I finished nine squares this week! Nine! That brings my total number of squares to an even 40!

I’ve got to say, after doing 12-inch squares for a couple of weeks, going back to 9-inch seemed easy peasy!

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 and 12-19 here and 20-25 here and 26-31 here.

For most of these squares, I used Stylecraft Special DK, which has long been a favorite of mine because of the number of colors and affordability. Unfortunately, this yarn had to be ordered from the UK, but I never found it to be a problem. I just now found it on Woolbox, though I’ve never ordered from there.

I have used this yarn for SOOOO many projects. Here’s a few:

You can tell I like it a little!

Without further ado, here are this week’s squares

I’m having a hard time rating the difficulty of this square. As I said above, these squares seemed like cake after the larger ones. I can definitely say this is not a beginner square, but an intermediate crocheter should have no problem completing it. The think I like most about this square is the purple flower in the middle. It looks like surface crochet, but is actually worked with single crochets and chains.

I had a lot of fun seeing how these colors mix together. I have a plan for the finished squares, but I’m not sure how many I’ll need. I like the contrast between bright and light in these colors.

I really felt that mixing these different greens was brave. I actually really like it!

The author’s patterns use the same stitches over and over again in different ways. I love the cohesiveness of the squares together even though each is unique.

Look at all those scrumptious layers! I left the last round of sc off this square because it was measuring a little big. Most of these squares have been measuring around 7″. Some are a little shy and I might have to add another round to make them even before putting them together.

I’m not sure this Nightingale’s Song would put you to sleep. The colors might keep you awake!

Do you see the nest? The robin egg’s blue? You can even see a little peek of the Batik yarn I used in last week’s squares. Each pattern continues to be interesting. And the texture is just amazing!

The petals on this flower remind me of a poinsettia for some reason though the colors definitely do not. I do feel the level of difficulty goes down a little when there are no color changes for a few rows.

This square almost looks like it doesn’t belong with the rest. I would drop the difficulty level down, except that there are some new stitch combinations in the lacy part that take careful concentration to get right. I do like the “picture frame” feel that this square has.

I love the popcorn stitches (yellow) that make a star-shaped flower. There is so much going on here. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a flower like this in real life, but God designed the world with so many interesting things, that I wouldn’t be surprised.

I decided I wanted to try a square with smaller yarn. This is the type that could be used for sweaters or kitchen purposes. I thought it would make a nice table runner. Unfortunately, I only had enough yarn to do 1 1/2 squares and the only color I have is white. Teatime is also the last one-color square pattern in the book. This is written as a 12″ pattern, but mine measured out around 7″. I didn’t up the difficulty even though the author did because there are no color changes.

That’s it so far. Forty squares. I feel like I’ve come a long way, but there’s still so much farther to go!

What has been your favorite square, yarn, or color combination so far?

Keep stitching, Heidi