Zero to Granny is finally here!

ZERO TO GRANNY - LEARN TO CROCHET COURSE

The first Granny Square I ever made was nothing like the name suggests in that it wasn’t square! It was messy, incredibly wavy and had five, possibly six corners! Despite all its flaws, however, I instantly found a sense of calm and mindfulness in the repetitive nature of making the groups of stitches and chain spaces to create the motif and I still find a lot of joy in making them.
 
Like many traditional crochet patterns, the origin of the design is a little unclear. According to Wikipedia, the earliest known example of a traditional granny square was designed by Mrs Phelps and the pattern was published in the April 1885 edition of The Prairie Farmer newspaper in the USA. This gloriously simple pattern seems to have stayed a firm favourite amongst beginner crocheters and experts ever since and making one is considered a rite of passage for any serious crafter.
 
My Great Grandmother learnt how to make a Granny Square in the 1970s when crochet was enjoying a huge resurgence in popularity. She was an incredibly proficient crocheter and had been brought up in the Victorian era when many ladies made fine, lace style crochet pieces. The humble Granny Square provided her with the chance to really play with colours and she would source yarn at charity shops and unravel old sweaters, wash the yarn and reuse it, to make her crochet projects. In her lifetime she must have made hundreds of blankets, from cot to double bed size, and many members of my family still have one of her heirloom creations.

At JANIE CROW we are passionate about the craft of crochet and are so pleased that it is increasingly recognised as a stage for creativity. Via our crochet designs, our free YouTube content and our social media platforms, we endeavour to show a wide audience the versatility and integrity of the craft, hopefully also managing within that framework to encourage a new breed of crocheters to preserve our beloved craft for future generations.
 
Since lockdown in 2020 we have seen a wave of new crocheters, many of whom do not have access to relatives, friends or the services of staff in local yarn stores to guide them through the learning process and instead refer to channels such as YouTube and TikTok for help. With these beginner crocheters in mind, we have created our ‘Zero to Granny’, Learn to Crochet Course that we are incredibly proud to present to you. Our course is a free resource for crochet beginners, those seeking to expand their knowledge and those who simply want confirmation that they are doing things in the right way.

We have created a total of thirteen new ‘Zero to Granny’ YouTube videos, all of which are free to access and sit alongside our existing collection of almost two hundred technique videos on the platform. The videos are listed within a playlist in number order, with the first one (1), entitled The Basics, gently talking beginners through how to choose yarn and hooks, how to make a slipknot and tension yarn. Our second video (2) shows in-depth the process of making a chain, whilst also explaining how to recognise the front and back of each one and how to count them. Each subsequent video shows another technique so that crocheters can build their knowledge of basic stitches. By video number seven (7) we move to working through a Granny Square pattern, a true rite of passage for any new crocheter. 
 
We have covered a huge amount of information within our videos and, whilst we acknowledge that they cannot replace the benefits of learning ‘in real life’, we hope that they are a comprehensive resource for those wanting to embark on their crochet journeys.
 
You can find the dedicated web page here and you can find the YouTube video playlist here. We hope that you will love it!

Our Learn to Crochet Course grew rapidly from the simple idea of creating a YouTube video to show how to make a humble Granny Square and I am incredibly grateful to Emma for putting a huge amount of time and effort into filming the videos. 
 
If you want to point newbie crocheters towards our free course or fancy dipping into it yourself, we would be really grateful. If you are a crochet tutor and want to use the resources to aid beginners, please feel free to do so, but please respect the copyright of the Granny Square pattern and email us to ask permission to print them off as class handouts.