There are so many types of granny squares to choose from. And then once you choose a granny square pattern, you have almost limitless color combinations you can use. All that variety can be fun, but also a little overwhelming! So how do you begin to pick a granny square color palette?

I recently made a granny square blanket of my own, so today I’m sharing all about it. Let’s dig into the thought process behind granny square color combinations (and I’ll spill all the details about my blanket at the end of this post so you can re-create it if you’d like)!

This post contains affiliate links to products I recommend to my readers. If you click on one of these links and decide you’d like to make a purchase, I will make a small commission (at no extra cost to you).

First Things First

Choose Your Granny Square Pattern

Before you can decide on your granny square blanket’s color palette, you should first pick out the type of granny squares you’ll be making. That way you’ll know how many colors are possible for each square.

Some blankets, like this beautiful Cozy Days Daisy Blanket by All About Ami, repeat the exact same color combination for each granny square in the blanket. But if you’re here reading this, you probably want to crochet a blanket with more of a patchwork look – maybe like this Hygge Burst Blanket by Nautikrall.

Do a quick search on Pinterest or Ravelry and you’ll find more than enough granny square patterns to choose from!

Determine How Many Colors are Needed

Once you’ve picked out your granny square style, you’re ready to determine how many colors you need for your blanket.

You may be crocheting an entire granny square with one color, then combining different colors of squares into a patchwork blanket. In that case, you’ll want to determine how many total squares you’ll need for your blanket and how many colors you want to repeat.

Alternatively, you may want multiple colors per square. For example, many granny squares are made with four rounds, so if you’re using a different color per round, that would be four colors per square. If you use an additional color for the border between squares, you could potentially have a fifth color.

Choosing Your Color Palette

Have you ever seen a granny square blanket and thought “that is the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen!” or unfortunately, “those colors don’t go together at all!”. Some of this can be attributed to personal taste, but a lot of what’s visually attractive can be traced to actual design principles.

Color Theory

The Basics of Color Theory

Remember color theory from art class? If it’s been a while, I’ll give you a quick refresher. Color theory is the study of the relationships between colors.

The color wheel maps the color spectrum onto a circular wheel and was first developed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666, Cool huh?

Colors are divided into categories – primary, secondary, and tertiary. Within those categories, there are also shades and tints of each color when combined with white or black.

Primary colors are red, blue, and yellow and are the basis for all other colors. Secondary colors are orange, green, and purple and are made by combining two primary colors. Tertiary colors are a combination of a primary and a secondary color (like red-orange, blue-purple, or yellow-green).

Using Color Theory for Crochet

What does all this have to do with choosing a granny square color palette? More than you’d think! Knowing how to choose colors that are harmonious and pleasing to the eye is key to making good color decisions.

Color evokes feeling, often without us even realizing it. Neutrals can be calming, earth tones can feel homey, cool colors can be serene, and warm colors can be energetic or vibrant.

In general, reds, oranges, and yellows are warm colors and blues, purples, and greens are cool colors. But there are also warmer and cooler variations within each color that can play into design as well.

Some color combinations are more visually appealing than others. Analogous colors are side by side on the color wheel. Complementary colors are direct opposites on the color wheel. These kinds of combinations are each attractive in their own way.

If you’d like to explore color theory more to help you choose your granny square color palette, I love this tool on Canva’s website! You can choose any color in the color wheel and find its complements and other combinations.

Principals of Design

You may never have thought of it this way, but I believe that crochet is art, and art has a a certain set of guidelines that make it “work”. There are 7 (some say 12) principles of design that can guide us (either consciously or unconsciously) as we put together our crochet blankets.

These principles of design are emphasis, balance, contrast, repetition, proportion, movement, and white space/negative space.

I’m going to touch on just a few that I think help most with choosing a granny square color palette for a blanket.

Repetition

Using the same granny square over and over to make rows of a blanket automatically puts repetition into your blanket design. But you can add to this by repeating colors in a patterned way.

For example, if you’re crocheting a patchwork blanket, you might pick 6 colors that you repeat multiple times. Or if you’re making multi-colored granny squares, you might repeat the same color combinations in a patterned, repeated way (more on this below about my own blanket).

