is what the graphics that require joining two squares using slip stitches look. They can be either shaped round or oval as long as it is a small full dot. Let's try with single crochet. This time, instead of entering into both loops of each stitch, you will enter into the front loop only of the two squares. So you enter your hook into the front loop of the small chain stitch before the first single crochet, as well as in the front loop of the corresponding square chain, which is right here. You are going to join your yarn, do chain one, and we will continue in the front loops of the corresponding stitches of the squares. You enter in the two front loops and you make a single crochet. And you continue like this all along the side of the square. At the end, you enter the first chain stitch in the corner, as well as the one of the other square to finish the assembly. And here what it should look like. It creates a little more texture than the slip stitch, and with a contrasting color, it's very pretty. And if you take a thread of the same color, it will look like this. The diagram will tell you to do single crochet stitches between the two squares. And maybe it will go even further by specify you to enter the front loop of each stitches. Reversed single crochet are always practical to create a beautiful finish, but they are crocheted backwards. So for right handers, you will crochet from left to right, and left handers from right to left. You will enter into the back loops of stitches corresponding to each square. We will start by entering a chain stitch from one corner of each square. Don't forget to take the back loop, even if on this square it looks like it's the front loop, because it's facing you. But it's the back one of this granny square. You can chain one, and you will crochet in the back loop of the previous stitch. So you step back. You're going to take the two little strands like this. And you make a single crochet like as usual, but it will be reversed. And you continue on all the back loops of previous stitches corresponding to the two squares. This technique is a little difficult in terms of dexterity, but with practice you will find it pleasant. And you continue this way on the whole side. When you reach the end, you can do your reversed single crochet in the last chain stitch of the two squares. This should give you this result. It creates a nice bouncy texture. If you had taken a thread of the same color, it would have looked like this. And the diagram will tell you to make reversed single crochet between the two squares. It is an X with a small wave on top. And the chart could go further by telling you to make them into the back loops only. The technique with flat slip stitch will remove the texture created with previous ones. The junction between your squares will be flat. It just takes a little bit more of patience. I show you how to do it now. You can tie a slipknot and insert your hook inside, then pass it through the back loop of the chain stitch from the corner, and enter from the front to back of the chain stitch of the other square. And you are going to make your slip stitch through both loops, as well as the loop on your hook. Then you will enter the back loop of the next stitch of the same square, and in the back loop of the other square's next stitch. And you make the slip stitch through all loops. It's a little difficult to pass, it takes practice. And you go to the next stitch of the same square, as well as the next stitch of the other square, and you continue like this from one square to the next. And it is very important to always make sure to pass the hook over the thread when you go through the stitch of the opposite square. So it should look like this. You form a small braid between the two grannies. And just to show you the last slip stitch we make in the little corners chain, if you have difficulty to pass the thread through the loops, you can pull it like this to help it pass. That does a nice assembly work with no texture. I don't have a diagram to show for this technique. You will at least know it exists if you want to have that kind of finish. Let's now discover the latest assembly technique. 10. Join As You Go: A super interesting assembly technique is to join our squares together by crocheting their last row. It's super practical if you want to make a big blanket, clothing or bag. To do the exercise with me, you will need 4 classic granny squares. If you purchased the crochet kit that comes with this course, don't make a fourth square with the wheat color, because you're going to run out of it for the last project. So you can take the rust color. You can arrange the four squares like this, and at each step, I'll show you the graph that comes with it because the whole diagram is a little scary. But don't worry, you will understand everything at the end. So we'll start with the lower right square. For left handers, it will be the lower left square. So for you, the diagrams, again, will have to be reversed, but the technique remains the same. You will start in a corner with the natural color and you'll crochet one shell only. You join the yarn, you chain three and you make two double crochet in the corner. Then chain one and you will continue by crocheting the classic granny made up of shells of three double crochet separated by a chain stitch on the sides and in the corners two chain stitches. So I put the graph here for you. You can follow it until you have reached the third corner of the square. You can pause the video. In the third corner, you will do only one shell, therefore three double crochet. Then you will chain two. And we will continue on the square which is right next to it. You can position your square this way. And we're going to work on this one. You'll make a double crochet in the lower corner. And you continue, you will do 2 other double crochet in the same corner. And now we're going to join this square to the other. So you can place it this way to clearly see what you're going to do. You will do a slip stitch in the chain 1 space that's right here. You can go over this way. And you continue in the next space of your second square by making 3 double crochet, a shell. Your slip stitch will have replaced the chain stitch. And you will join once again with slip stitch passing over it. If you're wondering if it would be easier to make the slip stitch passing under the square, it is a more intuitive movement, but here is the result it gives. This will give you a little rebound to your junction, so the finish will be a little less flat than if you do the slip stitch on top, as I showed you. Even if the movement is a little less intuitive, the result is more aesthetic. Whether you choose one way or the other, just make sure you do the same thing throughout your project. And we continue to make a shell in the next space of the second square. We join the two squares with a slip stitch in the space of the chain stitch. And that will be the principle throughout the assembly. So the graph will look like this. You see the same shells on the second square, except that instead of the chain 1 between each of them, I put the slip stitch symbol, which is facing the first square chain 1 space. So it shows that you will have to attach the second square on the first. You continue like this until the upper corner. You will make one shell only. Then, we will join with a slip stitch in chain 2 space. You are going to make chain 1 only, so your first slip stitch count as the second chain. And you do your second shell in the corner. It should look like this. So you will continue on the upper side of your second square. We meet at the next corner. After making your first shell from the corner, you will chain 2. And we're going to join the third square, the one just above. You will proceed the same way you just did with square number 2. I leave here the diagram for you to continue. At the second corner, you make a shell. And like we did previously, you do a slip stitch in the corner space of the