Granny square help

[Meloooroo]

I have just crocheted my first granny squares. They have turned out very messy looking and sagged. Can anyone help me understand how to do this better? What am I doing wrong?

[bgs]

Grab the corners and gently pull them a bit into a more square shape.   Your stitches might need to be a little tighter which most likely will happen as you get used to crocheting.  

[Granny Square]

I agree your stitches are a looser than they should be.  When I was a beginner I had the opposite problem, I used tapered hooks and was forming the stitches at the very tip, not the shaft, so they were smaller than they should be.  This was before the internet, and I figured out what I was doing wrong and taught myself to use the shaft for sizing my stitches.

I'm going to throw this blog entry at you, Confessions of a Lifter by designer Doris Chan.  Because what's a bit extra loose in your stitches is the initial loop, which is what she's talking about, I think you are a lifter but are over-doing it a little.  The late great designer Jean Leinhauser used to be a member here and frequently gave advice on controlling the 'golden loop' to your liking,  the same initial loop that Doris Chan was describing.

[Horsy]

Gee, and all this time I thought crocheting was just...crocheting.  I didn't realize it got this technical.  After reading the comments appearing after the Confessions of a Lifter article, I see why I get the gauge correct in one direction, but not the other.  Would be nice to have photos or a video of what's really happening in lifting, yanking, riding, etc. 

[bgs]

11 minutes ago, Horsy said:

Gee, and all this time I thought crocheting was just...crocheting.  I didn't realize it got this technical.  After reading the comments appearing after the Confessions of a Lifter article, I see why I get the gauge correct in one direction, but not the other.  Would be nice to have photos or a video of what's really happening in lifting, yanking, riding, etc. 

 

[Granny Square]

Excellent video!  

[Horsy]

Thanks for posting this.    Never heard these ideas before.

OFF TOPIC:  I notice that some of this crocheter's rows show gaps at the beginnings of some rows.   There are various methods and techniques for avoiding this.  I prefer the "turning single crochet" where you chain only one at the end of a DC row, turn, and make 2 SCs, one on top of the other to get the impression of one solid DC, thereby avoiding the big hole. 

Also, this woman at 6 minutes 24 seconds demonstrates her technique: