Grueling is a strong word. This gauntlet isn’t so much grueling as it is a constant job. I finished more six more squares this week.

You’ll be happy to know, that I finally found one that I had to frog and frog again. What does “to frog” mean? It means to pull out the stitches (rip it! rip it! = ribbit! ribbit! = frog). Get it?

I eventually finished the square, but it gave me more trouble than any of the others. You can read more about it below.

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 and 32-40 here.

We are at a stage with these squares when everything is multi-layered. We have round petals, pointy petals, puffs, popcorns in almost every square. I’m still closely following the instructions and the diagrams, relying more on the latter than the former.

Once upon a time, I tried to watch the movie Thelma and Louise as it is supposed to be the iconic movie for female friendships. I didn’t finish it. To me it was…not good. This square, on the other hand, was great, and I absolutely finished it!

With each round of each new square, I am amazed at the architecture behind the patterns that makes each one look structured and unique.

This was the square that gave me all the trouble! My notes say “Frog! Frog! Frog!” Interestingly, the center part of this square up to the pink petals are the same as the Laeticia Square. I didn’t even have a problem with the blue petals. Where it all went wrong was Round 11. I could not figure out where to start the round and looking at the diagram became a problem. Because of the multiple layers, it was hard to tell where the stitches went. But I persevered, finishing with the frog-green final round. Whew!

I just had to look up what a Blackbird’s song sounds like. I’m not completely sure how this square relates, but now I’ve stared at the square too long and I can imagine I’m looking straight down one’s throat!

This square is much the same in difficulty and stitches, but 5-tr bobble (the green puffs on the outside of the petals) were a new stitch. The look similar to a popcorn in their puffiness, but they are more rounded.

This square called for a new stitch: Embroidered Bullion stitch. They were supposed to go at the base of each petal where the pink is peeking out. I didn’t do them because it appeared they were optional. I hope that doesn’t count as cheating, but I’ll tell you why I don’t think it does. The pattern has two stars with a third in parenthesis. That leads me to believe that the Advanced rating was simply for the Embroidered Bullion Stitch, which I didn’t do. Maybe if I’m feeling ambitious, I’ll go back and do them.

I’m throwing my difficulty rating for this square back to a 2. Assuming you’ve been keeping up with the squares so far, this one will be easy-peasy. We don’t have big popcorns or puffs. We’ve done all of these stitches before. I really like the eight petals. This one is a keeper.

I was hoping to get to square 50 this week as that would mark the halfway point of the Granny Square Gauntlet. But, alas, I actually had other stuff to do (including learning Chemistry math so I could teach it, yuck!). Plus, I completed another project!

Did you see my granny square purse?

That takes my project total to 4/10.

See you next week!

Keep stitching, Heidi