second granny. Pay attention, it's really this space here. So you make a slip stitch, chain one, and you will continue with the second shell, in the corner of the third square. I put here the graph that you can follow for the following steps. You will continue to crochet on the side until the first shell of the upper corner. You will then chain 2 and assemble the 4th square with the 3rd. And we meet at the last shell. I'll show you how to assemble the 4th square with the 3rd and the 1st. You can pause the video. You're going to do the shell in the corner that really connects all squares together. After making your 3 double crochets, You are going to do a slip stitch in the corner space of the third square, so right here. And a slip stitch in the lower space from the corner of the first granny, which is opposite, right here. Your four squares are well joined together, and you continue with the second shell from the corner of the fourth square. The rest of the side will be worked on the same way as your previous assemblies. You can follow the instructions in red. We meet just before making our second corner shell. We are now at the point of doing other side of our fourth square. So you end up with your second shell in the corner. And the next steps will be very simple. We're going to close the outline of assembling our squares. So for the next two sides, you will do as usual. And we meet right there, at the junction between square 3 and 4. After making your shell in the upper corner, you will not chain 2. You will only chain 1. And you will make a slip stitch in the chain 2 space right here, between the two squares. And you will make another chain 1, which will belong to the corner of square number 3. And you are going to finish the corner of square number 3 with a shell. The graph will look like this. You see at the top the chain 1, the slip stitch in chain 2 space, and another chain 1 that will form the corner of the third square. You will now continue as usual on both following sides of the third square. And you are going to do the same thing between square 3 and 2. Chain 1, slip stitch in the chain 2 space, chain 1, and you continue on both following sides of square number 2. And the same principle, chain 1, slip stitch, chain 1 between squares number 1 and 2. And finally, the last side of square number 1, that you will be very happy to end with the missing shell from the first corner. You will finish with chain 2 and a slip stitch on the top of the beginning chain 3. And that's all! You have just finished a join as you go assembly technique. I show you the final diagram here, what you just did. I hope you are no more intimidated by this graph. It's really about following the steps. I put yellow arrows when there is no assembly to be done, and and blue dotted lines when they are. I have also numbered all the steps to do them in the correct order. You will sometimes see diagrams drawn simply like this, which will tell you in which order assemble your squares. And here we have the formula if you want to assemble several squares. So horizontally, if you want to add squares, you would repeat squares number 2 and 3, and horizontally, if you want to add squares, you would repeat squares number 2 and 3, And if you would like to add some in height, you will repeat squares 6. And you would end up with the final border as we did. I have included a PDF with all these informations and the documents to download. I'm going to show you now that we don't have to use only the classic granny pattern with the join as you go technique. You can use the same method for other types of stitches. You don't need to practice. I'm just going to show them to you here as a reference because we're going to practice it in the third project together. What I did in this case are double crochet in each of the stitches instead of the classic granny style. So you still have corners, this time made up of 2 double crochet, chain 2, 2 double crochet but all sides are made with double crochet in each stitch. The principle is the same as we just practiced together Only is that we are going to join each double crochet with the double crochet that we will do on the second square. I will show you two slightly different methods. The first, the simplest, after having made your first double crochet from the second square, you will come and join with a slip stitch in the last double crochet that you made on the number one square. So the one opposite, just here. Hold your loop on your hook so as not to lose it, and you pass through both loops of the double crochet and you make the slip stitch. You may have difficulty to pass the thread well through the loops, but with practice it should be fine. You're going to continue. You're going to do your second double crochet of the square number two shell, which you are going to join with a slip stitch in the corresponding double crochet of square number 1. And you continue in all subsequent double crochet. Once again, it's better to do the slip stitch over and not under for a more beautiful result. And at the corner, after having done your first shell, you will proceed in the same way to what we have just learned. You are going to make a slip stitch in the chain 2 space. Chain one. And you continue to the side of the square. With this technique, it makes still a nice finish, but with a little texture between. This is what a diagram will look like who has to crochet the last one row in double crochet, joining each of them from one square to another. I put the little green arrow for you to indicate that after having made your first double crochet, you go make a slip stitch in the corresponding one of the other square. And then you continue with the second double crochet and so on. The technique we learned with the classic granny square will remain exactly the same when it comes to join the corners together. The last variation that I will show you and which we will use in the project number three It's very similar. We're going to join one double crochet or any stitch to the other, but this time, for a little more aesthetic work, there is a step that we will add, and it's up to you to choose whether you would like to use it or not. After making your first double crochet on the other square, you will take out the hook of the loop, you're going to enter in the corresponding double crochet of the first square, and you're going to take back the loop to pass it through the stitch. You will continue by doing the next stitch, in this case the double crochet. You are going to let go of the loop, be careful not to undo it. You enter the both loops of the next double crochet of the other square, and you will go and look for the loop to pass it inside. And it doesn't matter which way you take the loop, even if it twists, know that it will make no difference. So you take the loop as it comes. And don't worry, we'll practice a lot with project number three. The finish will look like this. It only adds texture between the two squares and not a raised texture. And here is what it gives when we replace the double crochet with single crochet stitches. And that's what we're going to do with the third project. That's all for the assembly techniques. We're now ready to start our first project. 11. Mini Pouch: Material & Techniques: Welcome to the first project of the class where you will make a mini pouch. Super practical and quick to crochet, you can transport with style all your little accessories like your airpods or your lipstick. Here is the material you will need. About 10 grams of worsted weight cotton yarn in wheat color, but you can take the color of your choice. A 3. 5 millimeter hook, scissors, a yarn needle, and a stitch marker if necessary. And here are the techniques we will use in the creation of the mini pouch. We are going to crochet small classic grannies, then we will put them together using the slip stitch assembly technique. And we will learn how to add a border. Grab your hook and let's get started! 