30+ Free Granny Square Patterns
Granny Squares are a fantastic place to start if you're new to crochet, and below you'll find not only our basic crochet granny square pattern but also a whole blanket-load of free granny square patterns!
What is a granny square?
A basic granny square is generally comprised of chains and treble stitches, worked from the centre outwards. But there are hundreds (if not thousands) of different granny square patterns out there - from intricate lace, textured stitches, picture crochet squares and much more.
Below you'll find some fab free granny square patterns, including the basics of how to crochet a granny square, as well as a few more fun crochet square variations. You'll also find some exclusive squares designed especially for us by our Granny Square Day Ambassadors!
Once you've had your fill of granny squares (if that's even possible), we've got loads more free crochet patterns for you to try right here on Gathered.
Granny Square guide contents
- How to crochet a basic Granny Square for beginners
- Easy granny square patterns
- Free patterns by our Granny Square Day Ambassadors
- More Free Granny Square crochet patterns
- Granny square day
- The history of granny squares
- How to join granny squares
- 40+ Granny square projects to try
New to crochet?
Never picked up a crochet hook before? We'd recommend taking a look at our how to crochet for beginners guide before diving straight into a granny square.
If you need a hand reading the granny square patterns in this post, you can find a full list of all abbreviations we use in our abbreviations and conversions guide.
All of these patterns are written in UK terminology, but you can easily convert them to US terms using our handy guide.
Become a granny square expert
Treat yourself to The Ultimate Granny Square Collection - a stunning special edition magazine featuring a selection of gorgeous scarves, bags, tops and home décor as well as a library of 50 original square patterns!
Order your copy today for just £9.99!
How to crochet a granny square
Everyone needs to start somewhere, and there's no better place than our full how to crochet a granny square tutorial.
You'll find our basic granny square pattern as a printable pdf that you can download, plus there's also step-by-step photos and plenty of handy tips and resources for beginners.
Whether you’re new to granny squares, or just need a refresher – we’ve also created this handy walk-through video to help you with the tricky bits!
You may want to pause the video if you’re working along to it (as we fast-forward through some of the repeats).
Granny square library
If you want to have an incredible range of granny squares to choose from, then why not check out the amazing Granny Square Book by Margaret Hubert?
Easy granny square patterns
Now that you've mastered the basics of how to crochet a granny square, try mixing things up with these easy granny square crochet patterns. We've collected six simple patterns for you to try, each with slightly different stitches and styles.
We've also included the charts for each granny square pattern to help you. Charts are particularly useful for working out where your stitches should go, especially when patterns skip stitches or have complex positioning of stitches. If you're new to crochet charts, check out our guide on how to read crochet charts.
Download our free granny square pattern collection!
P.S. Blocking makes a big difference to the final shape of your squares. Because of this we’ve left our squares unblocked in each picture so you’ll have a better idea of what yours will look like before blocking. If you’re new to blocking, you can find our Blocking Tutorial Video here!
Epic granny square cardigan project
This amazing pattern originally appeared in issue 90 of Simply Crochet, which you can still buy as a digital issue or you can buy the pattern from Lovecrafts
Free Granny Square Patterns by our GSD ambassadors
For Granny Square Day we recruit top crochet designers and stars to become ambassadors to help us celebrate the day.
They each design us an exclusive free granny square pattern, especially for the day, and you can still check out and make our ambassador squares from previous years below!
Don't miss our Granny Square Special!
Issue 152 comes with a special bonus pattern booklet featuring 40 brand new Granny Square Designs! Order online or download as a digital issue.
'Melonosaurus' granny square pattern by 2024 Ambassador Candy Downs
Candy Downs has designed us this fabulously fun 'Melon-osaurus' granny square pattern – her genius mash-up of a dinosaur and a melon... who would have thought! If you love her Melonosaurus, you can find her awesome amigurumi pattern in her etsy store.
Pretty as a Puff Stitch Flower by 2024 Ambassador Sarah-Jane Hicks
We love puff stitches... and we love granny squares too! So of course we're obsessed with the fabulous 'Pretty as a puff stitch flower' granny square by Sarah-Jane Hicks. Made up of 4 mini-squares and using the join-as-you-go method, it's a stunning design that you'll love hooking.
The Spinning Square by 2024 Ambassador Kelly Phelps
Kelly has designed us a special square that is a riot of colour and involves a range of fun crochet stitches to try. Because each round uses a different colour, its a great project for using up any odd bits of yarn you have in your stash.
The Gratitude Square by 2024 Ambassador Alice Tarry
This beautiful square by Alice features a sweet flower in the centre (and we particularly love the added beads). The picture below shows it worked in variegated yarns, but it also looks fantastic hooked up in solid colours too!
