CROCHET DIY | Granny Square Sweater

Let’s start off with a confession: I had never used the crochet technique before I started this project. I always thought that it would be waay too difficult and that the results would turn out to be a very poorly old fashioned (in a bad way) cushion cover.
But, wow was I wrong!

A few weeks ago I received the latest Mollie Makes Magazine which included a free crochet hook and I decided to give it a try. So I googled and youtubed to search for what would be the best beginner crochet DIY project. And I choose to begin with a simple granny square. One square let to two, than three and before I knew it I had a pile of squares and no idea what to do with it.

After deciding that I wanted to turn the squares into a sweater I made a plan and design on how I wanted it to look. I googled some more and I found a lot of helpful videos that I used as pieces of my sweater puzzle.
This resulted in many Netflix evenings on the couch with the cats and my crochet project, it felt wonderful. (I guess that this is also the point where I tell you that it is not a one-day project, not even a one-week project. I used a very small crochet hook and pretty thin yarn, and being a beginner I have to admit that one granny square took me about an hour..)

The sweater turned out just as I wanted it to and it has become my go-to indoor cozy cardigan!

Now on to the crochet DIY: since this is my first crochet DIY project, I simply want to show you my process. Crochet tutorials in writing are still very daunting to me and to be honest it feels like I am reading some sort of secret code. This means that I will show you the steps that I took, with the videos that I used to make the sweater.

I used three videos in total: (you can also find them below when you scroll down within the DIY steps, so you don’t have to leave this page to go to youtube)

– Video 1 – This video is from SimplyDaisy* and she shows you how to make a Sunburst Granny Square.
– Video 2 – This video is from WoolyWondersCrochet and it explains how to make a never ending square. (I used this video for the back and the sleeves of the sweater.
– Video 3 – This video is from Bella Coco and she shows you how to attach the squares together with different techniques to choose from.

*”Simply Daisy” was the best video to start my first crochet project with. She explains everything very clearly and it is definitely suitable for beginners.

DIY

Supplies:

– 10 x 50g/199m of washable yarn ( I used 5 different colours, so 2 of each colour)

– A 3mm or 4mm crochet hook

– Scissors

STEP 1

– Start making the granny squares* with the help of the video below:
– Make as many as you want. For this sweater pattern I made 32 squares:
> 20 squares for the front.
> 8 squares for the lower back.
> 4 squares for the cuffs.

*I mixed the colours to get a playful effect, but you can also stick to the same colour pattern for each square.

STEP 2

– To create a matched and detailed look, repeat step 4 from the video above to make an extra edge in the same colour yarn on each granny square. (this will also make the squares slightly bigger )
– repeat this step for all of the squares (see photo below)

STEP 3

– Make a giant granny square in a different pattern for the back of the sweater with the video below.
– The size of the square depends on the size of you sweater. I held the square to my back every so many rows to measure and see if I needed to go on or if I had reached the desired size.

STEP 4

– Make two slightly smaller granny squares with the video above for the top of the arms.
– Just as in step 3, I calculated the size by folding the square around the top of my arm to see if it was big enough.

STEP 5

– You will now have:

32 granny squares ( or as many as you like for your size and style sweater)
1 large granny square for the top of the back
2 medium sized granny squares for the top of the arms.

– To make sure that the sweater will fit, before you start connecting the pieces, you can use safety pins to temporarily pin everything together and try the sweater on. Simply add more rows to the bigger squares in case they are too small.

STEP 6

Now it’s time to play!

– Place the squares on a flat surface to arrange the back.
The biggest square goes on the top,
Place 8 small granny squares in two rows underneath it for the lower back,
The medium sized squares go at the top of the arms,
And each arm gets two small squares as cuffs.
– Rearrange the squares until you like what you see.

STEP 7

– Arrange the front
Place 20 small granny squares in rows of 4 underneath each other for the front. (the midline will be the opening of the sweater)
The medium sized squares go at the top of the arms,
And each arm gets two small squares as cuffs.
– Rearrange the squares until you like what you see.

STEP 8

– Attach the squares together with the help of the video above. ( I used the first method that she shows using the blue border colour)
– Attach everything together in the pattern that you chose for your sweater (see steps 6 & 7)

STEP 9

– To give the sweater a finished look, add a border all around*.
– I started with the left bottom corner of the sweater and used the 4th step from the first video to create a border.
– To go around the corners simply add a chain 3.
– I added 4 rows, but you can add as many as you like.

* You can see in the photo below what the border will look like at the neckline. The green and grey rows are my added border.

Optional Steps:

– Add a border to the end of the sleeves
– Add a zipper or buttons.
– Add lining and turn it into a coat.

And that is it! Those are all of the steps to make your own crochet DIY sweater!

Thank you so much for your interest in this crochet DIY project!

Do you have any questions regarding this project? Please let me know in the comment section below!