Granny Squares Home: 20 Projects with a Vintage Vibe

Emma Varnam’s soft-cover book Granny Squares Home is a crochet-craft guide that includes 20 patterns that use the classic granny square as their basis. Though the book opens with a tutorial on the basics of crocheting–including brief descriptions of varieties of yarns and hooks and how to make single, double, triple, and slip stitches–the book is really more appropriate for those who have a basic foundational knowledge of crochet rather than for the complete novice.

I appreciated and enjoyed the variety of projects offered in the book, which range from simple pot holders to more technical amigurumi stuffed animals. And I particularly liked that the book had a more modern sensibility in both its colors and designs, moving the somewhat dull granny square from stodgy to fashionable (in my opinion, no mean feat).

The patterns are clearly and professionally written, and the book includes a number of illustrative diagrams of various crochet stitches and finishing techniques (stitching squares together, weaving in ends, etc.) as well as conversion charts between US and UK sizes and terms. I’m looking forward to making several of the projects, which, for someone who typically avoids granny squares almost completely, stands as a genuine endorsement. I gladly recommend this book to confident beginners as well as more experienced crocheters who may tend to look askance at the modest granny square.