13. Mini Pouch: Assembly: You now have your two little grannies done. You will put the wrong sides together, and we will assemble with slip stitch technique. If you would like to use stitch markers, they can be useful to know where to start and where to end. So you will be able to put it on one of the chain stitches in the corner, the one which is the most inferior. So right here. And you can count eight stitches that separate them. It will be supposed to be on the lower chain from the other side corner. We can now start. You will take your hook and the yarn of the same color. You will enter into the back loop only of each of the stitches. And make your slip stitch. Take only the back loops from each of the grannies, like that. You'll continue all around until your next marker. And you can make your last slip stitch in the chain loop where your marker is. You can remove it to make your work easier. And don't cut the thread because we're going to continue with the border. You will continue by making a chain and 3 single crochet in the next chain 2 space, which is right in this corner. And you will continue in all of the next spaces. You will make 3 single crochet in each of them. So we just made the middle space, you will now go in the first granny's corner space. You are going to make 3 single crochet. And continue around the corner from the second granny, right here. And we continue in the middle space of the second granny. And we finish in the last corner of the second granny. You can join this round by making a slip stitch in the first single crochet made. Round 2 will be very simple, you start with chain 1, you will make a single crochet in the same stitch, therefore in the single crochet where we joined, and you will continue by making single crochet all around for a total of 18 single crochet. And at the end, you join with slip stitch into the first single crochet. Round 3, chain 1, single crochet in the same stitch, the one where you joined. You are going to make 3 other single crochet. You are going to chain 3. Skip 2 stitches from round 2 and continue with a single crochet in the next 8 stitches. You will now make a long chain of 50 chain stitches. When you're done, your little pouch must certainly have turned around your thread. So just make sure your chain is not twisted before continuing. You will continue on the same round into the next stitch. You will make a single crochet. You can check if your chain is not twisted. And you continue by making single crochet in all three following stitches. You can join with a slip stitch in the first single crochet. And that's all. You have finished your mini pouch. I'll play the video and fast forward to show you how I weave in ends. And your little pouch is ready to be useful. You can tuck in the chain in the small opening that we have done on the front to be able to attach it to your bag and secure everything inside. Now, let's move on to the second project, the all round case. 14. The Case: Material & Techniques: Now let's move on to the second course project, the all round case. It will be useful to protect with style all kinds of accessories, like your phone and your glasses. You will need 40 grams of cotton worsted weight yarn in rust color, 5 grams in natural color, and a little bit of wheat color cotton yarn, if you want to do exactly the same thing as me. But you are free to choose the colors that inspire you. We will once again use a 3. 5 millimeter hook, scissors, a yarn needle, stitch markers, and a 15 by 15 centimeters blocking board, which is completely optional. You will learn different techniques with this project. You will learn how to do the puff stitch, the bobble stitch, you will also know how to transform a circle into a square, and we will do the assembly with the needle technique. And also, you will learn that we can use grannies to give your creativity all its liberty. Come join me in the following video to get started. 15. The Case: Granny #1: We will start right away with the first granny. You will take the natural color yarn and start with a magic ring or the other technique if you prefer. You will chain 3 and make 16 double crochet in the ring. I will show you the graph and we meet at the end of round 1. After making your 16 double crochet, you can pull the thread from the beginning to close the ring tightly and make a slip stitch in your first double crochet. Make sure you count 16 double crochet. You will continue by making chain 2, and I will show you how to do the puff stitch. You are going to yarn over, you enter in the same stitch where you did the last slip stitch to join, yarn over, you pull through the stitch, yarn over, and you enter once again in the same stitch, yarn over, you pull through the stitch, and one last time, yarn over, you still enter the same stitch, yarn over, you pull through the stitch, Yarn over, you pull through all the loops on your hook. And you finish with a chain stitch. So that's the puff stitch. I'm going to make another one again to show you. Yarn over, you enter into the next double crochet in the next stitch. Yarn over, you pull through the stitch. Try to create space over as you go out. Leave it well loose to be able to pull through later. So you do this three times. And the last yarn over, you pull through all the loops and you close the puff stitch with a chain. I'll show it to you one last time. Then I'll put you the diagram and I'll let you go. And for your information, the puff stitch can have variations. You could enter, for example, 4 times instead of 3 to make a slightly more bumpy texture. You continue the same way in all remaining double crochets. You see the symbol here? It's like 3 half double crochets together with a little chain stitch on top. When you have finished your 16 puff stitches, you will make a slip stitch in the chain 2 space, while joining the next color, which is the wheat one. You can cut the natural colored thread, we won't need it anymore. You join the wheat color, you can tie a double knot with the 2 threads. just to secure them well. And we will come and hide them while crocheting our round three. You are going to do a slip stitch into the next space between the first two puff stitches. Don't forget to include your two colored threads that we are going to hide. And then you make three chains. We are going to do two double crochet together, always around our two colored threads. You start your double crochet, but after having passed the first two loops, you stop and do another one. You pass in the first two loops, and the last step, you will yarn over and pull through your three loops that are on the hook. So we made two double crochets together. And you can make two chains. Always crocheting around your threads, you will enter into the next space, between the two puffs. And this time, we are going to make three double crochets together. So it's the same principle, only you add one. So the last double crochet, you go through the stitch, you pull through two loops, and the last step, you will pull through all loops on the hook. This stitch is called the bubble stitch. It can consist of more than three double crochet. We could make four or five double crochet together, which will create a little more texture. You will continue by doing chain two, And another bobble stitch. 3 double crochet together between the next 2 puff stitches. And you continue like this all around. The bobble stitch is drawn with 3 double crochet put together. Your last bobble stitch will be done between the last and the first puff stitch right here. Followed by chain 2 and you will make a slip stitch on top of chain 3. And you will join the last color. You can cut the wheat colored thread and tie a double knot with the 2 colors just to secure them. And we continue with the next round. You are going to chain 3. And while crocheting around the 2 threads that we have just tied, you are going to do 3 half double crochet in the next space. You will do the same thing in next space. 