If this is your first time reading about my current crochet challenge, make sure you go back and read this post for a refresher of my self-imposed rules.

As I post each square, I will post the name and difficulty rating given to each square by Diana Krenz in her book 100 Vibrant Granny Squares, which I’m using for this challenge. Then I will give my difficulty rating and notes about the yarn I used and any new stitches, etc., that I encounter. See squares 1-2 here and squares 3-5 here and 6-11 here.

I am no longer working straight through the book, but choosing the squares that seem to go with the yarn I’m using and their intended purpose. From now on, the number of the square will correspond to the order in which I made it and not to the order in the book. So far, I’ve done all 9 inch squares, but the patterns are starting to get mixed with 12″ squares.

I decided to comment on these four squares together. As you see, I switched up my yarn. I’m using Lion Brand Ice Cream Yarn in Lemon Meringue and Baseball Nut. Both colors are variegated, so a little bit of color manipulation was done by me. I originally bought this yarn for a new pattern I’m writing, but decided they weren’t the colors I wanted. Both colors have a bit of white, so I sometimes cut it out when I didn’t want it.

I’m rating all of these squares with a difficulty rating of 2. If you are able to read a pattern and understand crocheting in chain spaces, around stitches and in different rows, then you can do these squares. While they can stand alone as the Four Elements Series, they also maintain enough of the same elements as the other squares in the book that they can go together without a problem.

If you’re like me and have read Seeking Persephone and watched the miniseries lately, the title of this one will perk up your ears.

This square mixes some popcorn stitches in with the bobbles to give it nice texture. This square would look great in any number of color combinations. It is a little lacey, but not too lacey. An all around good square.

This square is another one-color square which makes weaving in the ends so much easier. I definitely like a one-color square if the pattern is interesting enough.

I did not find this square overly difficult, but did up the difficulty to 2.5 just because I had to redo the second row from the end a couple of times. My count wasn’t coming out right. Where these patterns get difficult is when they are unbalanced meaning there are not the same number of stitches in the beginning of the side as the end of the side. This is often done to get the final stitch count where it needs to be, but if you’re not reading closely, your stitches will be off like mine.

I think I have an idea of what I might do with this square. We’ll see if it works out like I want it to. No hints. Seriously.

I don’t think I ever posted the project that I made using these yarns. It was the Radiant Blossom Throw and it had a fun flower border on it and surface crocheted flowers throughout. I didn’t love the final blanket and as a result, I still have some ends to weave in which prevented me from taking pictures.

I did enjoy being introduced to new yarns. I worry about cotton yarn being stiff, but this was soft. One of the harder parts about cotton yarn is weaving in the ends so that they don’t come out later.

I upped the difficulty of this square up to a 2.5 because there is a lot of layering. Layering is what makes these squares so fabulous!

I do have a project in mine for these two cotton squares, so I looked through the book to find a square that was similar to the Louise square. I think Asteria matches it without being too matchy matchy. I was a little disappointed that when I made this square, I did not have any more bright colors left in my scraps, but all in all I still think the colors came out nicely.

Do you have any idea what these squares will end up being? I hope my idea works out, and I can’t wait to show you. Again, no hints.

Project Status: 1/10

I finished my first project! It’s a bolster pillow and you can read all about it here!

What types of projects would you like to see? I still need ideas!

Keep Stitching, Heidi