Eye-catching Crochet: Craft This Colourful Free Spirit Granny Square

Hey gang, Jane here, and I'm back with another crochet granny square tutorial

Today, we're going to go bold with our color choices in a square I call Free Spirit

I love to pick up new colors whenever I'm out at any store that carries yarn

and I recently found this moss color, but wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it

I've decided to try pairing it with a vibrant rust color and a nice deep navy

and well, let's just say I'm liking it so much that I'll be making this one into a throw blanket just for me

This square has five circular rounds of varying widths or stitch heights

Then we square it off on the sixth round and finishing it off with two more rounds done in a simple single crochet

but giving it a different look by working in the back loops only. So it has eight rounds total

It has a nice variety of basic stitches, everything from single crochet up to treble

and even the back loop only options at the end. It makes a great square to try them all out and practice your stitch skills

My finished sample square measures seven inches. It can be easily changed in size, though, just by adding or subtracting the final single

crochet border rounds. I'll be using a worsted weight yarn in four different colors today and changing my colors

every round. I often get asked about my colors, so I'm going to include them here

The off white is putty, which is impeccable by loops and threads. The green is moss, which is Burnat Premium

The rust color is caramel, also Burnat Premium. And the dark azure, which is the blue

That's Starlet by Mary Maxim. I'll also be using a 5 millimeter crochet hook. Other tools you'll need are a pair of scissors and a darning needle to work in your ends. You can find more information on the pattern for the free Spirit Granny Square over on my blog. I'll leave the link in the description below. So gather your supplies and some colors that maybe you weren't sure what to do with. And let's jump in to today's square. So we start with our off-white and we're going to do a magic ring. So we lay our cut end over top of our open palm cut end facing us

Then holding in place with your thumb, you wrap it around your first two fingers, flip it over, cross over, hold it in place again with your thumb, and wrap it around your three fingers

Then you take your hook, you go under the first and over the second, pull it through and twist it onto the hook

So there's a twisted loop there. Reach over to the longer strand of the yarn, hooking that, and pull it through the loop to create your first chain one

and now we have the magic ring and we're ready for round one

In round one, I'm going to continue with the off white and I want to work six single crochet

into this magic loop ring. So let's go ahead and work our six single crochet. So that's

one, two, three, four, five. Now before I do the sixth one, I'm going to

to be changing my color for the next round. In this instance, I don't often do it this way

but because I have so few stitches and so little fabric going on here, I change my color in the last

stitch. So I'll show you how I do that. So get your next color ready, which is going to be for me

the rust. I'm going to go ahead and start the sixth stitch. So the sixth single crochet

pull up a loop, two loops on the hook. Now before I do anything else, I'm going to close up my ring

because otherwise I'll have a lot of loose stuff happening here. I'm going to close up my ring before I finish this stitch

because I'm going to use the rust to finish this stitch. So let's take our cut end while we have the two loops of that last stitch still sitting on our hook

Use the cut end to cinch up your ring. So hold on to the base of those stitches with your thumb and finger so they don't go anywhere

And pull on that cut end. So the ring sees it closes right up

And you still have these two stitches and everything's a little more compact now

So you don't have so much hanging around and falling off your hook. Now we take the rest and we complete this sixth single crochet

So we take the rest and we pull it through the last two loops on the hook

That completes the stitch. I can take the off weight and give it a little pole there so that stitch kind of closes up a bit

but we still haven't joined the round at this point. So you can see here I've changed the color

but I need to join the round, and it's a very small round. So it's pretty tight going on here

So what you want to do is put your hook into that first single crochet of the round

wrap your yarn over, pull through, and pull through the loop on the hook

So now you have done a slip stitch join to end the round of the first six single crochet

and you've changed your color. There's a lot of different ways you can change your color

and this isn't the normal one that I use, but in this instance, it's the one that shows the least

Because if I try to do an invisible join, which I like to do where I take it on a darning needle

and imitate the stitch, I end up with a complete stitch sitting behind the work

and there's not many stitches here, so it really sticks out at the back

The other option is to slip stitch with the same color, but I do find that leaves a little notch of this color in the next color

So this seems to work best for me. So that's why I suggest you do it in this circumstance

So now we're ready to start our next round, which is going to be with the rust

So before I go any further, I'm going to want to cut my off white yarn

Get that out of the way. So I have the two off white strands, which I will work in later

I have the rust one that I can work in now or work in later

I'll do it later because there's enough going on here. I don't want to add that to the complexity