3 half double crochet again. by crocheting around the threads to not having to weave them in afterwards. You repeat another time 3 half double crochet in the next space. In the next one it will be 3 double crochet, chain 2, 3 double crochet. So it will form the corner of your granny square. You can make 2 chain stitches after the first shell and the second shell is made up of 3 double crochets. So this is how we transform a circle into a square. We make shorter stitches on the sides, therefore half double crochet. And in the corners, we are going to make double crochet, which will give a square shape. You can now cut the two colored threads you crocheted around. They are going to be pretty secure. And you continue on the side of the square. I put the diagram here for you so you can follow it. The next shell will be made up of three half double crochet. On the diagram you see the difference between a double crochet and half double crochet design. The half double crochet does not have a small line which crosses its branch. So you can see that on the sides of the square we make half double crochet and in the corners double crochet. I'll show you how to make the last corner of the square. So you are going to make three double crochet. Chain 2 and 2 double crochet always in the same space. And you will make a slip stitch in the chain 3 space from the beginning, which will form your third double crochet missing from the corner. So it's going to look like this. We will continue with the next round. Given that we already have transformed our circle into a square, we will We will work only with half double crochet. You will start by doing chain 2 and 2 half double crochet in the same space. You are going to make a shell of 3 half double crochet in the next 3 spaces, therefore on the side of the square. In the corner, in the chain 2 space, you will make 3 half double crochet, chain 2, 3 half double crochet. I'll let you continue with the diagram, knowing that all shells will be made of half double crochet. After crocheting the last corner, you are going to make a slip stitch at the top of the two chain stitches. You will start the sixth round by making chain 2, and this time you are going to do your first shell of 3 half double crochet in the next space. And the principle remains the same as round 5. except that a shell will be added on each side of the square. And in the last space, you will do 2 half double crochet. And you will join with a slip stitch on top of chain 2 from the beginning. And that's all! You have finished your first granny. I'll fast forward the video to show you how I weave in the ends. So this is the back of your granny, and that's the good side. Now, if you want to do the blocking step, go ahead, but I don't think it will make a big difference if you omit it. After having humidified your square, and if you use a small board 15 by 15 cm, you can put the small sticks in the corners of round 5 to be able to stretch it well. So the square should be approximately 15 by 15 cm, and you just have to wait for it to dry. Let's now move on to the second granny, who is much simpler. 16. The Case: Granny #2: The second granny is going to be very simple. It's going to be the same as the classic granny, except that you are going to do half double crochet instead of double crochet. I'll start with you. So you can start with a magic ring, or 5 chain stitches closed with a slip stitch in the first one. And you will chain 2. Then you will do 2 half double crochet in the ring. Chain 2. 3 half double crochet in the ring, chain 2, and you repeat 2 more times. At the end, pull the beginning thread to close the ring, and join with a slip stitch on top of chain 2. Be careful not to go in the first half double crochet, but really the small chain stitch just before. I give you the diagram of what you just did. We will continue with round 2. You are going to chain 2 and make your first shell 3 half double crochet, chain 2, 3 half double crochet in the first corner. I leave you the diagram to continue the second round as well as the following rounds. At the end of round 2, you will make a slip stitch in the chain 2 space to transform it into the missing half double crochet from the last corner's second shell. You will be able to pause on each picture. If you have difficulty following a diagram, you can always return to the lesson of the classic granny squares, the version 1, and only do half double crochet instead of double crochet. The last round of the second granny, you finish with a slip stitch on top of the beginning chain 2. And this is what it should look like. And I show you in fast forward how to weave in ends. You may notice that the corners of the granny are not very straight. It looks like there are too many stitches. You are right. Usually the shells of grannies made of half double crochet has to contain only two half double crochet and not three. But given that we can do whatever we want with crochet, I decided to make shells of three half double crochet. to have more leverage while assembling my case. And there you go! We are now ready to assemble our two granny squares. 17. The Case: Assembly: You will start by taking your first granny, the one with the flower, and you are going to drop it the wrong side facing you. And you're going to fold it from this way, like a small pouch. We're going to sew these two parts together. To help you hold it, you can put a stitch marker that holds the three corners together. You can cut a rust colored thread, about three feet long. And we're going to sew with the needle, with the whip stitch technique. It's okay if you don't remember, I'll show it to you right now. You enter the needle in two corners together, like this. Leave a good length of thread left behind because we're going to use it to sew the other part. And you're going to sew this way. You enter in both loops of each of the corresponding stitches. And you will go into the following stitches by turning around them. So always start sewing on the same side. And you pass through both small remaining loops at the end. We will now do the same thing on the other side. And we are going to use the other part of the thread you left behind. If you ever miss a stitch and you are no longer really in the corresponding one, if it is only a question of one stitch, don't worry, it really won't show. That's the beauty of crochet. We finished sewing our first granny square. Let's go now integrate the second one. This time, right side will facing you. This here is the back side, where you can see the small bumps that the middle loop does. We'll place it that way, a corner that fits in the space of the small pouch. And we're going to sew both sides, from this granny to the other. Again. You can take a three feet long thread, go enter into the two corners that meet together, and once again, let about half the thread behind. And you can start sewing from the same way as the other granny. Start by joining the corner of the side with the corner of the second granny, and you are ready to start sewing. You will sew until the next corner. And you're going to do the same thing with the other side with the remaining thread. And at the end, you can solidify the three corners together with the thread. And that's all! You have made your all round case. You can now weave in ends. Take the opportunity to close the case even higher by entering into the next stitches just after the junction of the three corners, like that. It's going to close it a little bit more roundly than triangularly. And then you can weave in these. Now let's make the little tassel, which is going to be right on the flap. You will cut 9 strands that will measure about 6 or 7 inches. You will then pass them through the corner of the second granny between round 6 and 7. Cut another thread a little longer. And you will roll it around to make the tassel. And block it by making a double knot with the beginning and end thread. Cut the fringes so that they are about an inch. You have to separate each strand so I give you the long option, it's with your yarn needle. But