Granny Square size problem

[blueygh2]

Hello!

I've begun crocheting this week, beginning with Granny Squares. No problems so far, only that I have changed wool, and even though it's meant to be knit on smaller hook, it makes a wider square than the other wool, meant to be crocheted on a 4 mm hook.

Do you think I should therefore make the square the same way, even though it gets a little bigger, or should I leave it a little smaller?
Would blocking maybe solve that problem? Wouldn't it look strange to have a Granny square with 4 rows next to one with 5 rows?

Any tips, suggestions, solutions?

[fibrenut]

Hiya blue,
Have you tried to crochet that second square with the same hook as the first square? Sometimes just because you change yarns does not mean that you have to change hook sizes even if the manufacturers gauge on the band says so.
Is it really that big of a difference (which is actually quite a lot) that you lose a whole round of dc's?
It's helpful but not set in concrete that you should be able to seam with the same amount of stitches for each square. Maybe you can have it be a design feature where you have the squares with big yarn as the center and have the smaller squares on the outside. Sorta like sashing on a quilt. Or have one fat strip of squares and one skinny strip and sew them together, and if there's a big difference between the length of the two you could make that up with some dc rows going back n forth on the ends of the shorter strip.

[blueygh2]

Hello!

Thank you for answering so quickly!

I have changed the yarn, but not the hook, so I crocheted it with the same hook (I have just this one hook for the moment), but still there is a difference in size.
But normally, the second square should be SMALLER than the first, as it is meant to be crocheted on smaller than G needles.

Maybe it is just that I crocheted the second square less tightly, which I do not think I did.

As to blocking, I've read that one can't block synthetic wool, so that's not an option.

Your ideas about turning it into some decorative effect are very lovely! Thank you for the ideas!


EDIT:

I noticed that it just LOOKED bigger at the beginning and that, after the last round, it was about equally big as the other square.
Thanks anyway for your help!!
(Fixed mistake: I used "knit" instead of "crochet")

[Mike]

As to blocking, I've read that one can't block synthetic wool, so that's not an option.

To put it bluntly that is absolute hogwash.
I think that is spread by yarn snobs who for whatever reason will say anything they can against acrylics.

Steam will block acrylic permanently as far as I can tell in my little time blocking.
Steam will also shrink some blends so it is wise to test it on a swatch.

[blueygh2]

Thank you for that reply on blocking!!

I didn't really know that acrylic yarn could be blocked.

Even though the size problem of the squares has been solved, it's always useful to know such things!!

[salos]

My favorite way to deal with this is to make all my grannies the same size, no matter what the hook, yarn, or number of rounds. To add 1/4" on each side, sc; for 3/8" hdc; for 1/2" use dc. That gets the squares very close to the exact size.

Then I get a base yarn, one that matches all the other colors, and crochet around each square. I use plain stitches, not the granny 3dc ch1 pattern. I leave a long tail when I finish this outside round. Then when all the squares are done, I sew the blocks together.

Here's an example: http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h3...ochet/SQ44.jpg

For more links, go here http://www.crochetville.org/forum/sh...=35077&page=18

please pm me with any questions