And I'm ready to move forward with the rust yarn. So the next round I'm going to do a double crochet, chain one double crochet in each stitch around

So that would be like a V stitch. So we start with a chain four

So let's go ahead and chain four. One, two, three, and four

Now I want to work a double crochet into that same stitch

So this chain four is the first three chains are the double crochet, and the fourth chain is the chain one space

So we're going to go ahead and do a double crochet into the same stitch that we just joined into, right in here

So go ahead and do that double crochet. And what you end up with is a V stitch

Let me show us better in the white. There we go. So there's your first V stitch

and then chain one. There will always be chain ones in between every double crochet

So I want to do five more of this repeat. But it'll be double crochet, chain one, double crochet

So really the next one is the official repeat. So let's go ahead and do that

Double crochet in the next stitch. Chain one. Double crochet again in that same stitch

and chain one. That's the repeat. Double crochet chain one, double crochet chain one

all into this stitch and that creates your V. So there you have two Vs ready to go. You want six

total. So let's keep working around because it's not very far to go. So the next stitch we want

a double crochet, chain one, double crochet, look at this

Let's get rid of that off white. Shouldn't even be there. Really got that wound up in my finger

And a chain one. So I interrupted that one, so you might not understand what he's doing there

So again, we have three V stitches. Let's keep going. Without that off white in my way

We're going to do a double crochet in the next stitch. A chain one

A double crochet back. into that same stitch and a chain one that's our fourth one again keep going double crochet

in the next stitch chain one double crochet again into the same stitch chain one see how we're doing

here we've got one two three four five of the repeats done five i don't know if you count the first one

is repeat because it has a chain four in it but you've got five v stitches and i only have one stitch left and i

only need one more v stitch. So let's go in, make sure you have the chain one done. And we go

double crochet chain one double crochet in the same stitch chain one and we ready to join our round Now again we have six V stitches completed So we have 12 double crochets and 12 chain one spaces

And we want to join in the third chain of the beginning chain four

because the top of the third chain represents the double crochet. And then you have that chain space

We go into that third chain, yarn around and bring it through both loops

and that's your slip stitch join and we have completed round number two so go ahead and cut your yarn

pull it through and we're ready for the next round round three we're going to have our navy we're

going to work the same stitch as what we have here which is the v stitch double crochet chain one

double crochet and we're going to work it in every one of these chain one spaces so what i want to do is go

and find one of the vs the actual v that works into the same stitch and i'm going to go into that v

and i'm going to pull up a loop and then i'm going to go ahead and chain four one two three and four

and then I'm going to work a double crochet into that same space

So going back down into that same space I joined in, I'm going to work a double crochet

So there is our V stitch. A chain three represents the double crochet

Then the fourth chain is a chain one. And then we have the double crochet

So there's your first V. And then we do a chain one

That's what we're going to work all the way around. So let's do that again. into the next chain one space

So we're not working into any of these stitches, just the chain spaces in between

We work a double crochet, chain one, double crochet, there's your V, and a chain one

So there again, we worked another V stitch. We're going to do that in each of each chain spaces

So one more time before I leave you to do that, going to the next chain space

we work a double crochet, chain one, double crochet in the same chain space, and a chain one

That's your repeat right there. Double crochet, chain one, double crochet, chain one, all into the same chain space

And see how it creates these Vs. And you're going to do that in every single chain space all the way around until we get back to the

last chain space, I'll meet you here and we'll complete the round. So we've reached the end of

round three and we've done a V stitch in every single one of these chain spaces from the round before

And now we have 12 of those V stitches. So you actually have 24 double crochets and 24

chain spaces. We end with the chain one and now I want to slip stitch in the third chain of our beginning chain four

So count up one, two, three, insert the hook and pull up a loop and pull it through the one on the hook

That's your slip stitch join. Now we're going to go ahead and cut our yarn and get ready for round number four

Round four we're moving back to off white. So what I want to do here is join in any one of these chain spaces

And we want to pull up a loop and do a single crochet in any one of these chains

spaces because what we're going to do is a simple chain one single crochet chain one all the way

around in these chain spaces so we're going to go ahead and i'm going to join it here and i like to do

my single crochet where i wrap the loop first then i insert into the space working that cut end

into the stitch i work my first single crochet and that creates a nice clean single crochet there

without that slip stitch join. Then I chain one. Then we want to move to the next chain space and work a single crochet in there

So regular single crochet, chain one. To the next chain space, the same thing

So not working into any of the stitches again, only the chain one spaces

We work a single crochet and a chain one. and you're going to do that all the way around

till you reach the end where we'll join our round. I'll meet you there

And remember again, it's single crochet in a chain space and chain one move to the next chain space

