Malachia Granny Square – Free Crochet Pattern

The Malachia Granny Square is my newest granny square pattern and possibly one of the most textured and elegant I’ve ever made.

This square is part of the Friendship Blanket CAL hosted by Sunflower Cottage Crochet, which is all about textured granny squares…. and friendship!

While I think I got the texture part right, I kind of missed communicating any feeling of friendship with the name Malachia.

Even though I tried to think of another name, I still ended up sticking to the original idea. So, let me explain to you briefly why I decided to call this square Malachia!

Who was Malachia?

Malachia is the Italian spelling of Malachy, and for the record, Saint Malachy was an Irish saint and Archbishop of Armagh. However, I have to say that I know very little about Saint Malachy.

Instead, a few years ago, I read the book The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. The book is truly fascinating, and how Umberto Eco made an awesome job at making the reader relieve the life in a monastery of the early 14th century.

I loved most characters from the book, but one of my favorites was the librarian Malachia.

Without spoiling the book in case you haven’t read it, I’ll just say that there is a strong connection between the mysterious murders happening in the monastery and Rose windows.

So, ever since I read The Name of the Rose, the librarian Malachia and rose windows sit together in one bit of my memory.

This is to say that when I first made my Malachia Granny Square, I was trying to reproduce the beauty of rose windows, rosoni in Italian, but instead of calling my square rose window, I just went for Malachia. 🙂

Explore more square patterns for your blankets…

• Baroque Triumph Floral Square
• Christmas Gnome Granny Square
• Vanna Blanket Square

Pin the free crochet pattern of the Malachia Granny Square to your favorite crochet board on Pinterest.

Friendship Blanket CAL

The pattern of the Malachia Granny Square is part of the Friendship Blanket CAL, a super fun Crochet ALong all about textures and granny squares hosted and organized by Helen over at Sunflower Cottage Crochet.

The blanket is made of 32 beautiful squares each designed by a different crochet blogger/designer.

Get all the patterns of the Friendship Blanket CAL all in one printable PDF bundle at a very discounted price!

AD-FREE DOWNLOADABLE PATTERN

Find the ad-free, printable PDF pattern of the Malachia Granny Square in my Ravelry, LoveCrafts, or Etsy stores!

Materials

• 5.5-mm (I/9 USA, 5 UK) Hook
• Aran-Weight (4) Yarn
• Tapestry Needle

Yarn Recommendations

I used Paintbox Yarns Wool Mix Aran.

A couple of good substitute yarns are Paintbox Yarns Simply Aran, Stylecrafts Special Aran, or any comparable yarn.

YARDAGE

75 yards, 68.5 m

CROCHET ABBREVIATIONS (US TERMS)

BP – Back Post
Ch – Chain
Dc – Double Crochet
Hdc – Half Double Crochet
Inc – Increase
MC – Magic Circle
Sc – Single Crochet
Sk – Skip
Sl St – Slip Stitch
St – Stitch
V-St – V-Stitch
Yo – Yarn over

SPECIAL STITCHES

Back Post Stitches (BP)
Learn how to crochet back post sts in this step-by-step tutorial.

Increase (Inc)
One increase consists of 2 sts made into the same indicated st.

Magic Circle (MC)
Learn how to crochet a magic circle or adjustable ring in this free tutorial.

V-Stitch (V-St)
[Dc 1, ch 1, dc 1] into the indicated st.
For a more detailed step-by-step tutorial, check out how to crochet the V-Stitch here.

PATTERN NOTES

• If the pattern says “hdc 2”, it means that you have to crochet 1 hdc into each of the next 2 sts.
• Increases are indicated as “sc inc”, “hdc inc” or “dc inc” based on whether they are made with sc, hdc, or dc sts.
• (…) – Repeat the instruction within brackets for the indicated times.
• […] – Crochet the instructions within brackets into the same indicated st.
• Join each round with a sl st between the last and first st of the round (not on top of the initial chains!).
• The stitch count is indicated within brackets at the end of each round’s instructions.
• The initial chains are not included in the stitch count.

SIZE

The finished square measures 9″ (23 cm).

