Granny Square Baby Blanket (Pattern)

Granny Square Baby Blanket

A couple of months ago my cousin had a baby girl! Babies are awesome in their own right... but my favorite part (other than the obvious baby cuddles, laughs and smiles, of course... nothing beats that!) is getting to make super cute little blankets! I didn't have a ton of time when I went to make this because my sister was traveling to visit them and I wanted to send it with her instead of shipping it to them. I decided to go with a pretty basic design, a granny square! I alternated colors throughout the square and finished it with a round of single crochet (just to keep the edges as clean as possible) followed by a scalloped edge.

For this project I used Caron Simply Soft yarn in soft pink, watermelon, berry blue, blue mint, sage and sunshine. When I first learned how to make a basic granny square, I found this Ms. Craft Nerd video and this Bella Coco video helpful. There are tons and tons of fancy granny squares out there but this one is about as basic as it gets.

The pattern:

ch (chain)
dc (double crochet)
sl st (slip stitch)
cluster (3 dc together)

Ch 4. Sl st into the first chain to create a loop. Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc). Dc into the loop to create a cluster of 3 dc (repeat to make 4 clusters, ch 2 between the clusters). Ch 2 after your 4th cluster and sl st into the ch 2 of your first cluster to join the first and last clusters.

*Ch 2 (counts as a dc), create a cluster of 3 dc in the same space as the chain up. Ch1, create a cluster in the next open space, ch 1 (repeat to the corner). When in a corner of the square, create a cluster, ch 2, and create a second cluster in the same space.  Continue creating clusters in each open space until you reach your starting point. Sl st into your ch 2 of your first cluster to join the first and last clusters of this round.*

Repeat * until you get the size you want. I had 23 rounds (including the center, not including the single crochet and scalloped edge rounds) in my newborn baby blanket. Finish with an edging or leave it square.

To add the scalloped edging:

Single crochet around your square (start about an inch to an inch and a half to the left of a corner of your blanket). After you go all the way around, sl st to join your first and last sc.

**Skip 2 stitches from your sl st, dc 5 times into the 3rd stitch, skip 2 stitches, sc into the 3rd stitch.**

Continue ** around the square, working 8 dc into the corners to make them round properly. When you get towards the end of your square, eyeball and adjust where your last couple of scallops go so that the last couple are not too crowded or spread out (i.e. skip a stitch/add a stitch in the last couple to avoid crowding/gaps in the last scallop).

I found this video helpful when learning to add a scalloped edge. It's a crochet for knitters video but the core concepts are good.

Happy crocheting!