if you have a comb close to you, it will be 10 times faster. And you can finalize with that little haircut. And that's all! You have completed your second project. I hope this case will be super practical and bring you a few compliments along the way. Now, let's move on to the final project, the Crochet Everywhere bag. 19. The Bag: Main Granny: We're going to start the main granny with the wheat color. And you will start with the magic ring or the other technique. And you will make 6 single crochet in the ring. So you start with chain 1 and 6 single crochet. I put the diagram here for you so you can follow it. At the end you can pull the thread from the beginning to close your magic ring. Count if you have 6 single crochet made. And you will join with a slip stitch in the first single crochet. Round 2, you will do a chain 1, and you are going to include the thread from the beginning while crocheting the following single crochet. So you are going to make a single crochet in the same stitch, the one where you have joined in slip stitch. And you make a second one, always by including the beginning thread to avoid to weave in at the end. And you will continue by doing 2 single crochet in every following stitches. for a total of 12 single crochet. And all along you crochet around the beginning thread to secure it well. I'll give you the graph for round 2. The symbol for 2 single crochet in the same stitch will look like this. And the last set of 2 single crochet will be right here. Just before you finish your last single crochet, you will join the rust color. You can cut the beginning thread that you have secured. And finish your last single crochet by joining the new color. And make a slip stitch into the first single crochet of round 2. You can tie a double knot with the 2 colored threads and we will crochet around these for round 3. You are going to chain 3 and I will show you how to make the real popcorn stitch. Sometimes we use this term when we actually make a bobble stitch. So when you follow a pattern, just make sure you read the instructions regarding the stitch used. So the popcorn stitch is done this way. You are going to make four double crochet in the same stitch. And be sure to include the threads of color change. At the end of your fourth double crochet, you take the hook out of the loop, you will enter from forward into both loops of the first double crochet you made, and you will pick up back your loop and you pull it through this first double crochet. And you close it with a chain stitch. So, you just made a popcorn stitch. You see that it really makes stand out your group of four double crochet. It's even more pronounced than the bobble stitch. We are going to continue the pattern. You are going to do an extra chain. And you will continue by making a second popcorn stitch in the next single crochet. So, four double crochet in the same stitch. And you join the fourth to the first at the end. And don't forget to crochet around color changing threads. And don't forget also the little one extra chain between the two popcorn stitches. You continue like this by doing the popcorn in each single crochet of the previous round. This is what the diagram will look like for round 3. The popcorn stitch will be represented with the number of double crochet inside it. With a small symbol in the shape of a smile, which show to join them at the top. And since the popcorn stitch comes with a chain to finish it, I did not include it in the popcorn symbol, but I put the extra chain one between each one. Just a little note, you can stop including the changing color threads approximately at the fourth popcorn stitch. And your last one will be in this stitch right here, right before the color change. You make the extra chain stitch and you will join in chain 3 space, from the beginning, while joining the natural color. Cut the rough thread and make a double knot with the new color. We're going to crochet the next round around these two strands. You will start by making a slip stitch into the next space between the first two popcorn stitches. You will then chain two and make two half double crochet in the same space, including the threads of color change. You will then make a shell of three half double crochet into the next space. We will now make your first corner to transform the round into a square. You are going to make a shell of 3 double crochet followed by 2 chain stitches and 3 double crochet in the same space. It will look like this. You can now stop to include the color changing threads, they are quite secure. You continue with a shell of 3 half double crochet in the next 2 spaces. I put here the diagram to continue. You would have to do the second corner made of two shells of double crochet separated by chain 2. And I'm going to do the last corner with you. The first shell of last corner will be right here. You make 3 double crochet, chain 2, 3 double crochet. And you join with a slip stitch on top of the beginning chain 2. If you would like to try the technique to assemble all the grannies by crocheting the last round, the join as you go technique, you can stop here. Make an invisible finish with the ending thread, as I showed you in the previous lessons, and make nine others, so ten small squares in total. They should measure approximately two and three quarter inches on the sides. Otherwise, if you would like, better make the assembly with the needle. Here is the diagram that you will need to follow. So you will start with chain one, a single crochet in each of next stitch from the sides of the square, and the corners will be made of a one single crochet, chain two, one single crochet. And don't forget the little feature at the end. I made you make a single crochet in the space between the last double crochet and the two chain stitches, just to make it more aesthetic. And you end up with a slip stitch in your first single crochet. Your granny will look like this. And it should measure approximately 3 inches on the sides. And I show you just how to do the little invisible finish. Once again, you will do 9 additional squares, for a total of 10 grannies. No matter which granny you choose to do, you can block them with the technique of your choice. We will now learn how to do a triangular shaped half granny. 22. The Bag: Join As You Go Assembly: Now is the time to assemble the main grannies to form our bag. If you chose the join as you go technique by crocheting the last row, stay here. Otherwise, go to the following video to learn how to assemble the grannies with the needle. Position your ten squares this way. You will now put stitch markers on the sides of four grannies like I do here. And if you can use different colored markers, it will be better. I show you the diagram that I will use. Do not be afraid, we will do each step together. But you see I put small circles to indicate where the markers must be. We will start on the corner of square number one, which is this one. We'll start in the lower right corner. So enter your hook in the corner, join the natural colored thread, and you are going to make a chain one. By the way, it won't count like a stitch. And you will make a single crochet in the same space. You will make a single crochet in each of the following stitches. We meet at the corner. In the first corner you will do one single crochet, chain 2, one single crochet. So all the corners of every grannies will be made up of this pattern. And you continue on the side of the square, single crochet in all stitches. And when you reach the second corner, you make 1 single crochet, chain 2, 1 single crochet. Here is the diagram of what we just did, and what we will do. We started in the bottom corner, we're going to work on 3 sides of the square, and we just meet before starting the 4th corner. Now that you have completed 3 sides of the square, you will only make a single crochet in the last corner, followed by chain 2. And we're going to join the second square. You can take it this way. Wrong side to wrong side. And