01
About this pattern
There's something instantly charming about a granny square with a little friend hiding inside it, and this free octopus granny square pattern delivers exactly that. Worked in three colors with a 3.00mm hook, the design is built from four parts — a round octopus body (head) worked back and forth in eight rows, four playful tentacles finished with puff stitches and a picot, a solid granny square background, and a pair of little crocheted eyes. It's perfect for crocheters building an ocean-themed blanket, decorating a nursery, or anyone who loves animal squares with real personality
Skill-wise, this pattern sits comfortably in advanced-beginner territory. The body is shaped with nothing but chains, single crochet, and simple increases and decreases, while the tentacles add easy slip-stitch chains, small puff stitches and a picot, and the square background uses familiar hdc, dc and tr rounds. The clever part is the construction: the body grows from a five-chain start, widens with single crochet increases, cruises through steady 8-stitch rows, then tapers back down with matching decreases. If you can keep an even tension and count to eight, you can absolutely make this. Expect around two to three cozy hours from first chain to final seam
The finished square measures approximately 4.3 x 4.3 inches, a lovely standard size for joining into blankets, cushion covers, or wall hangings. Worked with a 3.00mm hook, the fabric comes out dense and structured, so the octopus detail stays crisp instead of sinking into the background. One square makes a sweet keepsake on its own; a whole set becomes an unforgettable baby blanket. Either way, it's the kind of handmade gift that ocean lovers genuinely treasure
You'll find the octopus in the center of the granny square has a round head with two cute little black eyes — and the most interesting part is the playful legs. All four tentacles are attached on the granny square background, so you can change the position of the tentacles to create different emotions. How about a blanket of octopuses with different postures? That would be super interesting
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Variations
The three-color setup makes this square endlessly customizable. For a classic under-the-sea look, try a coral-pink octopus floating on an aqua background with a sandy cream accent — Scheepjes Catona is brilliant here because its enormous shade range nails those beachy tones. For a modern nursery, flip to a lavender octopus on soft mint, or go bold with a mustard octopus on deep navy for serious contrast. Because each square only sips yarn, this is also a dream stash-buster: raid your DK scraps and make every square in the blanket a different color story. Size-wise, you have two easy levers. The quickest is a yarn swap: work the same pattern in worsted weight with a 4.00mm hook — Stylecraft Special Aran or Paintbox Simply Aran both work beautifully — and the square grows to roughly 5.5 inches without changing a single stitch. If you'd rather scale the pattern itself, add one extra increase row at the start of the body so you're working 10 single crochets across instead of 8, add a matching extra decrease row at the end, and work an extra round on the main motif so the background keeps up. For themed sets, crochet nine squares in a rainbow gradient for a striking sampler, keep the octopus in one signature color across every square for a coordinated blanket, or work the whole thing in moody teals and charcoals for a grown-up deep-sea throw. Because the tentacles are sewn on, you can also give every octopus in a set a different posture — curl them, wave them, or let them trail — so each square shows its own emotion. A tiny embroidered smile, added with the same darning needle you use for assembly, finishes any version off perfectly
I have a soft spot for granny squares that sneak a little personality into a blanket, and this octopus square is exactly that. What hooked me — pun fully intended — is how clever the construction is: you start with just a chain of five, skip that fifth chain, and suddenly you're shaping the body with tidy single crochet increases. The middle rows are pure relaxation: turn, chain, and work eight single crochets across, again and again, the kind of rhythm you can keep going while chatting or unwinding in the evening. Then the decrease rows mirror everything back down, so the piece stays perfectly symmetrical without any fussy math. Because the pattern is built from four separate parts, there's a lovely moment at the end where you thread your darning needle, sew everything together, and watch a flat stack of shapes become an actual octopus. And since the finished square is only 4.3 inches, it's a genuine one-evening make that happily eats up scraps from three different colors in your stash