Repetition unifies the look of your blanket and helps it make sense to the eye.

Balance

A balanced design is a harmonious design. Darker colors are weightier and lighter colors are, well, lighter. Balancing the contrast of dark and light can be an important part of your color choices.

Symmetry is a part of balance, as well. If you’re repeating the same granny square, you’ll naturally end up with some symmetry (same number of squares in each row, etc). You can add to this symmetry by the placement of your colors – placing them at even intervals, for example.

White Space

White space (or negative space) is by defitinion, empty. Our eyes naturally travel across a design, and white space allows the eye to rest. It gives a visual break.

Lucky for us, granny square blankets have the perfect opportunity for white space – the joined border between squares! This is why designers so often choose a neutral color for their border. It serves as white space.

Other Sources of Inspiration

Color inspiration can come from a variety of sources. Are you making your granny square blanket for a particular room of the house? If so, you might want to choose colors based on the colors you already have in that room.

Or maybe you’re making a blanket for a certain season – cozy, warm earth tones for fall, or bright reds and greens for Christmas.

If you’re starting with a blank canvas and need inspiration, I love searching Pinterest for color palettes. Just type in “warm, neutral color palette” or “beachy summer color palette”…or anything you like!

You might also like the Crochet Studio app. You can search for your favorite yarn brands and colors, create color palettes, and even generate blanket patterns. Canva has lots of color palettes you can explore for granny square color ideas as well.

My Granny Square Blanket

I recently went through this entire color-choosing process for my own granny square blanket. I absolutely love how it turned out and want to share the colors and layout with you too!

For the blanket pictured in this pattern, I chose the Sunburst Granny Square and used the pattern written in this blog post by Katie Gets Creative. Don’t you love the way her granny square pattern looks like flowers?

I used Hobby Lobby’s I Love This Cotton yarn in seven colors – Rosy, Warm Blush, Gold, Serene Spa, Stonewash Blue, French Lilac, and White, plus Parchment as my joining border.

I had to experiment a little bit to figure out how I was going to use ALL these colors. After all, I chose a granny square pattern with only four rounds, but had bought way more yarn than that! My first attempts had almost too much variation, and I couldn’t pull together a cohesive look.

Granny Square Color Palette and Layout

After some trial and error, I decided to crochet the center of every square in Gold, and then use either Rosy or Warm Blush for the second round. This provided some needed unity and repetition for the entire blanket.

Then I used either Serene Spa, Stonewash Blue, French Lilac, and Rosy or Warm Blush for the third round of each square. This left me with eight possible color combinations. I used half of the combinations for odd rows and the other half for even rows.

Finally, I used White for the 4th round of every square.

The table below outlines the way I ordered these granny square color combinations (listing the colors for rows 2 and 3 of each square). Each row has 10 total squares, and I repeated these two rows for a total of 12 rows.

• P – Pink
• R – Rosy
• B – Blue
• Pur – Purple
• G – Green

Wrapping Up

Finally, I used the join-as-you-go method of joining my squares, as shown in this video tutorial by Nautikrall Crochet. I used the color Parchment for this, then added a quick border with this lovely berry stitch pattern.

And there you have it! When you see a beautiful crochet granny square blanket, chances are someone carefully and thoughtfully designed its look with color and placement of the squares.

I hope you feel empowered and informed to try it yourself! For more helpful crochet resources, click here.

No time to crochet today? Save this on Pinterest for when you need it!

© 2026 Crochet to Play
All rights reserved. Designed and written by Jennifer Percival.  This pattern is property of Crochet to Play.  The written pattern and images are for personal use only.  Please do not redistribute, transfer, or sell the pattern or images, in part or in whole. Thank you.

The post Granny Square Color Palette appeared first on Crochet to Play.

This post contains affiliate links to products I recommend to my readers. If you click on one of these links and decide you’d like to make a purchase, I will make a small commission (at no extra cost to you).

