Knit a square: Five different patterns

Knit some squares

We show you five different ways of knitting a square, and also how to put them together to make a cross pattern blanket.

project GINA ROSS

DIFFICULTY: easy

SIZE Approximately 7 x 7cm

YOU WILL NEED ♥ African Expressions Harmony, 8 or more colours of your choice, approximately 5g of yarn per square (colours used for samples: 2552, 2281, 2052, 2127, 2131, 2011, 2126, 2119) ♥ 4,5mm knitting needles ♥ scissors ♥ darning needle for joining and working ends away

ABBREVIATIONS k ‒ knit p ‒ purl rep ‒ repeat RS ‒ right side st(s) ‒ stitch(es) WS ‒ wrong side

TO KNIT Knit one of each of the following block patterns in each colour (that is, 5 blocks per colour). When finishing each block, leave at least a 20cm tail to sew the blocks together. BLOCK 1 GARTER STITCH Cast on 14 sts. Rows 1‒24: k all sts. Cast off loosely.

BLOCK 2 STOCKING STITCH Cast on 14 sts. Row 1: k all sts. Row 2: p all sts. Rows 3‒20: rep rows 1 and 2. Cast off loosely.

BLOCK 3 SEED STITCH Cast on 14 sts. Row 1: (k1, p1) to the end of the row. Row 2: (p1, k1) to the end of the row. Rows 3‒20: rep rows 1 and 2. Cast off loosely.

BLOCK 4 MODIFIED SPACING SEED STITCH Cast on 14 sts. Row 1: (p1, k3) x 3, p1, k1. Row 2: p all sts. Row 3: k2, (p1, k3) x 3. Rows 4‒21: rep rows 1‒3 six more times. Cast off loosely.

BLOCK 5 GARTER CHECKERBOARD Cast on 14 sts. Row 1: k1, (k3, p3) x 2, k1. Row 2: p1, (p3, k3) x 2, p1. Row 3: k1, (k3, p3) x 2, k1. Row 4: p1, (k3, p3) x 2, p1. Row 5: k1, (p3, k3) x 2, k1. Row 6: p1, (k3, p3) x 2, p1. Rows 7‒24: rep rows 1‒6 three more times. Cast off loosely.

FINISHING Sew 5 blocks of the same colour (one in each stitch pattern) together to form a ʻplusʼ shape ‒ one block in the middle and one on each square side of the middle block. It doesnʼt matter if the blocks are joined with the stitch patterns up straight, sideways or upside down. But do take care that all the blocks have their right sides facing when you are stitching them together. Arrange the ʻplusʼ shapes so that they fit together in a colour scheme that is pleasing, and sew the blocks together. Make as many blocks as you need to achieve the desired size. Knit extra blocks in different colours to sew onto the plus pattern, to square off the final piece. Work all loose yarn ends away with the darning needle.

Wrap up against the cold

The brighter the better, as you can see from this mixture of knitting and crochet.