It's hip to be square

My crochet group is doing a sampler afghan of 7 inch squares to make a blanket to donate to Warm Up America. We're using up odds and ends and just making it as crazy as possible.

Here are some of my more interesting squares:

Bavarian crochet square

I have been wanting to do Bavarian crochet since I found this book at JoAnn Fabrics. 

I am also going to do a baby afghan for Warm Up America, and I think I'll do it in the Bavarian crochet style. I really like how it's raised and how it works from the inside out so you can make it as big as you want. I thought it would be a lot harder or more tedious than it is.

Denna squares

One of the ladies in my crochet group suggested doing the Denna square as one of our squares. I like it because you can change colors often (and thereby use up a lot of scraps!). It's also a cute pattern. I might make a bigger version of this for an afghan someday.

I did two Denna squares; the aqua and magenta one, and a blue and orange one. Both turned out really cute.

Dishcloth square

This pattern is from Splish Splash Dishcloths, a booklet from which I have made several dishcloths for friends and family at wedding showers. 

Pretty simple, but I think it's more interesting than a simple granny square. 

As you can see with all of the patterns above, it was all about changing colors a lot and adding texture. It's been a creative exercise and has given me a lot of food for thought for future afghans!