Crochet Book Review: “A Year of Granny Squares” by Kylie Moleta

“A Year of Granny Squares” by Kylie Moleta is a delightful crochet book that offers a unique and inspiring journey through the world of granny squares. With 52 different granny square patterns, one for each week of the year, this book provides an abundance of creative possibilities.

Kylie Moleta is well-known for her beautiful granny square blankets, and I’ve been a big admirer of her designs for several years. I was really excited to be offered the opportunity to review her new book, which is coming out on 29 February 2024 from Search Press.

Looking Deeper

Let’s look into the book in a bit more detail.

The main part of the book of course contains the 52 individual granny square patterns. These are cleverly split into four sections, one for each season. The seasonal influence on, or inspiration behind, the different designs, whilst subtle in some cases, is a great touch.

Amongst the various motifs, you’ll find granny squares both traditional and innovative, showcasing a wide variety of techniques including intarsia crochet, tapestry crochet, filet crochet, puff stitches, bobbles, geometric designs, floral motifs, and more.

While most of the squares are worked in the round, some are worked back-and-forth in rows.

Each design is accompanied with a clear photo of the square and the pattern includes both written instructions and a chart. US crochet terms are used in the book but there is a handy “pull-out” UK conversion chart for those who are more familiar with UK crochet terms.

Throughout the book, there are suggestions for combining different squares together, which I think is a really useful addition. It’s very helpful to know, and also see, which squares would work well together.

After the patterns for the individual squares, there are also four lovely projects to make using the squares. These are:

• The First Bloom Blanket
• The Floating Bloom Bag
• The Hedgerow Berries Shawl
• The Frosty Night Pillow.

Finally, Kylie has provided a section on “Core Techniques”, which includes a clear and thorough explanation of:

• Materials and notions, starting and finishing
• Basic stitches
• Colorwork
• Reading patterns and charts
• Gauge and blocking
• Joining and edging
• Embellishments

All in all, this is a delightful and comprehensive book, full of fresh ideas and inspiration for your next granny square project.

Trying the Patterns

I decided to try out a few of the patterns myself to see how they worked up. I wasn’t disappointed with the results but the only hard part was deciding which ones to choose! In the end, I selected four patterns that highlight the range in styles and techniques that you will find in this book and I can confirm that the patterns were all very clear and really easy to follow.

The “Rosehip” square was probably my favourite. I love how the tips of the petals stand out slightly from the rest of the square.

“Yantra” is a beautiful delicate lacy design, which really shone following blocking.

“Floating Bloom” is a neat and attractive pattern and I would love to try this again in different colours.

“Berries” is one of the designs worked back-and-forth in rows, and incorporates some really fun bobbles.

Final Thoughts

Any crocheter looking for some fresh inspiration to expand their granny square repertoire will find “A Year of Granny Squares” to be an invaluable addition to their library. The variety of squares, techniques, and projects provides far more than a year’s worth of wonderful ideas to try. Kylie has designed a collection that both inspires and delights, and can be referred to and enjoyed for years to come.

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