This round's a fairly simple one, so I will let you complete that

and I will meet you back here at the end of the round, and we'll finish it off. And now we've reached the end of the round here

and you can see I've worked one single crochet and one chain one in every one of these spaces all the way around

So we have 24 single crochets and 24 chain one spaces. We end up with a chain one and I want to slip stitch in this first single crochet

So insert your hook. Wrap your yarn around. Pull it through and through the loop on the hook

And we can go ahead and cut our yarn again, pulling it all

all the way through and we've completed that round. So we're now on one, two, three, four, round five

And I want to start with this moss green. This is a different color for me

but I thought it would be kind of fun to use it. So we want to start in any one of these chain one spaces

And we're going to be half double crochets for this round. So we want to start with a chain two

So just insert your hook in, any one of the chain one spaces, and pull up a loop

And then we want to chain two, one and two. That counts as our first half double crochet

Now we want to wrap the yarn around and work another half double crochet into the same space

So go back into that same space, pull up another loop, three loops on the hook

yarn over and pull through all three. That's your first two half double crochets

That's what we're doing all the way around in every single chain space

So move to the next chain space, skipping over that stitch. And you want to do two half double crochets into that chain space

Just like that. And then you're going to move to the next chain space

And you're going to do two half double crochets, separate stitches. So they create two stitches

And that's what you're going to do all of the, way around, you're going to end up with 48 half double crochets because there's two in every one

of these chain spaces all the way around. So go ahead and work your two half double crochets

into each one of the chain spaces all the way around. I'll meet you back here and we'll join the

round. So here we are at the end of our round. We've done two half double crochet in every one of the

chain spaces all the way around. So you should have 48 half double crochets. And then we're

going to slip stitch our round and we're going to do it in the second chain of the beginning

chain two. So one, two, counting our way up. Insert your hook, pull up a loop and pull it through

the loop on the hook. Now we've slip stitch joined that round. We cut our yarn and pull it through

So we finished the circular part of our square. So if I pull one of these in to take a look

we've done, this is a different color combo, but we've done right to this circle part

On this one, it's in off white. And now we're getting ready to square it off in the blue

And we're actually going to use blue for this one as well. So this next round, round number six

that we're going to square off with, that will be the most complex round of this square

All right, round number six. We're ready with our blue. We're going to start with a chain four

So we're always going to be working in stitches because everything is a stitch. There's no chains on this round

So we're going to go into any stitch. Doesn't matter which one. We're going to pull up our yarn, leaving an end to work in later

And we're going to chain four. So one, two, three, and four

And now I want to work a truce treble stitch into that same stitch that we joined in This is going to be the first half of our first corner So travel stitch requires us to wrap twice around the hook

So in addition to the loop, you have two wraps. Then you're going to go down and insert into that stitch, and you're going to pull up a loop

So we now have, I pull that chain a little better, we now have four loops on the hook

We're going to go through them two at a time. So yarn over, pull through the first two

yarn over, pull through the next two, yarn over, pull through the last two, and that's your treble

So we have the chain four is our first treble, and then we worked an actual treble

and it's all into that first stitch. Now we're going to do a double crochet

so yarn over once, into the next stitch. So go down and work your double crochet into that next stitch

Next will be a half double crochet into the next stitch. So we work our half double crochet pulling through all three loops and another half double

crochet into the next stitch. So always working into the next stitch at this point

Now we want to work five single crochet into the next five stitches

So we're going to work one per stitch. One. Two. Three. three, four, and five

Five single crochet. So see how we're working across one edge of our square

The stitches are long at the corner and they get shorter at the top

Now we're going to go back to getting long again, working our way to the next corner

So the next stitch is going to be a half double crochet. Then another half double crochet just mirroring what we just did on the next one

the other side, a double crochet in the next stitch. So now we've reached the next corner

and what I want to do is work into this next stitch. We're going to work two trebles

a chain three, and two more troubles. All into this next stitch, that's going to be our corner

So treble is wrapping it twice around the hook, insert into the next stitch, pull up a loop

and go through two at a time until you're through them all wrap the yarn twice again into the same

stitch this is going to be your treble as well chain three one two three that's going to help you

turn the corner now we want to work two treble into that same stitch so a lot going on into this

stitch so that's our first treble and our second treble And that's the second half of our corner

So there is our corner. Two trebles. Chain three, two trebles. And that's all worked into that one stitch as we turn the corner

