Customer Reviews

The Granny Square Book: Timeless Techniques and Fresh Ideas for Crocheting Square by Square

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

(This review is part of a series of reviews of books in my granny square collection. For these reviews, the # of granny squares refers to the number of patterns for squares that are crocheted in the round, not the total number of patterns in the book.)

Summary: An ode to the granny square, with 75 motif patterns and 25 projects using granny squares, along with tips for construction, design, and finishing touches. Uses U.S. pattern abbreviations for motifs and projects, and international stitch symbols for motifs.

# of granny squares: 74

What I like:
The spiral binding allows the book to lay flat so you can read and crochet at the same time.
All motif patterns include both U.S. pattern abbreviations and international stitch symbols.
The introduction includes reflections on the Hubert family's love of grannies, as well as personal quotes from other crochet designers about granny squares.
The "Crochet Basics" section includes descriptions with photos of crochet stitches (including basics and special stitches), so the book is very beginner friendly. This section also includes an overview of crochet pattern reading, multiple techniques for starting a motif (adjustable loop, slip knot, and chain ring), joining and seaming working with multiple colors, and edgings. This section includes plenty of text and also some step-by-step photos. This chapter is something you can skip over and just dive into the patterns, but it includes the types of tips and tricks that can make your work look more polished.
There are many really pretty floral themed grannies.
Three of the motif patterns include matching half square (triangle) patterns.
Each motif pattern includes a difficulty rating.
The project section includes some design tips and suggestions for "graphing out" project ideas.

What I didn't like or what's missing:
Six motif (5 granny) patterns were already included in The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet: *All You Need to Know to Crochet *The Essential Reference for Novice and Expert Crocheters *Comprehensive Guide ... Charts, and Photos for 200 Stitch Patterns, another book by Hubert published by Creative Publishing International.
There is a fair amount of overlap in content in the Crochet Basics section of this book and the Crochet Motif Workshop section of Beyond the Square: Crochet Motifs: 144 Circles, Hexagons, Triangles, Squares, and Other Unexpected Shapes. The motif patterns are different enough to make it worthwhile to own both books, though.
Most of the swatches are made with mercerized cotton, and there is a lot of "shine" visible in the pictures.
The project patterns don't include international stitch symbols.

Type: Spiral-bound hardcover book.

Overall rating (out of 5 stars): 5 (If you already own Beyond the Square: Crochet Motifs: 144 Circles, Hexagons, Triangles, Squares, and Other Unexpected Shapes, remember that you will already have a lot of the same content, but different motif patterns.)

I LOVE this book! The illustrations and photos are beautiful and inspiring. The instructions are clear and easy to follow. I am planning to crochet one block a day untill I have finished every block in the book. For an almost beginner like me who have not crocheted for many years, it is a fantastic book.

I bought this book from a crochet site and it is phenomenal. It has 75 granny square patterns, many of which I have never seen and they are gorgeous. Each granny square is shown with a finished image of the pieces, a color coded diagram that shows which stitches are in which round and clearly written directions. And if you want to create clothing and other projects beyond a blanket they give projects and helpful directions to design your own in the last section of the book.

The only reason this book did not get a 5 star is because they don't go into creating your own granny square design, only designs for projects with them.

If you love to crochet, and like a new update on the Granny Square you cannot pass up this book!

I'm a beginner, but I've done quite a few granny squares. What I liked most about this book was not the granny square patterns (they're good), but the ideas on taking granny squares further than afghans. I loved the clothing projects and a few of them didn't even look like granny squares. These projects inspired me to think about all the possibilities for granny squares that aren't afghans.

If we're just talking about the squares, the author supplies is a wide variety of styles and stitches and teaches each stitch with nice photos. I have only made two the squares, but the patterns seem to be accurate and well done.

I have the Kindle edition and I see no formatting errors.

This book shows many differant ways to crochet a granny square, the building block of many fine projects. This is adds to my fun with crochet. I find this book inspiring and highly recomend it.

I am a total beginner with crochet. What I loved about the book is that I can see a diagram along side of the instructions. I am so bad at reading directions and these diagrams were a BIG help for me.

I am really thrilled with this book. The visual patterns showing each row in a different colour makes it so much easier to follow the pattern than just words!

Can't wait to get stuck in and try hundreds of different squares.

Thanks Amazon!

Love this book. The colors are great and the instructions are clear. It taught me to read a crochet chart by comparing the chart to the written instructions

There are a few nice squares in here. I love two of them and there are others that I might use at some point but for the most part I wasn't terribly impressed. She gives some pretty good tips on making and joining squares but she could have been much more thorough with that. There are so many different ways to join squares and each type or style of join will change the look of the finished project so she could have done a whole chapter on that and it would have made the book a much better value. The projects in the back of the book are pretty good and if I had a young daughter then I would definitely make the backpack (the best pattern in here IMO) and the lacey shawl is quite nice, too. If you are a beginner crocheter then you will find lots of useful information in this book. Squares are very easy to use in projects so there is no limit to the designs that an imaginative person can come up with once they find a square or two that they like. She does do a very good job in giving schematics for different types of sweaters (and suggestions for other items) that you can use squares for so that you can get a start in designing with grannies. I'm not sorry that I bought this book, but I have most of the information elsewhere in my large book collection. There are a few squares in the book that I had not seen done elsewhere, so I am happy to have it.

Great for those just starting out or needing a refresher. I bought a copy for my sister-in-law after flipping through it, I had to get a copy for myself. It is just that great of a book! I highly recommend it!