I have finally settled on the pattern for my brothers afghan.......I think. Part of the reason it has been so hard to decided is because he is so special to me. Anyway, I am amazed that it is another configuration with granny squares. I've not ever been too crazy about big projects that require you to make lots & lots of granny squares, but at this time, I have 2 on my hooks. I got to thinking about it, and found myself wondering when granny squares started. I remember back in the 70's granny squares were everywhere. They even made a lot of clothing from them, much to my dismay.
So, I did what all of us do now days when we want to know something, I Googled it. I found a blog by a girl in Melbourne, Australia who had addressed this topic. Quoting her,
" I was looking through a book I've got which is a reproduction of a number of crochet newsletters stuffed full of patterns from a company called Weldons from the mid 1800s. Right at the back, there's a pattern for "Patchwork Squares", which has a little blurb at the top describing how useful these are for using up scraps of yarn you might have, and how they're great for rugs, baby's blankets and the like. Breathless I turned the page to see if I could find an illustration and there, on the next page, was a handsome black and white engraving of... a granny square!"(http://page63.blogspot.com/2010/04/history-of-granny-square.html)
So, it turns out the granny square has been around way longer that I would have ever dreamed. From Victorian times for goodness sake!!Looks like granny squares are here to stay. Now I better get back to work on that afghan!
" I was looking through a book I've got which is a reproduction of a number of crochet newsletters stuffed full of patterns from a company called Weldons from the mid 1800s. Right at the back, there's a pattern for "Patchwork Squares", which has a little blurb at the top describing how useful these are for using up scraps of yarn you might have, and how they're great for rugs, baby's blankets and the like. Breathless I turned the page to see if I could find an illustration and there, on the next page, was a handsome black and white engraving of... a granny square!"(http://page63.blogspot.com/2010/04/history-of-granny-square.html)
So, it turns out the granny square has been around way longer that I would have ever dreamed. From Victorian times for goodness sake!!Looks like granny squares are here to stay. Now I better get back to work on that afghan!
Have a Crochet Krazy Day!!
Photo #1- http://www.krazyawesome.com/jenzblog/2011/03/29/more-granny-square-madness/
Photo#2: http://www.craftycrafty.tv/2008/05/how_to_crochet_a_granny_square.html
How cool to even be able to find that out. LOL
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could make a blanket with several LARGE granny squares. I hate them because I dislike sewing them together. A friend recently shared that she learned (on You-Tube of course) to do a flat braided join that looks VERY nice and now she loves putting them together.
The afghan that I finally decided on for my favorite brother is different sizes of squares. Some are quite large. I don't enjoy putting them together either. I'd like to see that flat braided look.
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