So see how we've worked up our first edge here and around the corner. Now we're going to continue to work across this edge

So I'll walk you through this whole round. Our next stitch is going to be a double crochet and it's going into the next stitch

Make sure you go into the next stitch. Then we're going to work a half double crochet

in the next one and another half double crochet in the next one everything else is

into single stitches then you want to do a single crochet this is where I join so I

got to be careful that I don't add an extra stitch in here I want to work into

where I joined there see how you sometimes that slip stitch you can end up with an

extra stitch by mistake I don't want to work into that I want to work in where I

joined and we're going to work a single crochet depending on where you started that's

going to show up different places. It really depends on where you started on your round. I start

these stitches kind of in a random place, so I never know when I'm going to run into that. So let's go back

here. We have our first single crochet. Then we're going to work a second single crochet

then a third one, all into separate stitches, a fourth one, and then a fifth one. So five single

crochets across that top. Now we're going to do a half double crochet

another half double crochet and then finally we're going to do a double crochet and now we're back to the next corner so see here we have this edge then we have our next edge and then we want another corner here so again treble oh my goodness everything fell off my hook try that again to rebel

That's our first treble stitch. Then we want a second treble stitch

Then we want a chain three. And then we want two more troubles in the same stitch that we just worked into

So twice around the hook. And that's a treble. And then one more treble

And we've worked our next one. Uran wants to creep up on me here

There we go. So here we have our next corner, which was two trebles, chain three, two troubles

Same back here. Personal preference here on whether it's a chain two or a chain three, I actually liked

the look of a chain three once I get the next round on there. If you're finding those corners are bumping out too far, you can change that to a chain two

and it'll pull it in a little bit. But again, personal preference

You'll know better after you do the next round whether you want that that way or not

So back to double crochet in the next stitch. So we're working on our third side now

Half double crochet. Half double crochet. And then single crochet and we're doing five of them

So that's two, three, four, and five. And then back up in stitch height, we go half double crochet, half double crochet

and a double crochet. So that's our third edge. See how we're squaring up here nicely

And now we want our last full corner. So we're working into the next stitch, treble

Another treble. Chain three. Two more trebles back into that same stitch we just worked into

Oops. I don't think that was a treble. Twice around the hook

Seemed to have lost a loop there. And then twice around the hook

That gives us all the height. that we need now we want to double a half another half and back to singles so we want five of those two

three four and five let's take a look here we're almost there now i want a half again

another half double crochet. Now we have one stitch left here, and that's going to be our double crochet

but we aren't finished because I need to work the other half of this corner

So going into that first stitch in which we joined in, I need to work two trebles

So make sure you go back into the stitch that you joined in. That's my first treble

my second treble. And now we want chain three. And now I need to join my round because I started with these two troubles

So count up to your fourth chain, one, two, three, four. That would be the top of what would be considered the treble stitch that it represents

And you want to slip stitch into that, pulling it through the loop on the hook

Then we're going to cut our yarn and take a look at this. So now we squared our circle

And this is round six. So you can see here, these are chain threes

So they do pull they do make your corners pop a little bit But let take a look of one that finished This one here because when I go work around here this fills in nicely

So I actually found I wanted that extra space there so that these corners sat nice and square

But again, it's always personal preference as to how many chains you put in your corners

depending on how you crochet and how it sits for you. so if you're finding your corners are too popping like they're sitting out too far then just use one last chain

and if you're finding they're pulling in too tight like they're they're rounded they're way too rounded

and they don't sit out nicely add in an extra chain that's all it takes so now we're going to work on

our last two rounds seven and eight they're just going to be simple single crochet rounds

and for this particular square i'm going to show you we're going to be working in the back loops only

Let's take another look at this one. And it gives us this nice little ridge along here and along here

We find another square here of a different color combo. I've done these in a lot of color combos

You can see it a little better here with the orange rusty color. The back loop only gives this nice line across here and then again across the next round

So both the next two rounds will be back loops only. Just a little design feature that I think is kind of fun, something different that we haven't done before

So we're using off-white for our next round, round number seven, and you can join in any one of these corners

And what I'm going to do is my invisible single crochet join again

So instead of inserting the hook, I'm going to wrap the iron around the hook first

Then I will insert it and make sure that cut end is over top of the hook

So I'm working it into my first single crochet. Oops. Split the yarn there

And complete your first single crochet. and I get this nice clean single crochet

So that's in the chain three space. The next stitch right here

and I didn't start where I joined, so this is not a chain four

we'll deal with that when we get around to it there. I want to only work in the back loop

