A granny triangle is the familiar granny square with one corner removed – worked in rounds of clusters, but shaped to three sides instead of four. If you can work a granny square you can work these immediately; nothing new is required.
Any yarn works, with whatever hook suits it. That flexibility is the appeal: triangles are small, fast and forgiving, so they suit whatever is left in the stash.
Why triangles are more interesting than squares
Squares tile in exactly one way. Triangles tile in several. Two triangles make a square, six make a hexagon, and a row of alternating triangles makes a zigzag edge. That means the same motif can produce an afghan, a vest, a tote bag or a shawl depending only on how you arrange them.
They also give you a diagonal line, which squares cannot. Blankets made from triangles have movement across them that a grid of squares does not.
Keeping them the same size
This is the one thing to watch. Triangles look identical until you try to join them, and then a half-round difference shows as a pucker. Work all your triangles to the same number of rounds and check a few against each other as you go.
If your tension drifts across a long project – and it usually does – work the first and last triangle side by side at the end and compare. Slight differences can be evened out with blocking; large ones cannot.
Joining
Join-as-you-go is worth learning for a project made from many small motifs. Working the join into the final round of each triangle means the piece grows as you work rather than leaving you with a bag of loose motifs and a long sewing session.
Colours
A consistent colour in the final round of every triangle pulls a scrappy multicoloured project together and makes it look designed rather than accidental.