Ambassador granny square patterns from previous years!
Free Granny Square Day 2023 Patterns
To get everyone in the mood for last year's Granny Square Day (which takes place every year on 15th August), Gathered brought out a free granny square to try each week in the lead up to the big day!
Our four free patterns from Granny Square Day 2023 combine a range of techniques to help improve your skills and put a smile on your face!
Sarah-Jane Hicks' smiling pea square and Gurinder Kaur Hatchard's tiger square are full of fun and feature some neat embroidery details. And if you like getting technical, Becky Skuse's mitred rainbow square and Heather C. Gibbs' daisy square are just what you've been looking for!
Download Gathered's free 2023 granny square pattern collection
Free bear granny square crochet patterns by Natalie Beard
Natalie Beard aka Sewing the Seeds of Love enjoyed being our 2020 ambassador so much, that she created two brand new and exclusive squares for 2023 - both of them depicting an adorable bear! This is in partnership with our official charity for Granny Square Day 2023, Amoami! Find out more about them over on Simply Crochet's Instagram.
Download the free granny square bears crochet patterns pdf
Frog Granny Square crochet pattern by @fanaticalfibres
Sarah of @fanaticalfibres designed this adorable frog granny square pattern. Kids will love this fun square, almost as much as you'll love making it!
Download the frog-tastic free granny square pattern pdf!
Free granny square pattern by Steffi Glaves
Grab your small (2.5mm) crochet hook and try Steffi Glaves' beautiful granny square design.
Download the Steffi Glaves granny square pattern pdf
Free Granny Square and Cushion crochet pattern by @hanjancrochet
Hannah Cross has not only designed a special granny square pattern but has also used it in this fabulous free cushion pattern too!
You can find the pattern on HanJanCrochet.com
The Flora Granny Square by Attic24
Lucy from Attic24 has designed us this beautiful Flora granny square pattern, and has also created it as a full step-by-step photo tutorial to help you with every round!
Find the free Flora granny square pattern here.
Flower bobble granny square by Nomad Stitches
Granny Square Day 2020 Ambassador Sandra Gutierrez (a.k.a. Nomad Stitches) not only designed us a special crochet granny square but even turned it into one that you can make as a CAL.
She even made accompanying videos for each part where Sandra takes you through each step!
You can find the whole pattern on her blog here.
Free Colour Circle Granny Square Pattern by Ola Ogunlolu
Our 2020 Ambassador Ola Ogunlolu designed this fabulous Colour Circle granny square, especially for Granny Square Day.
You can find the free granny square pattern on his Instagram here!
Whatever the weather granny square collection by Natalie Beard
Our 2020 Granny square day ambassador Natalie Beard aka Sewing the Seeds of Love spoiled us by making not just one but three exclusive granny square patterns!
Click here to download the printable pattern pdf!
Free Bloomfield Crochet Granny Square Pattern by Toni Lipsey
We love this beautiful Bloomfield Crochet Square by 2020 ambassador Toni Lipsey, which uses a bit of Tunisian crochet to make the centre circle!
Find the free granny square pattern over on her blog!
Free Crochet Granny Square Pattern by Jessica Carey
Jessica Carey (aka the.hook.nook) designed us three spectacular monochrome granny square patterns, including a simple square, a circular centre design and a pretty 3D flower design too!
Download the pattern pdf for all three designs!
Flower Power granny square crochet pattern by Sweet Sharna
Sharna Moore (@sweet_sharna) was one of our 2019 Granny Square Day Ambassadors and designed us this beautiful 3D flower granny square.
Find her gorgeous flower power crochet square over on her blog
Textured Solid Granny Square Pattern by Sarah Shrimpton
Here's another fab free granny square by one of our 2019 Granny Square Day ambassadors Sarah Shrimpton (@Annaboos_House).
You can find the instructions for this pattern in both UK and US terms on her website.
Sue Square crochet pattern by Dedri Uys
Dedri Uys (@barbertondaisy) was another of our 2019 Granny Square Day Ambassadors and designed this crochet granny square which she dedicated to her friend Sue.
You can find the pattern with full step-by-step pictures on her blog here.
Spot granny square crochet pattern by Katie Jones
Katie Jones is an icon of the crochet world and, for Granny Square Day 2019, she shared this colourful creation. It might have been back in 2019 but it will still make a fab addition to this year!
Give Katie Jones free granny square pattern a try
Super-cool cat cushion
Calling all cat fans!!! If you want your granny squares to look purrr-fect, then you've got to check out this amazing cushion by Pony McTate! Find the pattern on Etsy.
More Free Granny Square Crochet Patterns
If you've caught the granny square bug, here's a few more different granny square patterns for you to try - and all of the following are free granny square patterns too!