I first fell in love with amigurumi (a Japanese word meaning a crochet or knit stuffed toy) over a decade ago. I still remember the day – I was in the yarn aisle at Michael’s and saw the book Amigurumi World, by Ana Paula Rimoli. Her little animals were so colorful and cute, I was instantly smitten. But other than knowing basic crochet stitches, I was clueless when it came to choosing yarn for these tiny toys. And no wonder! The sheer number of yarn choices can be overwhelming. So let’s break it down a bit (and if you want to read about my favorite brands right away, click here).

Important Considerations when Choosing Yarn

Before you decide the best yarn for your amigurumi project, there are many questions to consider. Amigurumi looks best with stitches that have great definition, so which yarns give good stitch definition? Toys are often loved, snuggled, and dragged around, so which yarns are the most durable and washable? What about texture, softness, and stretch? We usually want toys to be very soft, but they also need to be strong and hold their shape. Amigurumi is stuffed, and it won’t do to have it floppy or stretched out. Last (but oh my goodness, not least), what colors are available? If a yarn doesn’t have a wide color selection, I won’t even bother with it!

Let’s look at different types of yarn and how they meet (or don’t meet) these important needs.

Pros and Cons of Yarn Fibers for Amigurumi

When choosing the best yarn for amigurumi, it helps to first decide which yarn fiber will give you the result you want. Yarn fiber is the material the yarn is made of. Some are made from natural animal or plant fibers, and some are synthetic or man-made.

Acrylic

PROS – Acrylic yarn is a synthetic fiber. It is inexpensive and easy to find, both in person and online. It comes in a wide variety of colors for all those cute amigurumi details. Acrylic yarn is washable and relatively durable, but its longevity varies widely by brand.

CONS – Acrylics are known for pilling over time, which isn’t ideal for toys that are heavily used and washed often. This fiber may also stretch out a bit and give your toys a lumpy look after a while. Also, in comparison to other fibers like cotton, acrylic yarns do not have as much stitch definition.

Cotton

PROS – High quality cotton yarn is soft, sturdy, durable, and gives fantastic stitch definition. It is more expensive than acrylic, but still relatively affordable. Cotton yarn is washable, and does not pill over time. Many cotton brands offer great color selection, which is very important when crocheting amigurumi.

CONS – Lower quality cotton yarn can be rough and scratchy. Cotton doesn’t have much, if any, stretch, so it can be an adjustment for your hands and tension if you’re used to working with other fibers. Some of the widest color palettes come from brands with limited in-store selections, and often have to be ordered online (which, these days, is probably only a con if you need something right away). Lastly, some brands of cotton have a tendency to split, which can be quite annoying while crocheting.

Wool

PROS – Wool is flexible, which some crocheters absolutely love. If you deal with joint pain in your hands or wrists, you may want to try wool. Many brands offer wool in blends with other fibers, which gives you some versatility. Color availability in this fiber does depend on the brand, but wool often has absolutely beautiful color options, as well as marled or heathered color options.

CONS – Wool can be itchy to work with, and some brands of wool pill quite a bit over time. Wool yarn is also usually more expensive than cotton or acrylic yarn. If you prefer shopping for yarn in person, you’ll have a hard time finding a wide selection in a big box store. And if you go to a local yarn shop, you’ll have a hard time finding skeins of wool yarn packaged with amigurumi in mind. If this is your fiber of choice, online shopping is your best bet.

Chenille

PROS – I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention chenille yarn, given how popular it has become these days! Chenille, or blanket, yarn can be used to make larger, fluffy looking amigurumi. Because of it’s surge in popularity, it’s readily available in big box craft stores and comes in a decent variety of colors. It’s super soft and with the right pattern, gives an adorable result.

CONS – Chenille yarn is bulky and can be difficult to work with as it’s hard to see your stitches. It sheds and breaks fairly easily, and may come in such large skeins that you have a lot left over. It doesn’t work for all amigurumi patterns – you must follow a pattern specifically designed for chenille yarn. If you’d like to read more about my tips for dealing with the “cons” of chenille yarn, check out this blog post.

Which Brands Have the Best Yarn for Amigurumi?

With all of that information, you may have an idea of which type of yarn you’d like for your next amigurumi project. Let’s look at my very favorite yarns (and a few I do not love…) for each type of fiber so you can get shopping and get started!

