crochet bauhaus blocks Archives

Years ago, I came across the work of Xenobia Bailey. I fell head over heels in love with her many concentric crochet circles. I wanted to make something as memorable as what she made, but she had done so much with the circles, I didn’t feel I had anything to add that would be as good as what she did and that wouldn’t be simply derivative:

crochetbug, xenobia bailey, crochet, crochet circles, concentric circles, crochet as art — Xenobia Bailey’s concentric circles

I didn’t know what I would do, but over time, I ended up doing a lot with squares, and one spring, as what is known as the “state fair” season approaches at my house, I began toying with making squares as square as I could make them without any gaps. My goal was to be able to juxtapose blocks of colors that were as close to exactly the same size as I could get them without having any other color to mediate either through a border or a different color for joining.

I ended up calling them Bauhaus blocks both because the name was alliterative and it recalled for me my favorite childhood toys, most of which were associated with building things or designs. I entered the resulting afghan in the 2008 North Carolina State Fair:

crochetbug, crochet blanket, crochet afghan, crochet blocks, crochet squares, crochet throw, crochet pixels — Pixelghan

Later I used the same construction method with a 4.25 mm hook and Red Heart Super Saver yarn to make a slightly larger square that was then used as the foundation for a yoga/beach blanket:

crochet squares crochet blanket, crochet hat, crochetbug, crochet squares, crochet blocks, crochet afghan, crochet throw — My crochet blanket on the beach

Some people have expressed interest in making such a blanket, so tonight, I have assembled a pictorial essay to help anyone who wants to give this a try.

To start, you will need a worsted weight yarn and a G hook of some sort. I used a 4.25 mm hook to make a 2.25 inch square, but if you crochet tightly you might want to use a 4.5mm hook, and if you crochet even more loosely than I do, a 4.0 mm hook, might be what you need. Because I take this with me everywhere, and it sometimes directly touches my skin, it had to be washable and could not be a fiber that made me itch, so I used an acrylic.

Being by making a slip knot with a very long tail. I recommend at least 36″. You will be using this tail to crochet a line of slip stitches across the top of either edge, and you will use it later to join the squares to each other, so don’t skimp:

crochetbug, crochet square, crochet squares, crochet block, crochet blocks, crochet bauhaus block — Using a 4.25 mm hook, make a slip knot with a 36 inch tail

The increasingly popular foundation single crochet will not work for this project, so you will need to begin by chaining 9 and then turning the chain so that the back loop is facing you, and you will work a single crochet into the second back ridge from the hook:

Work one single crochet into each of the seven remaining back ridge loops for a total of 8sc:

When you get to the end, chain one, and then turn the piece counter clockwise (this will create a straighter edge). Continue until you have completed 8 rows of single crochet. Fasten off, leaving a second tail of approximately 36″

Now you will make use of the long tails to make slip stitches (a technique also known as tambour crochet) across either edge of the square. Begin by inserting the hook from front to back in the space closest to the base of the tail to be used and yarn over the hook: