My First Granny Square

Ta-da! My first ever crocheted granny square:I have wanted to make me one of these for sooo long and finally took the opportunity to this Sunday (to all those who came to my market stall this weekend may have noticed an expression of deep concentration on my face...)

I used a slightly larger-than-needed crochet hook to make life easier on myself and am so pleased with the result! My plan is to incorporated plastic & acrylic wool crocheted squares for a summer picnic blanket.

This is my absolutely lovely crochet book which I was working from. I inherited this copy of 'Good Housekeeping Crochet' from my mother, it was first published in 1981 and my copy (the 4th released) followed in 1984. It has great illustrations to help teach you all the various stitches and great colour photographs of different patterns, embellems and trims you can create with crochet.

I love the illustration on the front cover the best!

Here is the page I was working from: not too bad a comparison to the example in the book! Once it is pressed and I am confident to use a smaller hook it will be far more similar.
The stitch I was practicing here is called an Almond Stitch and it is one which has stood out at me from this book everytime I have leafed through the pages.

Also in the 'Good Housekeeping' range there is a needlepoint, embroidery, patchwork & applique and a knitting edition! No bets as to which one I'd love to track down, but I imagine that they are all little published gems.