Gauge

With your 5.5-mm crochet hook and Aran-weight yarn, make a MC.

Round 1. Ch 2, dc 12 in MC. Join the round with a sl st into the first dc. (12 sts)
Round 2. Ch 2, dc inc 12. Join. (24 sts)
Round 3. Ch 2, (dc inc 1, dc 1) 12 times. Join. (36 sts)

Your work should measure 3.75” (9.5 cm)

Malachia Granny Square – Video Tutorial

You can find a supporting video for the written pattern of the Malachia Granny Square on my YouTube channel here.

Malachia Granny Square – Free Crochet Pattern

Make a MC.

Round 1

Ch 2 (does not count as a st here and in the rest of the pattern), dc 12 in the MC. Join the round with a sl st into the first st. (12 sts)

Round 2

Ch 2, (dc 1, ch 1) 12 times. Sl st to join. (24 sts)

Round 3

Ch 2, BP-V-st around every dc from the previous round. Sl st to join. (36 sts)

Round 4

Sl st into the ch-1 space of the first V-st from the previous round. Ch 2, [dc 4] in the ch-1 space of each V-st around. Sl st to join. (48 sts)

Round 5

Ch 4, sk 3 (step 1), sl st in the next st (step 2). (Ch 1, turn your work (step 3). Sc 5 in the 4-ch loop you just created. Sl st into the next 3 sts (step 4). Ch 4, turn your work (step 5). Sk 3 sts and sl st into the next one (step 6)) 15 times. Ch 1, turn your work. Sc 5 in the 4-ch loop you just created. Sl st 2 (you’re still on the wrong side). (16 waves)

Round 6

Ch 2, turn your work. Dc inc 1 in the last sl st from Round 5, ch 3. (Dc inc 1 in the second sl st from behind each wave, ch 3) 15 times. (80 sts)

Round 7

Ch 2, *(dc inc 1, ch 1, dc inc 1, sc 1 in the ch-3 space) twice. Sc 2 over the next 2 dc, sc 2 in the next ch-3 space, sc 2 over the next 2 dc. Sc 1 in the next ch-3 space. Repeat from * other three times. Sl st into the first dc to join the round. (19 sts per side, 76 sts)

Round 8

Sk the very first st, sl st 2 to bring your working yarn into the next ch-1 space. Ch 2, *[dc 3, ch 1, dc 3] in the same ch-1 space. Sc 1 in the next sc from the previous round. [Dc 3, ch 1, dc 3] in the next ch-1 space, sc 1 in the next sc. Ch 2, sk 2 sts, sc 2, ch 2, sk 2, sc 1. Repeat from * other three times. Sl st into the first st to join the round.

Round 9

Sk the very first st, sl st 3 to bring your working yarn into the next ch-1 space. *Ch 7, sl st into the next ch-1 space. Ch 3, hdc 4 in the next ch-2 space. Sk 2, hdc 4 in the next ch-2 space. Ch 3, sl st into the next ch-1 space. Repeat from * other 3 times. Sl st into the first ch-1 space to join the round.

Round 10

Ch 2. *Working in the ch-7 space from Round 9, [dc 5, ch 2, dc 5]. Dc 1 in the ch-1 space from Round 8, dc 3 in the next ch-3 space. Dc 8, dc 3 in the next ch-3 space, dc 1 in the corresponding ch-1 space from Round 8. Repeat from * other 3 times. Sl st to join the round. (26 sts per side, ch-2 at each corner)

Round 11

Ch 1. Sc 5. *In the next ch-2 corner, [sc 1, ch 1, sc 1]. *Sc 26. Repeat from * twice more. In the next ch-2 corner, [sc 1, ch 1, sc 1]. Sc 21. Sl st to join the round. (28 sts per side, ch-1 at each corner)

Fasten off and weave in your ends.

YOUR Malachia GRANNY SQUARE IS READY!

I hope you liked this pattern and I’d love to see your version of it! Please, share your projects on Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag #raffamusadesigns

Find more crochet squares on the blog…

1. Lacy Daisy Granny Square
2. Popping Flower Square
3. Ruffle Flower Square