Acrylic

When I started making amigurumi, I only used acrylic yarn because it was inexpensive, easy to find in person, and available in lots of colors. These days, I don’t use it as much, but when I do these are my favorite brands:

Paintbox Simply Aran or DK

Paintbox offers the absolute best in color selection, and their Simply acrylic yarn is available in both aran (light worsted) and DK weights. It’s a soft, quality acrylic option.

I Love This Yarn

Hobby Lobby offers an acrylic yarn called I Love This Yarn that has such great color options, it takes up almost an entire yarn aisle! I love the marled options and recently used this yarn when designing this whale. The price is great and the yarn is soft.

Knit picks Brava

The Brava line offered by Knit Picks comes in multiple yarn weights and beautiful colors. It’s a great acrylic option too.

As versatile as the above acrylic yarns are, there are many I just plain do not like. In general, the cheaper the acrylic, the less I like it (think Red Heart Super Saver). This is one of those areas in life where I believe you get what you pay for.

Cotton

It’s probably time to tell you, I am a loyal fan of cotton yarn and choose it almost exclusively for my amigurumi designs. For me, it’s the best yarn for amigurumi. I love the stitch definition, the texture, and the softness. Here are a few of my favorites:

Paintbox Cotton Aran or DK

Once again, Paintbox delivers an exceptional yarn in its Cotton Aran or DK line. The cotton is super soft but still sturdy and holds its shape, doesn’t split, and comes in a variety of bright, fun colors. It is my #1 go-to yarn when I plan a new design.

Rico Creative Cotton or Ricorumi

Rico has the amigurumi yarn game down, even designing little skeins called Ricorumi in a DK weight that are perfect for small amigurumi projects. I love this yarn, but it can be difficult to find as it’s made overseas and not in as many retailers as I would like, so it’s not always my first choice. However, it’s my favorite cotton for finding a variety of skin tone yarn colors.

I Love This Cotton

Hobby Lobby is back on our list with this cotton yarn. When I need a soft cotton at a local store, this is the yarn I get. It’s incredibly smooth, a little shiny, and comes in many colors. One word of caution with this yarn – keep your tension on the tighter side, because it can have a bit less structure than other cottons.

Scheepjes Stone Washed

This yarn may be new to you, but if you like yarns that blend 2 or more colors to give a heathered look, you will love it! Scheepjes Stone Washed is a cotton blended with a little acrylic and is available in sport and light worsted weights. I love using it for teeny projects, like this crochet rainbow. You can find full skeins here, or check out this adorable mini pack!

If you’re a fan of Knit Picks yarn, you may be wondering why I didn’t include any of their cottons on my list. While I love the quality of Knit Picks yarn, I don’t love their cottons for amigurumi. Their Dishie line is too twisted and rough for my taste (but is perfect for dishcloths), and their Comfy line is too soft and loose for the structure amigurumi needs (but is my favorite cotton yarn for baby blankets because of its perfect drape).

Now, the one cotton I will never use – Lily’s Sugar and Cream. Ouch! It’s way too rough and has no give. It’s definitely my least favorite cotton yarn out there.

Wool

I don’t actually have any personal experience making amigurumi with wool yarn, but my friend Elise from Elise Rose Crochet made the switch from cotton to wool for her amigurumi due to a persistent injury (you can read about her experience here) and highly recommends it. Since I’m no wool expert, I’ll share a couple of yarns that have given her work a rich, adorable result.

Berroco Vintage

This wool blend comes in stunning colors and has many 5 star reviews. It looks like a great choice!

Paintbox Wool Mix Aran

I may be a broken record recommending Paintbox, but again it offers a great option, this time in a wool blend.

And there you have it! I hope you learned a lot about your yarn options for amigurumi and found some great brands to try. Let me know in the comments what your favorite yarn is!

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Like most beginners do, there is nothing wrong with browsing the aisles of yarn in the store and picking something purely because you love the color or texture. We crafters are visual, tactile creatures and these things speak to us! But learning to read yarn labels and understand all the information they hold will serve you well as you deepen your crochet skills.

