Sunburst Granny Square – Free Crochet Pattern

Learn to crochet the sunburst granny square with this photo and video tutorial. Completed squares can be joined to make pillows, blankets, and clothing.

The Sunburst Granny Square pattern has been on my agenda for a long time. In January 2015, I posted the pattern on Thrifty Below (my old blog), but there was an issue with transferring the domain, so it doesn’t exist anymore. BUT — this updated pattern has shiny new pictures with teal and grey granny squares. Dope, right?

three grey and teal sunburst granny squares spread out on a white wood background

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The sunburst is one of the classic granny square motifs. It consists of a circle (“sunburst”) in a square, made with puff stitches and dc3tog clusters. Like all granny squares, the sunburst is versatile and flexible. You can make them colorful or monochromatic, you can join them to each other, or to other types of squares, and they can be used for tons and tons of different projects.

Once you’ve made a bunch of sunburst squares, you can join them together to make pillows (like my Sunburst Pillow), blankets, and even clothing (check out this cool Revival Cardigan from Make & Do Crew).

stack of four grey and teal sunburst granny squares on a white wood background

Supplies / Materials:

  • Worsted weight yarn (I raided my stash – I think the teal is Big Twist Value and the grey is Red Heart Super Saver)
  • H-5.0 mm crochet hook (I love my aluminum Boye hooks)
  • Tapestry needle to weave in ends
  • Scissors to trim yarn

NOTE: you can use any yarn (and coordinating hook) for these squares — thinner yarns will create smaller squares and chunkier yarns will create larger squares

Size / Gauge:

Using worsted weight yarn and a 5 mm hook, my sunburst squares were about 5.5 x 5.5 inches.

Sunburst Granny Square Pattern:

Begin with a magic ring or by chaining 4 and joining with a sl st to form a ring.

teal yarn and a blue crochet hook crocheting into a magic ring

Round 1: Ch 2 (counts as the first double crochet) and dc 15 into the center of the ring. Use a slip stitch to connect to the top of the starting chain. (16)

close-ups of how to crochet the puff stitch and dc3tog clusters

Round 2: Ch 2. Puff stitch into the dc and ch 1. *Puff stitch, ch 1* 15 times. Use a slip stitch to connect to the top of the first puff stitch. (16 puff stitches, 32 total stitches)

To puff stitch, yarn over, place the hook under the top of the dc, yarn over, and pull through — repeat this pattern 3 times (you should have 7 loops on your hook – see top left panel) and then yarn over and pull through all 7 loops (see top right panel). Finish off with a chain (bottom left panel). 

Round 3: Ch 2 and turn (counts as the first dc). dc 2 together (dc2tog) in the chain between the puff stitches, *ch 1, dc3tog in the next chain, ch 1* 15 times. Join to first st with sl st. (16 dc3tog clusters) For a picture of an incomplete dc3tog, see bottom right panel.

If you’re switching colors, tie off and weave in ends.

blue crochet hook finishing the last round of a sunburst square

Round 4: Connect the border color to the circle at one of the chains between the dc3tog stitches. Ch 2 (counts as first dc) and dc 2 in the same chain. dc 3 in the next two chain spaces. tr 3 in the next chain, chain 2, and tr 3 more in the same chain. This is your first corner. *dc 3 in the next 3 chains, in the next chain – tr 3, ch 2, and tr 3 in the same space* repeat 3 times. Connect to the top of the starting chain with a sl st. Tie off and weave in ends with a tapestry needle.

If you want your square to be more than four rounds, you can continue to pattern established in Round 4, but the number of 3 dc clusters will increase by one each round. So like, Round 5 would have four sets of 3 dc along each side. Hopefully that makes sense!

three sunburst granny squares and a blue crochet hook on a white background
crocheted sunburst pillow in navy, light blue, and white

You’re done crocheting your first sunburst granny square! You will probably need to repeat this pattern a bunch of times, so I’ll leave you to it. If you’d like to make my Sunburst Pillow (shown above), you’ll need 18 squares for a ~16.5 x 16.5 inch pillow. Also, don’t look too closely at the Sunburst Pillow picture — I took that picture yesterday, but the pillow is 5 years old so there are some fluffins and nubbins.

If you’re making a blanket or another large project — check out my join-as-you-go tutorial. Weaving in ends is literally the worst part of crocheting, and the join-as-you-go method significantly reduces weaving! Plus it looks awesome. 

collage of two sunburst granny square images with the text "Free crochet pattern: sunburst granny square"