make a single crochet in the corresponding corner. And this is where I show you the flat slip stitch technique to join the two squares. You're going to take the hook out of the loop. You're going to get into the corresponding single crochet of the one you just did. Therefore, the last one of square number one. You take the loop again and pass it in the stitch of square number 1. And you do this for each of the single crochet on the side of square number 2. You can really come and get your little loop the way you want, even if it is twisted, it really won't bother. As long as it passes through the stitch. And if you don't really like this technique, know that you will have to make on only 16 sides of square. Otherwise, you can always choose the ordinary slip stitch method, which will make a small texture between the two squares, like I've shown in the lesson including all crocheted assembly techniques. And here is the difference it will make. It's up to you which one you like the most. But in any case, just stay with the same technique throughout assembly. For the reminder of the video, I will stick with the flat slip stitch option, because I find that it makes a much nicer finish. Continue this way until next corner. I'll show you how to connect them. I put here the diagram which shows that it is necessary to make a slip stitch with the corresponding stitch of the opposite square. When you are ready to do the first single crochet in the corner, you can join this one with the one corresponding to the other square. And you have two options. Either you let go of your loop to come and do a slip stitch in chain 2 space, that is right here. You're just going to look for your loop to pass it inside and you make your other chain. But I noticed that even if you would make two chains directly without joining one with the other square, honestly, it doesn't really make a difference. And it's a little less difficult to work with. And you finish this corner by doing a single crochet inside, and you continue with a single crochet in each of the following stitches. I will show you the diagram for you to continue. You will make the next corner as well as the external side of the same way as usual. So far we assemblied two squares. You will continue following the same principle for assemblies square number 2 and 3. Same thing for square number 3 and 4. We'll meet up after you have done step 11 in the picture. It should look like this. Well done, you already have four squares assembled and check that your markers are on the lower part of squares 3 and 4. Now we're going to assemble the square 5, the one just above, with the 4. It's exactly the same. You do one single crochet in the corner, chain 2, and you assemble the square just above the same way you have done for others. We meet at the next corner. Once in the corner, you can do a single crochet, join it with the corresponding single crochet of square number 4, and this time it's going to be important to join with a slip stitch in the opposite corner. You can do it this way. You release the loop on your hook, you enter it in the corner and you take it back to pass it into the opposite corner and you do the remaining chain one. You will do the rest as usual and we find ourselves at the bottom corner of the next square. We will learn how to join four squares together. So your sixth square is attached. Let's go now attach the corner to the corresponding square. You are going to make your first single crochet. You will let go of the loop to make your slip stitch with the corresponding stitch. Then you will make a slip stitch by releasing the loop and entering the corner of opposite square which is right here. And you won't do a chain 1, you're going to do the same thing in the corner of the square number 3, the one right here. And there you have it, your 4 squares are joined. Now you can finish the corner of square number 6, as well as continue on the side while joining it to the opposite square. I'll let you continue follow the diagram to join square number 7. We meet at its external junction. You can follow the arrows and the numbers indicated to knowing what order to do the steps. The yellow lines means that you will only make single crochet without worrying about joining. And the blue dotted lines will mean that it'll be necessary to join with a slip stitch in the opposite square. So you now have 7 assembled squares. You can do the second bottom corner of square number 7 this way. You make a single crochet, you attach it as usual with the corresponding single crochet. You will join with a slip stitch in the corner of square number 2. And then you will do a chain 1. And you continue on the other side of square number 7 as usual. After crocheting the fourth side of square seven, I will show you how to go from a square to the other on the same line. You will start by making a single crochet in the corner of square seven. You will then chain one, slip stitch in the center of the junction, it doesn't matter if you just go a little sideways, and you're going to redo a chain one. and a single crochet in the corner of square number 6. So it ends well the assembly of two squares. I have now shown you all the situations that can occur in assembly squares while crocheting. I'll let you go for the assembly of the last three squares, and we meet at the step which is right here. Your bag should now look like this. The 10 squares are joined together. Now it's time to form the bag. And it is at this stage that your stitch markers are important. You will crochet as usual the sides of square 10 and square 8. You can remove and put back the marker just to not let it be in the way. And you're going to join the two squares laterally, as I showed you, by doing chain 1, slip stitch in the center of the junction, chain 1, and single crochet in the corner of the other square. And you continue on side of square number 8. Okay, now we are going to join this square to this one, and this square to square number 10. So you will have to fold the bag. I'll show you how to do it right now. You will make the lateral connection the same way. You make a single crochet, chain 1, slip stitch in the center of the junction. You are going to take the hook out of the loop. You will enter the space of chain stitch that you just made, and you're going to go find the loop. So it's as if we had joined the two corners together. And you will make a single crochet in the corner of the next square, which you are going to join in the same way with the corresponding single crochet of the square to attach. It happens to be the last single crochet you have made on the other square. And you fold your project like this, to join the same way as usual all this side. I show you what the diagram looks like. So we are in the process of joining square 5 to square 8. At the next corner, you will make a single crochet, which you will join with the corresponding single crochet. You are going to take the hook out of the loop, and you will enter into the loop. Chain one space from next corner to pick up for the loop. You will then make a slip stitch in the middle of the junction of squares 4 and 5. And in my video, I forgot to join at the junction of square 8 and 10. Unlike me, you can do it. It will be more logical with the patterns mathematics. But know that it is not such a visible error. Then, instead of making chain 1, you'll just attach, as usual, in the chain 1 space of corresponding square, which is right here. You can continue on the corner of square number 4, and continue on the side to the next corner. Square number 4 to square number 10. It should now look like this. We will be able to finish the corner of square number 4 by joining at the corner of square number 10. You do the same thing when you join the two squares together. So a slip stitch which joins the two corners. Then you make a chain and you finish the corner with a single crochet. You can continue as usual on the next two sides of squares. And we're going to do the same thing we did