Stitch Anatomy – Crochet: joining squares as you go

This method was a true revolution for me. I first tested it some years ago for a baby blanket I was doing and it worked so perfectly that I haven’t used any other method since then!

It’s pretty easy. I’m demonstrating here using my new Giorni di Sole blanket that you can find here or on Ravelry. You can try a couple of these squares to practice!

You need to crochet one full square, which means completing round 5. Then you can crochet all the other squares up to round 4.
Here is how they look.

Now take the square with round 5 completed and name it square 1 (my N. 1 is blue). Take another square (green for me) which you’d like to put beside N.1 and start round 5 completing only one side of the square. Once you reach the second corner, make only the first half but don’t chain 2. Here is how your square N. 2 looks now.

And now the fun part! Place your square back to back (wrong side against wrong side). Insert the hook in the chain 2 space of N. 1, grab the working yarn and pull through.

And make a slip stitch! You’re not going to chain now, Your slip stitch will replace the chain!

Complete your corner as normal, with the next 3 double crochet, and carry on till you get to the next chain 1. Once again, you won’t chain. Insert your hook in the chain 1 space of the square N. 1, pull a loop and make a slip stitch.

Just as you did before.

Continue on like this…

…till you get to the next corner. And guess what? You’ll do exactly the same!

And now your two squares are joined! You can continue on with the border until you reach the other side and close with a slip stitch.

When you have to join 3 corners together, just make 1 long slip stitch inside them, and that’s it!

I told you it was easy! This will save you a huge amount of time since you don’t have to make all those boring slip stitches all together at the end.

What about you, what’s your favorite joining method? Please let me know if you have questions and feel free to comment below. Happy crafting!!!