Why Bother with Yarn Labels?

Taking the time to read yarn labels helps you choose a yarn that works for the project you have in mind. Not all yarns work for all projects. Reading yarn labels also helps you better predict the outcome of your hard work. All yarn labels should tell you: the yarn’s weight, the yardage in the skein, recommended hook or needle sizes, care instructions, the yarn material or fiber type, and the yarn color and dye lot. Let’s break these down one by one.

Yarn Weight

A yarn’s weight refers to its thickness, and is measured on a scale from 0-7. The finest yarns are labeled 0 and those labeled 7 are the thickest. One of the reasons that crochet is so versatile is because of yarn weight. You can crochet delicate earrings from thread or a thick, cozy blanket from bulky yarn. You might use the same stitches but with changes in hook size and yarn weight, the results can be drastically different!

Most yarn labels have a little icon with a number showing the yarn’s weight. The chart below describes each yarn weight in more detail, including some common terms used with each yarn weight.

Yardage/Weight

Yarn labels also tell you the amount of yarn in the skein, usually shown in yards, but also sometimes in grams or ounces. If you’re following a specific crochet pattern, it will tell you the amount of yarn needed. You can use this to figure out how many skeins you need to buy to complete the pattern.

Hook/Needle Size

When you read yarn labels, you’ll notice an icon with a crochet hook and another with knitting needles. Yarn companies work up gauge swatches and suggest hook and needle sizes accordingly. If you’re following a pattern from the yarn label or want to match their gauge swatch, their recommendation may be important to you. Otherwise, you’ll likely follow the hook size and gauge recommendations in the pattern you’re following. As you gain more experience, you’ll come to know which hook sizes work best with different yarns and for your intended purposes.

Care Instructions

You know those little laundry icons on clothing labels? Yarn labels have them too! This is very helpful when thinking about your project. Making a baby blanket? Look for the icons that tell you the yarn will be machine washable! In general, you want to make sure that the care needs of the yarn match the practical use of the item you’re making.

Material/Fiber Type

Yarn is made from so many sources these days. Cotton, wool, acrylic, bamboo – the list goes on and on! Different fibers behave differently, so understanding a yarn’s fiber makeup is key to getting the result you want. Check out this blog post by Michigan Fine Yarns for more information about different yarn fibers and their strengths and weaknesses.

Color/Dye Lot

When yarn companies dye big batches of yarn, they keep track with dye lot numbers. Luckily for us, these numbers are also printed on yarn labels. Why does this matter? Well let’s say you’re making a big blanket that will use 10 skeins of blue yarn. Dye lots can have slight variations in color, and you don’t want those differences to show up in your work. Using skeins all from the same dye lot ensures your project will have uniform color throughout.

And that about covers it! Do you feel more confident about your ability to read yarn labels? I hope so! If you learned something new, I’d love to hear about it in the comments. And make sure and save this post for reference for your next project!

If you’d like to explore more crochet resources, check these out.

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© 2026 Crochet to Play
All rights reserved. Designed and written by Jennifer Percival.  This pattern is property of Crochet to Play.  The written pattern and images are for personal use only.  Please do not redistribute, transfer, or sell the pattern or images, in part or in whole. Thank you.

The post How to Read Yarn Labels appeared first on Crochet to Play.

I’ll be honest right up front and tell you that adjusting to chenille yarn wasn’t a seamless process for me. Despite designing crochet patterns professionally for years, some of my skills just didn’t transfer. But even though there were many aspects of using chenille yarn that I did not enjoy, I ended up loving my finished project (using a super cute duck lovey pattern by Mama Haekelt). It was worth it in the end, so let’s tackle these issues one by one.

Tips for Using Chenille Yarn

Issue One: Chenille is Messy

Oh my goodness, chenille is like-butter soft, but is it ever messy! I used Loops and Threads “Chenille Home Slim” yarn. This yarn constantly shed off of cut ends, however there was very little shedding once the yarn was crocheted into a fabric. My project used fairly tight single crochet stitches, so I could see there being more shedding in a project with looser stitches.