previously. We are going to fold the squares together at this level. I'll let you go. If you need once again to watch how to do it, you can rewind the video. It's exactly the same steps. After crocheting the lower sides of squares 4 and 3, you are going to join square 2 to square 3 and square 1 to square 4. And you will have finished constructing the bag. I'll show you the final step. You will complete the first corner of square number 1 by making a single crochet, which you will join to the corresponding single crochet. Then you make a slip stitch junction in the corner of this granny, who goes replace the chain stitch. You will then make a chain, and you will join and slip stitch on the first single crochet of square number 1. And that's all! Congratulations, you have enclosed the entire bag with only two threads to weave in. The assembly of the other crannies will be the same whether you have chose the join as you go technique or needle assembly. So you can skip the next video and go to the finishing one. 23. The Bag: Needle Assembly: This video is made for those who crocheted the main granny square to the fifth round and who wanted to assemble with a needle. You can position your 10 squares this way. I show you the diagram here of what you are going to do, the way you are going to sew. Don't worry, we're going to do each step together. First. We're going to sew the grannies together, which are located in the trajectory of the first arrow. So you can cut about a three feet long of natural colored yarn, and I will use the mattress stitch technique, but you can really use the technique you want to join grannies together. So to remind you a little bit what is the mattress stitch, you are going to insert your needle into one of the chain stitches from the bottom corner. You will take the one that is the most superior, this one, in the back loop, and you enter into the corresponding chain of the other granny to assemble, once again in the back loop. You can do one more round to secure the base of your seam. We are now ready to start with the mattress stitch. You will return to your chain from the first square, and you will come out by the back loop of the next stitch. On the other side, you go do the same thing. You enter the chain that you have already been, from the front, and you exit through the back loop of the next stitch. So you do that all the way through. You always enter the stitch where you have already been, and you exit through the next one. This will create a very tight seam. And don't worry if the cotton strands separate, it really won't show when the sewing will be completed. So if your needle ever passes right in the middle, don't worry, when we tighten it well, it hides everything. And you continue all the way down the side. From time to time, pull the thread to tighten the seam properly, because if you wait until the very end, it might be a little more difficult. I'll let you go. We need to find out how to assemble the two upper corners. The last stitch you will make to assemble these two squares will be on the first chain of each of them. You can put, if you want, a stitch marker on the second chain stitch. The marker will simply serve you to let you know that you should not enter your needle in that stitch now. So we continue sewing in the same way. You will come out through the first chain from the corner, and you will do the same thing with the other square. You can once again put another marker on the remaining chain stitch of the other square's corner. We will now join the top two squares. So you can go back in the small chain of your first square and come out through the corresponding chain stitch, the one which is the most superior, so the one right here. I hope you are now well used to differentiate the chain from the single crochet. It helps a lot for assembled grannies. You will now enter the same chain of your second square to get out in the other corresponding chain of the fourth granny. This is the one right here. You are now ready to continue on the sides of these two new grannies. So you enter into the small chain where you went to exit through the back loop of the next stitch and you continue as usual. And feel free to remove the stitch markers because we are going to see well the remaining chain when we will sew in the opposite direction. I'll let you continue assembling your little squares and we'll meet when it's time to assemble the square at the top. You have now assembled a row of 6 grannies. We're going to assemble a side of the granny number 10. The seam will be done in this direction. You can directly join the thread through the chain 2 space in the corner. And continue sewing on the corresponding granny. You now have finished the first step. We're going to sew the second one by following the direction of this arrow. You can cut one more time a thread of about 3 feet long and we're going to start sewing right here. Starting once again in the chain which is on this side. And keep it up, we're just going to meet up in the junction of the four corners. Okay, this may seem confusing so far, but you can clearly see the small chain that remained. We will sew in it. Same thing on the other side. It's a very limited space, but I am sure that you will manage. Anyway, you know that with crochet, nothing too bad can happen. As long as there is no hole in that corner. And we're going to jump over the cross seam. to continue to sew the other two squares together. So the junction of the four squares will look like this. It's quite clean, quite aesthetic. I now showed you all the situations you can meet when assembly with the needle. I'll leave you now to finish the assembly of the 10 squares. You can finish assembling the green arrow from step two. You will finally do the third seam following the direction of the arrow from step 3. When you have finished assembling your 10 squares, it will look like this. You can return the project to have the wrong side facing you and you fold the tip towards the center, as well as each side towards the center. The bag will look like this. We now have two seams to do. If one of your sewing threads is long enough, you can use it. Otherwise, you can cut a new one. You're going to start in one of the lower corners. It will be easier to properly align the stitches together. And you're just going to keep sew like you do. So you go in the same stitch, you come out through the next, from one side to the other, and you continue like this until the end of the bag. Arrived at the junction of the four squares, usually you had already a scene made, but there is none there. So here is what you will do. You will go through the chain 2 space from the corner of this square, the inferior one, and you do the same thing on the other side to attach both squares together by entering in the last chain of the lower one, and exit through the one of the superior square. And you do the same thing on the other side. You can continue with the assembly of these two squares. And it will look like this. Once finished, you will just have to do this side. At the end, you will be able to join the corners of these three squares for a more beautiful finish. All you have to do now is weave in the threads before moving on to the next step. 28. BONUS: 2 colors Granny: I'll now show you how to make a solid granny square that has two colors. It's going to look like the reversible version of the classic granny square. With your first color, you're going to start by making the magic ring. Chain 3 and 2 double crochet in the ring. You will continue by making 2 chains, a shell made of 3 double crochet, and just before closing your last double crochet, you will join the second color. Then make the 2 chain stitches and the 2 remaining shells. You make the 2 chains at the end, and you will do a slip stitch on top of the beginning chain 3, always keeping the same color. So here is the diagram for row 1. We will start row 2. You're going to chain 3, and you're going to turn like this. You already have the right color to continue row 2. That's the big advantage of going with the reversible granny technique. You can make 1 double crochet in the chain 2 space. And you will make a double crochet in each of the next shell's double crochet. You will make 2 double crochet, chain 2, and 2 double crochet. As you learned in the instructions for the solid granny. And you continue by making a double crochet in the next 3 double crochet. You will make one of the next space's 2 shells. So 2 double crochet in the same space. And just before finishing the second one, you will join the first color. You will chain 2. And finish by making a shell in the same space, still making 2 double crochet only. And you continue on the side of the square as usual. 