Exclusive Zandra Rhodes-inspired granny square!
With her signature pink locks in a fringed bob and her electric blue eyeshadow, this is unmistakably fashion icon Zandra Rhodes in crochet form!
In issue 119 of Simply Crochet (still available to buy as a digital issue) you'll find an amazing Zandra Rhodes pattern collection, not only celebrating the iconic British designer's unique style but also made using her exclusive range of West Yorkshire Spinners ColourLab yarn.
This amazing granny square was made for Simply Crochet by regular designer Natalie Beard. It’s available as a free pattern for you to make yourself!
Click here to download the pattern pdf
Rainbow granny square crochet pattern by Marianne Rawlins
How could you possibly make a rainbow granny square any better? With pompoms of course! This cute square would add an extra dimension to your design – we think a cushion made up of repeated squares would be divine.
Click here for the free rainbow granny square pattern printable pdf
Popcorn granny square crochet pattern by Sam Hermes
Incorporating textured stitches into your granny squares is a great way of making your projects extra snuggly. The squidgy bouncy effect produced by popcorn stitches will make your squares ever so touchable too.
Download the free popcorn granny square pattern
Bee granny square crochet pattern by Cara Medus
Up for a challenge? This incredible colourwork crochet granny square by Cara Medus will require some dedicated attention. But with such an impressive result it's well worth the effort!
Click here for the free bee granny square pattern and chart
Granny square crochet pattern by HanJanCrochet
We've been fans of HanJan Crochet since day one and we especially love her pattern for Granny Square Day 2020. She even shares her tips on how to avoid twisting your granny squares.
Find out more at hanjancrochet.com
Free heart granny square crochet pattern from Mollie Makes
The lovely Emma Wilkinson designed this heart granny square crochet pattern for Mollie magazine. It's the perfect crochet square to add to your collection. Spread the love through crochet!
Find the free heart granny square crochet pattern right here on Gathered
Daisy granny square pattern by Just Be Crafty
Daisy granny squares are super popular so we had to include a free pattern for Granny Square Day.
Brittany from Just Be Crafty has a quick and easy tutorial on her blog for these floral squares.
Nadine granny square pattern by Every Trick on the Hook
Next up we have a square from across the pond. Polly Plum's Nadine granny square is a step up from your basic square. But don't worry, Polly breaks the crochet square down into simple steps.
Find this amazing pattern on the Every Trick on the Hook blog.
Swirling granny square pattern by Josie Calvert Briggs
Finally, we're finishing our round-up with this funky swirling pattern by Josie Calvert Briggs.
She uses Snovej's tutorial for the two-colour spiral and has modified it into a granny square.
Granny squares that stand out!
With 100 crochet squares featuring flowers, animals, food and drink, motifs and more, the 3D granny squares book is perfect for you!
Granny Square Day
Granny Square Day takes place on the 15th August every year (put it in your diaries) and is our crochet highlight of the year.
Head to our article about Granny Square Day for details on the event. Be sure to keep an eye on Gathered for this year's Granny Square Day!
Crochet Granny Squares - Past & Present
Granny squares have long been a popular project for crocheters throughout history, hitting their heyday in the 1970s.
One of the main reasons for this is that they are quick shapes that you can make with any scraps of leftover yarn.
Granny squares are usually stitched together to create colourful granny square blankets. These have historically been called crochet Afghans (referring to the people of Afghanistan. The first use of this term being used to describe hand-woven blankets, colourful textiles and carpets appearing in the 1800s).
From its boom in the 1960s and 70s with super-colourful granny square outfits, granny squares have consistently gone in and out of fashion. They have even regularly appeared in catwalk collections by fashion designers since the millennium.
How to join granny squares
Once you've made some squares and are ready to turn them into a project, you'll need to know how to join your granny squares together!
There are a few different ways of doing this – you can sew or even crochet them together, and you can make joins that lie flat or are raised to give added texture.
We've created a handy guide which walks you through each of the methods so you can get your joins looking perfect!
- Take a look at our tutorial on How to join granny squares together
Granny square hooded jacket!
This fab pattern takes the classic granny square and gives it a twist for modern times. Find the pattern on Etsy.
Granny Square Projects
Granny squares are great for practising and learning new stitches. But they are also fun makes for when you just want a bit of quick crochet time.
Hold on to all those different squares and you can use them in a variety of projects. Even if they aren't exactly the same size, you can use them as a reference to get an idea of which types of squares will work best for certain projects.
Find your next granny square project
Once you've found your favourite squares, it's time to turn them into something fabulous! As much as we love a nice crochet granny square blanket, there are heaps more uses for these cool little crochet squares!
Find the perfect project to use them in with Gathered's pick of the 40+ Granny Square Projects.
