20 to Crochet: Crocheted Granny Squares

Val Pierce's passion for knitting began when her father taught her to knit at the age of five. Later in life she began home knitting for yarn manufacturers, and since then she has made a huge range of items, from evening dresses to teddy bears. She later began designing items of her own, and before long Val's designs were appearing regularly in national knitting and crochet magazines. She also teaches knitting, as well as a range of other needlecrafts, to both adults and children. Val lives and works in Shropshire, UK.

June 13The venerable granny square is updated, refreshed and explored in this exuberant collection. As in the other 20 to Make titles, this book has large, richly coloured, stitch by stitch deail in its photography. This is a real plus and aid to its glaring lack of diagrams or symbol charts. Charts would have assisted the small, lightweight text whose flow is interrupted by reminders that dc is (UKtr) (for example). It seems aimed for the advanced beginner as the basics are not reiterated or illustrated as one finds in many new crochet books. The twenty are: traditional granny square, poppies and daisies, square dance, daffodil square, twisted treble hexagon, cappuccino lace square, nursery granny square, scalloped circle, Tudor rose, Catharine wheel (not like the stitch), circle in a square, floral ring, circle & shell square, daisy loop, pinwheel circle, dog rose triangle, picot hexagon, alpine meadow square, and filet heart. As their names attest, not all the motifs are squares, which begs the question – why call them "granny squares"? Perhaps in terms of marketing that was more compelling than saying "crochet motifs", a more accurate description of the collection. Hidden in the book are 8 projects. They are not listed in the table of contents so you would have to search to find them. They are: a vase cover of square dance squares, hand warmer of the Tudor rose squares (a must-do), a pillow of cappuccino lace squares, a pincushion of floral rings, a scarf of daisy loop squares (lovely), a mat of dog rose triangles, shoulder bag of alpine meadow squares, baby blanket of filet hearts. While most are just joining of the motifs, they suggest many of the items you can create with them. All of the motifs are made with crochet cotton size 3 and a D/3mm and the sizes of each are noted. This enables you to understand the relative sizes of each and to have a clue as to the size your own hook and yarn combination will yield. The virtues of this pretty little book are its portability and engaging images of attractive motifs.

• Introduction 4Hints and tips 6Traditional Granny Square 8Poppies & Daisies 10Square Dance 12Daffodil Square 14Twisted Treble Hexagon 16Cappuccino Lace Square 18Nursery Granny Square 20Scalloped Circle 22Tudor Rose 24Catherine Wheel 26Circle in a Square 28Floral Ring 30Circle & Shell Square 32Daisy Loop 34Pinwheel Circle 36Dog Rose Triangle 38Picot Hexagon 40Alpine Meadow Square 42Autumn Square 44Filet Heart 46