So of course I picked blue, which is kind of on the dark side here. But see how I only have the back loop of this stitch

You leave the front loop, see if I can show you this. Right here is the front loop. That's the back loop. Only working in the back loop. Normally you would go under

both loops to work a normal stitch. You can see that. But instead I want to go back loop only

So it's a little bit of a looser stitch because you're only working into half the stitch

And we want to go ahead and do a single crochet. So then we want to do that on the next stitch

single crochet and we keep working across back loops only so it'll be a little more clear after

I get a little bit of this off white into the navy see if you can see it better there so see how

it works into the back loops only and leaves the front loop lying there across the front which is

gives it a really nice look I think so we're going to do that all the way to the first corner so

keep on working across and we will get to the next corner this is this round is a nice

relaxing one because we've been doing fancy stitches up until now it's just simple single crochet

and here we are at the next corner so i worked into the back loop only of this last treble

now i'm going to work a full single crochet into that chain three space

Then I'm just going to chain two. And then I'm going to work another single crochet into that, and that turns my corner

So I find that nice chain too. It gives it a nice crisp corner

It doesn't pop out too much, and it doesn't pull in too tight. And now we're going to go across the next side, doing exactly the same thing, working into the back loop only of every stitch along

So keep working that and I will meet you at the next corner because for me the next corner is where my chain stitch is and I'll show you how you do back loop into that

I've worked all the way across the next side and I've reached the next corner and I'm going to go into that corner and do a single crochet, chain two, and a single crochet to turn that corner

Now for me I've now reached where the chain four is, where I joined

So in that case, your back loop only is really the top part of that chain

You would normally only work into that anyways. So where the chain four is, where we joined, that's exactly where you go into

So fairly straightforward, I think. And then you proceed on and continue to go into back loops only

And it might feel like your loops are a little wonky, but that's okay because once you start working into them all

it evens right out. So continue to do that across the next edge

Work your next corner as usual, single crochet, chain two, single crochet

And work right down to this last corner where we started. I'll meet you there and we'll finish off this round

So I've come back to the chain space that we joined in. I've worked my back loop only into that last treble

Now I want to work a single crochet into that chain three space

chain two, and now I'm going to join with a slip stitch in the first single crochet

and that will end the round, and I can cut my yarn. So this stitch gives it a nice frame around the square, and it kind of makes the

edging a little crisper and a little firmer. I'm going to do one more round

You can leave it like this. You could do as many rounds as you want in as many different colors or the same color

Experiment with that. It's really cool what you can end up with, and the looks that it gives you

you. But I'm going to do one more round and it's going to be in the rust because I like to

pull out some colors from in here and just finish off my square that way. This round is going to be

identical to the last round. We're going to join in any one of these corners. And again

I'm going to do my wrap the loop first. So wrap the iron first, then into the space under the cut

end working it into the single crochet and i get my nice crisp single crochet without that extra

loop there and now i'm going to work back loop only of every single crochet across including

this single crochet that was in the corner of the last one you make sure that you work into the

back loop of that as well so single crochet back loop only let's work a little way across here and

we'll take a look at it. There we go. See how now under here

it left the blue line, which isn't as visible, I don't think. But the white is very visible on the camera

So that's what it's doing. It's leaving these nice two crisp lines that create a nice frame around your square

and draws colors from the center to the outside. So what I'm going to do is leave you to it

You're going to work back loop only all the way. across and then in your corners, same as last time, single crochet, chain two, single crochet

and then continue down the next edge. And that's what you're going to work all the way around

If you want to work more than just the rounds that I've done, go for it. I'll meet you back here

We'll finish off the square together. So we've worked our way all the way around the square

back loops only, and then working our corners with single crochet, chain two, single crochet

and now I'm back here at the end, and I'm going to single crochet in the same chain two space that I joined in

Chain two, and then I'm going to join with a slip stitch in our first single crochet

And then I'm going to cut the yarn and pull that through

And that completes the Free Spirit Granny Square. Another great one for blankets and home decor

In fact, I'm using my Join As You Go method to turn these squares into a nice throw

I really like how the colors are working with the dark background. This square has a solid stitch border unlike the Zippy Square that I used in the Join As You Go tutorial

so I'll work up another tutorial to explain how I go about joining these squares together

Check the description below for more information on that. If you enjoy this tutorial, please give it a thumbs up, and remember to subscribe to my channel

so you're sure to catch all my tutorials as they come out. Thanks for joining me today

I'll see you in the next tutorial