crocheted granny square sampler afghan project

Inspired by an incredible crocheted afghan project I found in a Better Homes and Gardens Treasury of Needlecrafts book from 1982 that I purchased while thrifting one day, I decided to embark on designing my own crocheted granny square sampler afghan. (The original is pictured above, and my original post about this afghan is here.) I posted about this idea and invited everyone who was interested to join in with me. On May 18, 2012, I began posting granny square block weekly "assignments", the idea being to work on completing the assignment over the following week. Crocheting individual squares like this is a perfect summer, as well as an ideal take along project. My plan is to complete the individual granny square sampler afghan by summer's end. The last granny square assignment was week 14, the rectangle granny. The weeks after that the project begins to wrap up by discussing how to block your individual squares, tips on joining the inner rectangle area of the afghan. Here's my finished granny square sampler-

Keep in mind that we did not follow the pattern in the original book, we merely followed the idea of the pattern. Different granny squares were chosen and the final placement of the squares is up to each person, there are no rules for that part.

Some frequently asked questions-

So, how does a Granny Square Sampler Crochet-Along work? Each week, I post a new assignment for a new square(s) and the number that should be completed for that assignment. Work on it during the following week, and the next assignment will be posted on the blog on Friday. If you get behind? Don't stress if you get behind, this is a totally doable project, go at your own pace.

But wait, am I sending my finished squares to someone else, or to Blair? I mean, are we all exchanging squares? No, you keep your squares, all of them, so pick yarn colors you'll love.

How many yarn colors do I need? Read this post for yarn requirements and hook size. I am assuming that you are not changing hook sizes.

Are these your own granny square patterns? Some are (the poorly written ones) and some are used with permission from other sites offering tutorials on granny squares that I come across and like. Some are from readers. We are not using the original pattern for copyright reasons, but simply using it for inspiration.

I am not liking my colors, should I start over? I would say no, keep going! Surrender to the process, the lack of planning, and have fun with it. Often my most favorite color combinations were the ones I didn't like to begin with. Suddenly, another color showed up beside of those original colors that made it all work!

Will you show us how to "connect the squares"? I will link to tutorials and offer general guidance on joining your individual granny squares, but I won't show you an exact pattern to connect your squares, that's where your intuition, design sense, and color palette comes into play. You will have the skills to assemble these granny squares to make an afghan that is uniquely your own.

Is there a Flickr Group? I'm so glad you asked, yep, right here! Several of us are also on Instagram (tag them with #grannysquaresampler). If you would like to post a photo of your granny squares, in any form, finished or not, please feel free to share in these groups.

*There is also now a pinterest board that houses all our assignments together in one board.

Do you have all the assignments posted on one page? Why yes, on this one you're reading. At any time, you can click on the afghan image over on the left sidebar

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to bring up this page.

Abbreviations used throughout (these are American abbreviations/stitches)-

bet- Between

ch- Chain

sc- Single Crochet

hdc- Half Double Crochet

dc- Double Crochet

sl st- Slip Stitch

rnd- Round

sp- space

tc- Triple Crochet