1 double crochet in each of the following stitches. And you make the corner as usual. Also, 2 double crochet, chain 2, 2 double crochet. And you will finish by making a double crochet in the next 3 stitches. The last one will be on top of chain 3. So don't be surprised to have only one strand to enter. You will now make half of the corner, so 2 double crochet. Chain 2. And you will join on top of chain 3. So it should already look like this. You can see the nice diagonal that our 2 colors make. And be sure to keep the ends to be weaved always on the same side. And row 2 will look like this on a diagram. We will follow the instructions clockwise, like the reversible granny square technique. We're going to continue with the next row. So you're going to chain 3, turn. You're going to make a double crochet only in the chain 2 space, which is one of the shells in the corner. And you're going to make a double crochet in each of the following stitches. You should have 7 on the side. I'll let you continue, we'll meet up at the next color change. After having made the first shell made up of 2 double crochets, you'll join the other color just before finishing the second one. And you will continue by making chain 2 and the second corner shell. And try to keep the colored strands on the same side. So you see here, I entered my hook just to the left of the colored strand, just to keep it on the same line. And you continue the pattern. We meet up just at the end. This time, row 3, you will follow the diagram in counter clockwise direction. When you reach the last corner, remember that you must always have 7 double crochets on each side. So don't forget to get into the top of chain 3, that is right here. before you make your shell. And you'll finish by making two chains and a slip stitch on top of chain three. You've completed your two color solid granny. It will be ideal if you want to make quilted style blankets. 29. BONUS: Hexagon Granny: Our granny square can easily be transformed into a hexagon granny. It's just a matter of making it have six sides. So you can start with a multiple of six or make your original granny square contains a multiple of four and six simultaneously, like the numbers I put in red. To illustrate with an example, the main granny we made in the final project could easily be transformed into a hexagon because the central flower contained 12 petals. So 12 being multiples of 4 or 6. Instead of building 4 corners around our flowers separated by 2 half double crochet shells between each corner, we will make 6 corners of double crochet shells separated by 1 double crochet shell on the sides. This will give what you see on the screen. I also put in the documents to download the classic granny transformed into a hexagon one. That will start with 6 shells of 3 double crochet. A pattern that I found very beautiful is the African flower and I show you how to make it here. You can choose two or three colors as long as the petals stand out. You will start with the magic ring or the method of your choice. Chain 3 and you will make a double crochet in the ring. You will then make a chain and two double crochet in the ring. And you continue like this by making chain 1, chain 2, 2 double crochet, for a total of 12 double crochet, or 6 shells of 2 double crochet. Counting the 3 chain stitches at the beginning as a double crochet. At the end of your last double crochet, you will chain 1. You can tighten the magic ring and close with a slip stitch on top of chain 3, by joining the color that will be used for the petals. You can cut the thread of the first color and tie a double knot with the 2 strands, and then crochet around to secure them. And we will start the second round. You're going to make a slip stitch into the first chain 1 space, that's right here. And you can crochet around the colored strands to secure them. Then you're going to chain 3, a double crochet in the same space, chain 1, and 2 double crochet always in the same space. So in each chain 1 space, you will make 2 shells of 2 double crochet, separated by 1 chain. And you continue in the next chain 1 space. You're going to do the same thing, a shell of 2 double crochet, chain 1, and 2 double crochet still in the same space. I'll show you the graph here. We meet at the end of row 2. After you have made all your shells, you can join with a slip stitch on top of chain 3. And we are ready to make the petals of the African flower for round 3. You're going to start by making a slip stitch into the next chain 1 space, which is right here. You're going to chain 3. That counts as a double crochet. And 6 more double crochet in the same space. That's going to form your petal. And you're going to make another one in the next chain 1 space, which is here. So 7 double crochet in each chain 1 space all around. You should have 6 petals in total. I put the diagram here for round 3. At the end, you can make a slip stitch on top of chain 3 while joining the new color. Round 4, you're going to make a chain that will not count as a stitch and you're going to do a single crochet in the same space while crocheting around the colored strands to secure them. And you continue. You make a single crochet in the next 6 stitches and you can stop including the colored strands after the first petal. Then, between the 2 petals, we will make a spiked double crochet. You will insert your hook in the space between the 2 shells of round 2, which is right here. We're going to get it far and that's why we call it a spiked double crochet. It's going to make a little line that will separate the two petals. And you're going to continue by making single crochet in the next seven stitches. So on all the petals stitches. And make another spiked double crochet just in the middle, entering round two. And you continue like that all around. It's not the most geometric graph that I've made, but the important thing is to see that you have to make single crochet on each petal, And between each of them, you see the symbol of the spiked double crochet. Which will really enter the space between 2 shells of round 2. And at the end, you will finish with a double crochet between the last double crochet and the 3 chain stitches of round 2. And you will finish with a slip stitch in the first single crochet. We will now do the last round. We will finish our African flower with a round of half double crochet. So you can start with chain 2, that will count as a half double crochet. And you will make a half double crochet in the next 2 stitches. We will now make the first corner of our hexagon. So it is right in the middle of a petal. You will make a half double crochet, chain 2, a half double crochet in the same stitch. And you continue with half double crochet in the next 7 stitches. Then you will make the second corner of the hexagon consisting of a half double crochet, chain 2, half double crochet in the same stitch. And you continue like this all around. You make 7 half double crochet followed by a corner of the hexagon. And you will finish with a slip stitch on top of chain 2. And that's it! You have finished your beautiful African flower. With several put together, it will make beautiful blankets or bags. And if you want to block a hexagon, you can use six sticks to install them in each of the corners.