If you’re dealing with a lot of shedding, I recommend not wearing black pants and getting a lint roller while using it. This is not the yarn you want to work with when you have to dash off and be presentable somewhere! Seriously, just accept that chenille is going to shed a bit and keep on trucking.

Issue Two: Chenille Yarn Breaks Easily

This may have been the characteristic of chenille yarn that annoyed me the most. I never realized how many different ways my typical crochet habits pull on the yarn until I switched to chenille. The pattern I was following, done in chenille too, called for a magic ring. But no matter what I tried, my chenille yarn just would not pull the magic ring closed. The yarn would either snap and break or just not budge.

To compensate, I was able to make the initial ring opening very small. Then, because the yarn was so fluffy, the stitches that I worked into the ring filled this small opening almost completely. Other options: chain 2 and work all your stitches into the second chain, as though it’s the magic ring. Or, wrap a length of worsted weight yarn with the chenille yarn as you make your magic ring, then pull it closed using the worsted weight yarn’s tail.

Issue Three: Chenille Skeins Fall Apart

I thought I knew what I was doing when it came to large, unwieldy skeins of yarn: keep that yarn label on and use the center pull method. Well, I tried this with my first skein of chenille yarn. And the center pull was almost impossible to find. Once I did, you know the story…yarn barf. It was so tangled that I was forced to use the other loose end (not from the center). And once I started down this road, the skein eventually fell apart and became a huge mess.

I’ve used another skein since, and was easily able to use the center pull method, so my advice is to go that route as much as possible. But if it’s difficult, I’m sorry to say you may just have to re-wind the yarn yourself to avoid the falling-apart, yarn-barf disaster I dealt with.

Issue Four: The Ends are Hard to Weave In

Okay, I know I said the most annoying thing about chenille yarn was how easily it breaks. But now that I’m thinking this over, the most frustrating part of this yarn may be dealing with its ends. Especially if you’re like me, and you really like to make sure your ends are secure. This may be the actual reason why so many current, popular patterns that use chenille yarn are also designed to be “no-sew” patterns – using these yarn ends to attach pieces is nearly impossible.

The ends of chenille yarn fray and the fiber just falls off, which makes it even more important to properly secure them. Threading these ends onto a typical yarn needle just did not work. So what did I do? As much as possible, I knotted my ends inside of the project and crocheted over them for a full round, to make them securely disappear inside of the piece. For final ends, I used my crochet hook to weave the end through many stitches, then pulled it deep into the stuffing.

As mentioned before, I also crocheted pieces directly into the project, rather than sewing them on. And when I did have to sew two pieces together? I used worsted weight yarn in a matching color, NOT the chenille yarn. This worked surprisingly well – that good old worsted weight yarn disappeared right into the fluff.

Issue 5: Chenille is Unforgiving…Or is It?

Frogging can be a nightmare with this yarn. The yarn seems happiest in a completed stitch, and can really resist being undone (in fact, I broke the yarn or stripped the fuzziness off of it a couple of times while trying to frog). It was easier to use my fingers to gently pull apart any stitches I needed to undo.

Even though it’s a pain if you realize you’ve made a mistake and need to frog, the thickness of chenille yarn hides many imperfections. So in some ways, it’s extremely forgiving, even if you mess up a little while following a pattern. It’s so fluffy it just looks cute no matter what!

So, Would I Use Chenille Yarn Again?

Absolutely, I would use chenille yarn again…but not daily or weekly. The yarn is so soft and the final results are so cute, that I think it’s worth some of the headaches. I may not be the biggest fan of chenille, but I can definitely see how it’s become so popular.

I hope you’ve found these tips for using chenille yarn helpful! If you’d like to see a comparison of a few popular crochet yarns, check out this video by Elise Rose Crochet. For more crocheting resources, click here. And let me know about your experiences with this yarn in the comments!

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© 2026 Crochet to Play
All rights reserved. Designed and written by Jennifer Percival.  This pattern is property of Crochet to Play.  The written pattern and images are for personal use only.  Please do not redistribute, transfer, or sell the pattern or images, in part or in whole. Thank you.

The post Tips for Using Chenille Yarn appeared first on Crochet to Play.