Hubert - Granny Square Flowers: 50 Botanical Crochet Motifs and 15 Original Projects

Margaret Hubert

Copyright 2013 Creative Publishing international, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyrights hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any meansgraphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping of information on storage and retrieval systemswithout the written permission of the publisher. However, the publisher grants to the purchaser of this book permission to reproduce the diagrams in the book for personal use.

Due to differing conditions, materials, and skill levels, the publisher and various manufacturers disclaim any liability for unsatisfactory results or injury due to improper use of tools, materials, or information in this publication.

First published in the United States of America by

Creative Publishing international, Inc., a member of

Quayside Publishing Group

400 First Avenue North

Suite 400

Minneapolis, MN 55401

1-800-328-3895

www.creativepub.com

Visit www.Craftside.Typepad.com for a behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world!

Digital edition published in 2013

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Digital Edition: 978-1-61058-881-2
Softcover Edition: 978-1-58923-780-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available

Technical Editor: Karen Manthey

Proofreader: Kari Cornell

Cover Design: Kathie Alexander

Page Layout: meganjonesdesign.com

Illustrations: Karen Manthey

Photographs: Glenn Scott Photography; Christopher Hubert,

Dedication

For my wonderful, ever growing family; you are my world.

It really does take a village to get a book into publication. I would like to thank everyone at Creative Publishing international; working with them is a pleasure. I would need several pages to write all the nice things about my editor, Linda Neubauer; she is the best. Thank you, Linda. Others who deserve special thanks are:

Karen Manthey, technical editor and diagram illustrator, who creates easy-to-follow, wonderful diagrams.

Diane Friedman and Stacy Charles of Tahki/Stacy Charles, for once again donating all the yarn for the Granny Square Patterns section and for several projects as well.

The many yarn companies that generously support designers with yarn, including Bijou Basin Ranch, Blue Heron Yarns, Drew Emborsky Decades, Lion Brand Yarns, Lucci Yarns, Patons Yarns, Plymouth Yarns, and Red Heart Yarns.

I could not complete a book without the help of Jeannine Buehler, Paula Alexander, and Nancy Smith, who help me to crochet the many projects in the book, and Frances Feery, who helps me to proofread my instructions.

A very special thanks to Joyce Lewis who designed the Dahlia Squares; Sharon Valencia, my daughter, who designed the Dancing Roses sweater and boots; my granddaughter Nicole Valencia, who modeled the Dancing Roses Sweater; my son, Chris Hubert, who took some of the photos; and last, but not least, my great-grandsons Joshua and Benjamin Hubert, who livened up the Dahlia Hassock and Fun Flower Blocks photos.

Many, many thanks to all.

INTRODUCTION

C rocheters love granny squares. My first book on the subject, The Granny Square Book, was jam-packed with patterns and projects and it has been overwhelmingly popular (thank you, readers!). Believe it or not, there are still more ideas, granny squares, and granny square projects in my head. They float around in there amid thoughts of beautiful flowersanother passion of mineso its no surprise that this new book blossomed into a collection of granny squares and projects that feature flowers and plants. Each square is designed to resemble a particular flower, leaf, or edible plantthere are even a few weeds thrown in for good measure!

All fifty of the new granny squares are crocheted with the same weight of cotton yarn to show the stitches as clearly as possible. The patterns are taught round by round with written instructions, and all are accompanied by stitch diagrams. Finished sizes of the squares will vary of course, depending on the yarn and hook size you use.

A wide range of yarn weights and fibers have been used for the projects, which demonstrate how wonderfully versatile these granny squares can be. For every project, the specific brands and colors are listed in case you want to make your project exactly like mine. The yarns are also described in generic terms as a guide for those who want to choose different yarns. In either case, be sure to crochet a sample and change to a larger or smaller hook if necessary, until you obtain the correct gauge given for each project. This is especially important for the garments and items that need to be a specific size; less important for items like handbags and scarves.

Designing these new blocks and projects has been a delightful challenge, one that kept my mind and hands happily busy for several months. My hope is that you will use the ideas in this book to experiment, create your own projects, and most of all, have fun crocheting granny square flowers.