A reversible granny square cover for your cushion

Double crochet shells build a thick, corner-heavy granny square that folds into a reversible cushion cover.

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 4-6 hours
Yarn: Worsted
Rounds: 3

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About this pattern

Under the hand this square sits thick and a little bumpy, never flat and smooth. Each round is built from double crochet shells — clusters of three stitches packed tight — so the surface ridges up between the chain-2 corner gaps, giving the whole piece a raised, tactile grid. It has body and resistance rather than stretch, more like a woven mat than a soft blanket square, and the color joins at each round add a faint ridge of their own where the yarn changes.

The shape starts as a tight center and fans out into a diamond-cornered square, wider than it is tall until you turn it so the corners point up, down, and out to the sides. Once it grows past the cushion's diagonal, that same square gets placed on point over the cushion, its four corners pulled up and in to meet at the center back, then sewn together there so both grid faces stay visible from either side.

The swatch in numbers

Rounds: 3
Level: Intermediate
Time: 4-6 hours
Yarn: Worsted

The yarn and the hook

Yarn of various colors
Crochet hook (size not specified)
Cushion to cover
Scissors
Measuring tape

Stitches, spelled out

shell shell stitchLace.

Main Pattern

Measure the diagonal of your cushion (example given: 19 inches).

The side of your granny square should be slightly less than the cushion's diagonal (example given: 18.5 inches).

Round 1Start with a magic circle; chain 3 (counts as first double crochet); make 2 more double crochets into the magic circle; chain 2 to form the first corner; repeat the shell pattern (3 double crochets) and chain 2 for the next three corners within the magic circle; cinch the magic circle closed, ensuring no gap remains; join with a slip stitch to the top of the chain 3; slip stitch into the next 2 stitches, then into the next chain 2 space; cut yarn and pull through to finish the round.

Round 2Attach the second color yarn to any chain 2 space; chain 3 (counts as first double crochet); make 2 double crochets, chain 2, then 3 more double crochets in that same space to form the first corner; continue the pattern of creating a shell, chain 2, and shell in each of the 4 corners; join with a slip stitch to the top of the starting chain 3; slip stitch into the next corner to prepare for the next round; cut the yarn as needed.

Round 3Join the third color yarn to any chain 2 corner space; chain 3 (counts as first double crochet); complete a corner by doing 2 double crochets, chain 2, and 3 double crochets in the corner space; make a shell (3 double crochets) in the space between each corner shell from the previous round; continue making corners and shells in each respective space; join with a slip stitch to the top of the chain 3; slip stitch into the next corner space and finish the round.Subsequent Rounds: Attach the next color and repeat the pattern of: corner: shell (3 double crochets), chain 2, shell in the corners; shell (3 double crochets) in the spaces between corner shells; the number of shells in between corners will increase with each round.Continue rounds until the granny square is slightly smaller than the pillow's diagonal.

Putting the pieces together

Step 1Fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing.

Step 2Place the cushion diagonally in the square's center and pull corners to the center.

Step 3Sew the edges together using slip stitches, working through the back loops.

Step 4Leave a tail for future undoing when you need to wash the cover.

Close-ups

A reversible granny square cover for your cushion — photo 2

A reversible granny square cover for your cushion — photo 3

A reversible granny square cover for your cushion — photo 4

A reversible granny square cover for your cushion — photo 5

A reversible granny square cover for your cushion — photo 6

Questions people ask

How do you know when the granny square is big enough for the cushion cover?

Measure the cushion's diagonal first, then keep working rounds until the square's side is slightly less than that diagonal figure. A square with an 18.5-inch side, for example, fits a cushion with a 19-inch diagonal.

Why does the cushion go in diagonally rather than straight?

Placing the cushion on point lines its edges up with the square's own corner-to-corner shells, so when the four corners get pulled to the center, they meet at a single seam on the back rather than bunching unevenly.

Can a round be left open instead of joined before starting the next color?

No, each round is worked in a closed loop and joined with a slip stitch before the next color goes on. Skipping the join would leave a gap in the shell pattern where the color change happens.

What is the long tail at the seam actually for?

It leaves enough yarn to unpick the sewn seam later, take the cover off the cushion for washing, then sew it back together afterward. Without that extra length, removing the cover would mean cutting the seam instead of just undoing it.

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