Heart Granny Square Pattern: Free Crochet Valentine Square

The heart granny square as charted in this pattern: the red heart, the cream rounds fanning out from it, the pink edge.

Free heart granny square pattern · about 5 3/4 in square · worsted yarn in red, cream and pink, US H-8 hook.

This heart granny square starts with a small red heart worked in a ring. One cream round turns the heart into a square, then classic granny rounds frame it, with a pink last round.

Make one for a Valentine card or a pillow front, or many for a heart blanket. Every round was checked by our stitch simulator, and the squaring-off round comes from a measured model of the heart.

Around the heart, the tall stitches of Rnd 3 fan out to the square; then 2 cream granny rounds and the pink edge.

Finished size: About 5 3/4 in from side to side; the heart is about 2 in wide (estimated)
Yarn: Worsted weight (#4): about 5 yd red, 25 yd cream, 15 yd pink per square (estimated, with a 30 % margin)
Hook: US H-8 (5.0 mm)
Time: About 45 minutes per square, ends included (estimated, not timed)
Skills: magic ring, ch, sl st, sc, dc, tr, dtr, granny rounds

Close-up: the heart's long stitches all start in the center ring, then a single crochet edge, with the cream rounds around it.

✓ CookZya original design · Stitch counts checked round by round — Stitch counts checked round by round by our simulator. This pattern has not been crocheted and swatched by a person: size, yarn and time are estimates, and your square will differ a little.

Materials

Color R — red, about 5 yd
Color W — cream, about 25 yd
Color P — pink, about 15 yd
Yarn needle, scissors.

Notes

US crochet terms. ch = chain, sl st = slip stitch, sc = single crochet, dc = double crochet, tr = treble crochet, dtr = double treble crochet, sp = space, st(s) = stitch(es), Rnd = round.
Tr: yarn over twice, insert, pull up a loop, (yarn over, pull through 2 loops) 3 times. Dtr: yarn over 3 times, insert, pull up a loop, (yarn over, pull through 2 loops) 4 times.
Ch 3 (counts as a dc) and ch 4 (counts as a tr): these beginning chains stand in for the first stitch; you join in their top chain.
Magic ring: wrap the yarn twice around two fingers, insert the hook under the strands, pull up a loop and ch 1 to lock it (this ch 1 does not count). No magic ring? Chain start: ch 4 and join with a sl st in the first ch to make a ring, then work Rnd 1 into this ring the same way; the counts do not change, the center hole stays a little open.
Right side facing you all the time; you never turn. Rnd 3 starts at the top center of the heart.
Make the heart rounds tight and pull the magic ring closed: Rnd 3 is measured on a heart about 2 in wide. Block the finished square to about 5 3/4 in.

Heart granny square charts

Rnd 3 from our model: each line is one stitch, from the top of Rnd 2 to its place on the square. Green tr at the top, rose dtr at the bottom corners, dark dc on the sides, grey sc at the point.

The 6 rounds: the heart (1-2), the cream square (3-5), the pink edge (6).

4 squares make a pillow front about 11 1/2 in square.

The square drawn from the pattern.

The heart (Rnds 1-2)

In red. This is our Easy Flat Crochet Heart: the stitches of Rnd 1 all start in the ring, so their heights draw the heart.

Rnd 1 Make a magic ring (or the chain start in the notes). Ch 3 (counts as the first dc). Working into the ring: 3 tr, 3 dc, ch 1, 1 tr (the point of the heart), ch 1, 3 dc, 3 tr, ch 3, sl st in the ring. Pull the tail to close the ring tight. 7 dc, 7 tr, 1 ch-3 sp, 2 ch-1 sps
Rnd 2 Do not turn. Ch 1 (does not count as a stitch; it stretches up along the ch-3, that is normal). Lobe and side (11 sc): sc in the top of the beginning ch-3, 2 sc in each of the next 3 tr, sc in each of the next 3 dc, sc in the next ch-1 sp. Point (2 sc, 1 ch-2 sp): (sc, ch 2, sc) in the next tr. Side and lobe (11 sc): sc in the next ch-1 sp, sc in each of the next 3 dc, 2 sc in each of the next 3 tr, sc in the ch-3 sp (the closing ch 3 of Rnd 1). Join: skip the sl st of Rnd 1, sl st in the first sc. Fasten off. 24 sc, 1 ch-2 sp

Squaring off (Rnd 3)

In cream. Tall stitches where the heart is far from the edge of the square (the notch and the bottom corners), short ones where it is close (the point).

Rnd 3 Join cream with sl st in the notch at the top of the heart (the gap between the last and the first sc of Rnd 2). Ch 4 (counts as a tr), 2 tr in the same gap (top center), ch 1, skip the next 3 sc (the joining sl st of Rnd 2 is not a stitch), (3 tr, ch 2, 3 tr) in the next sc (top left corner), ch 1, skip the next 3 sc, 3 dc in the next sc (left side), ch 1, skip the next sc, (3 dtr, ch 2, 3 dtr) in the next sc (bottom left corner), ch 1, skip the next 2 sc, 3 sc in the ch-2 sp at the point (bottom center), ch 1, skip the next 2 sc, (3 dtr, ch 2, 3 dtr) in the next sc (bottom right corner), ch 1, skip the next sc, 3 dc in the next sc (right side), ch 1, skip the next 3 sc, (3 tr, ch 2, 3 tr) in the next sc (top right corner), ch 1, skip the last 3 sc. Join with sl st in the top of the beginning ch-4 (36 sts: 15 tr, 12 dtr, 6 dc, 3 sc; 4 ch-2 corner sps, 8 ch-1 sps). Fasten off. 15 tr, 6 dc, 12 dtr, 3 sc, 4 ch-2 sps, 8 ch-1 sps

Granny rounds (Rnds 4-6)

Classic granny rounds: 3 dc in every space, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in the corners. Rnds 4-5 in cream, Rnd 6 in pink.

Rnd 4 Join cream with sl st in any ch-1 sp that comes just before a corner (the next space is a ch-2 corner sp). Ch 3 (counts as a dc), 2 dc in the same sp, ch 1, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in the next ch-2 sp, ch 1, [3 dc in the next ch-1 sp, ch 1] 2 times, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in the next ch-2 sp, ch 1, [3 dc in the next ch-1 sp, ch 1] 2 times, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in the next ch-2 sp, ch 1, [3 dc in the next ch-1 sp, ch 1] 2 times, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in the next ch-2 sp, ch 1, 3 dc in the next ch-1 sp, ch 1. Join with sl st in the top of the beginning ch-3 (48 dc in 16 groups, 4 ch-2 corner sps, 12 ch-1 sps). 48 dc, 4 ch-2 sps, 12 ch-1 sps
Rnd 5 Sl st in each of the next 2 dc and in the next ch-1 sp. Ch 3 (counts as a dc), 2 dc in the same sp, ch 1, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in the next ch-2 sp, ch 1, [3 dc in the next ch-1 sp, ch 1] 3 times, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in the next ch-2 sp, ch 1, [3 dc in the next ch-1 sp, ch 1] 3 times, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in the next ch-2 sp, ch 1, [3 dc in the next ch-1 sp, ch 1] 3 times, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in the next ch-2 sp, ch 1, [3 dc in the next ch-1 sp, ch 1] 2 times. Join with sl st in the top of the beginning ch-3 (60 dc in 20 groups, 4 ch-2 corner sps, 16 ch-1 sps). Fasten off. 60 dc, 4 ch-2 sps, 16 ch-1 sps
Rnd 6 Join pink with sl st in any ch-1 sp that comes just before a corner (the next space is a ch-2 corner sp). Ch 3 (counts as a dc), 2 dc in the same sp, ch 1, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in the next ch-2 sp, ch 1, [3 dc in the next ch-1 sp, ch 1] 4 times, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in the next ch-2 sp, ch 1, [3 dc in the next ch-1 sp, ch 1] 4 times, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in the next ch-2 sp, ch 1, [3 dc in the next ch-1 sp, ch 1] 4 times, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in the next ch-2 sp, ch 1, [3 dc in the next ch-1 sp, ch 1] 3 times. Join with sl st in the top of the beginning ch-3 (72 dc in 24 groups, 4 ch-2 corner sps, 20 ch-1 sps). Fasten off. 72 dc, 4 ch-2 sps, 20 ch-1 sps

Make it a pillow or a blanket

One finished square, ready to join into a pillow front or a blanket.

1 Block the squares

Pin each square to about 5 3/4 in, mist it and let it dry.

2 Pillow

Make 8 squares: 4 for the front, 4 for the back (or a piece of fabric). Join each set 2 x 2 with a slip-stitch seam through both loops; the front is about 11 1/2 in, for a 12 in pillow insert. Hold the front and the back wrong sides together and sc through both layers along 3 sides, slip in the insert, then sc along the 4th side to close.

3 Blanket

6 x 7 squares (42) make a baby blanket about 34 1/2 x 40 1/4 in. Mix heart squares with plain granny squares of the same size if you like.

Finishing

Weave in all the ends on the back, along stitches of the same color.

Design notes

Rnd 3 was computed: for each of its 36 stitches, the distance from the top of Rnd 2 to the edge of the square was measured on a model of the heart, then the stitch with the closest length was chosen (sc, dc, tr or dtr). The largest gap is 0.51 sc width, about 1/8 in, which the stitches absorb.
One side of the square after Rnd 3 is exactly a granny Rnd 3 side (3 sts, ch 1, 3 sts, ch 1, 3 sts), so Rnds 4-6 are plain granny rounds.

Tips

Count the 24 sc of the heart before Rnd 3: every group lands on a counted sc.
Put a stitch marker in the sc of each corner group of Rnd 3 before you start the round.
If the square cups, your dtr are tight: loosen them, or go up one hook size for Rnd 3 only.

Common mistakes

Working the top center group into a sc instead of into the notch between the 2 halves.
Forgetting the ch 1 between the groups of Rnd 3: the square pulls in.

Make it your own

A white heart on a red square, or a pink heart on cream.
Skip Rnd 6 for a smaller square in 2 colors.

Care

Follow the yarn label; hand wash and dry flat keeps the shape.

More heart and granny square patterns

Easy Flat Crochet Heart — the heart at the center of this square, with its own chart
How to Crochet a Granny Square — new to granny rounds? One picture per round
Granny Square Blanket Size Chart — how many squares for a throw or a baby blanket

FAQ

How do you crochet a heart granny square?

Crochet a small heart in a ring (2 rounds), square it off with one round of tall and short stitches, then work classic granny rounds around it.

How big is this heart granny square?

About 5 3/4 in from side to side in worsted yarn with a US H-8 hook (an estimate).

How many heart granny squares for a blanket?

42 squares (6 x 7) make a baby blanket about 34 1/2 x 40 1/4 in; see our size chart for other sizes.

Can I sell what I make?

Yes, you may sell what you crochet. Please don't sell or repost the pattern; link to this page.

Heart Granny Square (Free Crochet Pattern)