Most granny squares are flowers and stripes, but a small square can also hold a picture: an eye, a ladybug, a slice of watermelon. These ten are the ones I would pick if you want a granny square with a personality, and each is a free pattern for one square, sized between 4 and 5.5 inches.
They are all free, and each one links straight to the designer’s own page. Make a few and join them into a bag, a blanket or a cushion cover. If you need the basics first, see our granny square joining guide and our 25 free granny square designs, or try our devil eye granny square for another eye motif.
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Items you’ll need:
- Crochet hooks
- Cotton yarn
- Tapestry needles and stitch markers
- Embroidery scissors
- Blocking mat and pins
Unique granny squares to explore
1. Evil Eye Granny Square
Designer Karen Tate on Ravelry. The blue evil eye in black, cyan, snow white and electric blue. The sample uses Scheepjes Catona fingering weight cotton with a 3 mm hook and about 20 to 22 yards in total, and the gauge is 6 repeats to 10 cm. The page does not list a finished size, so swatch first. The free download needs a free Ravelry account.
2. Crochet Eye Granny Square
Designer Morine at Morine’s Shop. A bolder, more colorful eye in lilac and hot pink with mustard, white, brown and black, about 5 inches across. It is 7 rounds from a magic ring in DK acrylic (29 yards in total) with a 4 mm hook, and the white eye detail is embroidered on. Rated beginner. The free pattern is on the page, with an ad free PDF sold separately.
3. Flower Garden Granny Square
Designer Hiromi Widerquist at Harujion Design. A 5 inch square in 6 rounds: a yellow center, white petals, green leaves and a colored background in blue, violet, tea rose or pink, finished with a white frame. It uses Lily Sugar’n Cream cotton and a 4 mm hook, with a chart plus written instructions in English. It is an older blog post, so the chart is a Japanese style image.
4. Daisy Granny Square
Designer Alyssia Stacey-Orchard at Alyssia Creates. A 4 inch square in 4 rounds, with a camel center, white petals and a sky blue inner square, worked from a magic circle in Lion Brand 24/7 Cotton with a 4 mm hook. It has written instructions and photos for each round, and it is free.
5. Ladybug Granny Square
Designer Raffamusa at Raffamusa Designs. A 5.5 inch ladybug square worked in Paintbox Simply DK in pink, grey, white and lime green, with bobble stitches and a 4 mm hook. The full pattern is free on the page.
6. Mushroom Granny Square
Designer vetkaknit at Vetka Knit. A red toadstool with white spots, worked in red, white, beige and brown in 6 rounds from a magic circle in DK yarn with a 3.5 mm hook, about 4.5 inches square. The spots are made by pulling up loops with two colors. There is a free video tutorial, and a reader noted that round 5 works the corner (tc, ch 2, tc) into a single stitch, which the designer confirmed.
7. Lemon Granny Square
Designer CroCreate on LoveCrafts. A lemon square made for Granny Square Day 2020, about 13 cm across. It is worked in back and front loops for a 3D effect and adds surface crochet, so it is rated intermediate. It uses DK yarn and a 4 mm hook, and the page has a free pattern download.
8. Avocado Square
Designer April Garwood at Banana Moon Studio. A 5 1/4 inch avocado in 5 joined rounds from a magic ring, using worsted weight yarn (Cascade Anthem Worsted) and a 6.5 mm hook, with an optional surface slip stitch outline. The pattern is free on the page. A paid PDF on Ravelry and Etsy adds an Easter egg and a peacock feather variation.
9. Watermelon Granny Square
Designer Raffamusa at Raffamusa Designs. A 4 inch watermelon slice in aran weight yarn (Paintbox Cotton Aran in the sample), with black embroidery floss for the seeds. It belongs to the Tutti Frutti granny square collection, and the pattern is free on the page.
10. Pineapple Granny Square
Designer aamragul at Crochet Crosia Home. A 5 inch square in 7 rows with shells, v stitches, corner clusters and a pineapple cluster in the center, in light weight yarn with a 3.5 mm hook. The pattern is written out row by row, and there is a video tutorial in Urdu and Hindi.
