Half and half crochet square

My leftover yarn stash has reached unmanageable proportions. Time to start a side project that I can pick up and put down easily to try and deal with some of it. I’ve been wanting to make a triangle pattern throw for a while now. There are some lovely patterns out there but none worked for what I wanted. I was put off by those that worked the whole thing as a single piece of work by the number of balls of yarn to wind and carry for each row – all that untangling and balls of yarn to carry around. Patterns for individual triangles prompted thoughts of many many motifs to arrange and sew together. I tried a two-coloured granny square but it didn’t produce the more solid colour effect I wanted – and the change of colour left a visible extra thread at the back.

So this is what I’ve worked out. It’s essentially the solid granny square from Attic24 but reversing the direction at the end of each round and changing colour halfway through the square. On the 2nd and subsequent rounds, the hook is twisted round the new yarn when the colour changes to incorporate it in the stitch. No random bits of carried yarn showing! And I only need to carry around two balls of yarn at any time.

I think this pattern has quite a mid-century modern feel about it, with its sharp geometric blocks of colour. It could work well in a mix of monochrome with just a couple of jewel colours (purple and teal? Or tangerine orange?) for cushion covers. Or in a mix of chalky pastels for a baby blanket.

I’ve included some tips for calculating how many squares you might need for different projects and how much yarn you might need if you were buying it from scratch. You might also like to consider what degree of colour variation you want. 3 colours produce 4 different combinations, 4 colours produce 6 combinations, 5 colours produce 10 combinations, etc. (For those of you who thought you’d never use maths once you left school, this is an exponential calculation. For maths teachers who customarily make exponentials too hard to understand, here is an example. You’re welcome.)

I’ve also included more photos than I usually would to illustrate the colour change. If you find it difficult, just make the stitch as usual – it’s not a dealbreaker, just me being a bit pedantic.

Half and half square

You will need:

• Double knitting yarn in two colours (A and B)
• 4.5mm/7 crochet hook

Tension is not crucial here. It’s designed as a stashbuster pattern, so you may be using lots of different yarns and some squares may end up slightly larger than others. Hopefully it’ll all even out in the end, though it may look a bit rustic! If you want an even result, use the same yarn throughout. For me, using mostly Scheeples Colour Crafter and Stylecraft Special DK with a 4.5mm hook for five rounds resulted in a 13cm square.

Pattern uses standard UK abbreviations.

Special stitch: tr with twist = treble crochet, twisting the carried yarn of the new colour round the hook to form part of the stitch (see photos below).

Change colour to B, showing yarn pulled up from previous round.

Yarn over hook, insert hook under yarn pulled up from previous row (3 loops on hook).

Insert hook into chain space, yarn over hook and pull through a loop (4 loops on hook).

Yarn over hook, pull a loop through three loops (two loops on hook), yarn over hook, pull a loop through two loops to complete the treble crochet with twist.

To make the square:

Make 4ch in A and join with a ss.

Round 1 (working in A): 3ch (to stand for 1st tr), 2tr into ring, 2ch, 3 tr into ring, change to B but do not not cut A, (2 ch, 3tr into ring) twice, 2ch, ss to top of 3ch, turn.

Round 2 (working in B): ss into 2ch, 3ch (to stand for 1st tr), 1tr into 2ch sp, tr into each of the next 3 tr, (2tr, 2ch, 2tr into 2ch sp), tr into each of the next 3 tr, 2tr into 2ch sp, 1ch, change to A but do not cut B, 1ch, 1tr with twist (see photos above) into 2ch sp, 1tr into 2ch sp, tr into each of the next 3 tr, 2tr into 2ch sp, 2ch, 2tr into 2ch sp, tr into each of the next 3 tr, 2tr into 2ch sp, 2ch, ss to top of 3ch, turn.

Continue to work in reversed rounds for a total of 5 rounds, increasing 4tr on each side in each round (Round 2 has 7tr in between ch sps, Round 3 has 11tr, Round 4 has 15tr, Round 5 has 19 tr.) Cut thread, fasten off, and weave in ends.

Using the squares

The most obvious things to use these for would be a cushion cover, baby blanket, or throw:

• For a cushion cover of approximately 52 x 52cm, you will need 4 x 4 13cm squares for each side, a total of 32 squares.
• For a baby blanket of approximately 104 x 156cm, you will need 8 x 12 13cm squares, a total of 96 squares.
• For a throw of approximately 156 x 182cm, you will need 12 x 14 13cm squares, a total of 168 squares. This seems like a lot but if you do a few at a time (say 6), they will soon add up.

If you’re not stashbusting and want to buy the yarn, you can get a rough estimate of how much you might need by weight. Make a single square and weigh it, then multiple by the number of squares you need and divide by the number of colours you want to use. For example, for me, using Scheeples Colour Crafter and Stylecraft Special DK, a single square weighes 5g. So for a baby blanket using four colours:

• 5g x 96 squares = 480g, divided by 4 colours = 120g of each colour. To allow for wastage, I would probably buy 150-200g of each colour.

You can also work it out by yardage. Work a single square, then mark where you would have cut the yarn (e.g. tie a loose knot or use a stitch marker) and unravel the work. Measure the yardage of each colour and add together to get the total yardage per square. Then use the same formula as above to work out how much you would need for the whole piece, depending on how many colours you plan to use.

I’ll keep you posted when I’ve decided what to do with mine. In the meantime, happy stashbusting!