A Recipe

Here's a little treat for you - one that I promised yesterday and for once, I carry through with what I've said! Wahey! It's the sort-of-semi-more-like-a-recipe-really-than-a-pattern pattern for the Great British Granny Shrug! I'm not going to claim any kind of ownership on this pattern, it's been done before, and I'm sure it will be done again but I'm giving you my take on it and if you like it then you like it. I for one think it would be marvellous if we could have a parade of tiny yarn appreciators through the shop wearing this in patriotic colours (or not) in the run up to the Olympics. (As an aside, I just checked out if this could be made adult sized and it turns out it can! Look here for the pattern and here for the rav projects - we can't pretend they're all pretty but there are a couple of lovely ones in there!).

The yarn that I used was my leftovers from yesterday's project which is why there's a lot less blue than any other colour. You could use the Fashion Aran just like me or any one of our fabulous yarns (the Riot DK looks particularly lovely) with an appropriate hook. You could even, dare I say it, use up stash!

Anyway, without further ado, I present to you, the:

Great British Granny Shrug

Great British Granny Shrug

What you'll need:

150g (ish) aran weight yarn.

5mm crochet hook.

Sewing up needle.

Buttons.

Stitchtionary - (UK terms):

Ch – Chain.

Join – Slip stitch.

Tr – Treble.

Dc – Double Crochet.

Start Here:

Hexagrannies (make two the same):

My stripe sequence – one row each of: cream, red, cream, blue.

Ch 4, join in the round.

Rnd 1: ch3, 2tr into circle, *ch2, 3tr into circle*, repeat 5 times, ch2 join.

Rnd 2: ch3, 2trs into space just before the join, *(3tr, ch2, 3tr) into corner*, repeat 5 times, 3tr, ch2, join.

Rnd 3: ch3, 2tr into the space just before the join, *3tr into the next space, (3tr, ch2, 3tr) into corner*, repeat 5 times, 3tr into next space, 3tr into corner, ch2 and join.

Rnd 4 (and all further rounds): ch3, 2tr into the space just before the join, *3tr into each space, (3tr, ch2, 3tr) into corner, repeat 5 times, 3tr into each space, 3tr into corner, ch2, join.

Repeat round four until the radius (measurement from centre to edge) measures a quarter of the full bust measurement needed. Roughly:

• 3.5” (9cm) for a newborn,
• 4” (10.25cm) for 0-3 months,
• 4.5” (11.5cm) for 3-6 months,
• 5” (12.75cm) for 6-12 months,
• 5.5” (14cm) for 12-18 months,

and so on. If you're not sure for your baby model, have a little search through our patterns (link) for the age group they're in and you'll find a good guide. Finish after a cream and sew in your ends.

Place each hexagon face down on your lap/the table, pinch the corner at the beginning of the round and bring that point to it's exact opposite, folding the hexagon in half. It should look like a right angle. Do the same for the other hexagon. Using mattress stitch (or whatever you prefer), sew the hexagons together along one side making sure that the 'beginning of the round' corners mirror eachother. This is the back of your cardi.

Now, identify the arms, (they're the ones stuck out of the side...), sew along the top of these to enclose the arms, stopping short a couple of inches from the neck (more for bigger sizes, less for smaller but this isn't imperative so don't worry too much, just make sure there's a hole).

So, you now have your cardi, all that's left is an edging. I started at the middle back and did a double into each stitch all the way around, joining with a slip stitch all in cream. For corners I did a *dc, ch2, dc* into the space each time.

Then I changed to red and did a double into every stitch until I got to where I wanted button holes (I counted actually, one stitch from the edge, and then three sets of four stitches in ). Button hole bit:

*ch2, miss a stitch, dc into next 4 stitches*, repeat.

You might want to put more or less button holes in though and feel free! Carry on with your red and slip stitch to join.

Change to cream and do a double into every stitch one into every button hole space, slip stitch to join.

Break yarn, sew in ends, sew on shiny buttons. Bish bash bosh.  

The pattern hasn't been tested seeing as it's free and off the cuff so any problems, do let me know!

Love Eleanor. :)

P.s. One more because I really liked it:

P.p.s I forgot to say, for the button holes - GIRLS ARE ALWAYS RIGHT... over left. So the button holes go on the right hand side as it's being worn so that that side comes over the other with the buttons on. Hope that makes sense.


EDA: I've now made the pattern available on Ravelry - it's a bloody PDF and everything ain't it!  And if you want to buy a printed copy, they're available in the shop at £1.

Love to all again,

Eleanor.