Crochet Granny Shorts For Men By Mikey - How He Did It

Daniel challenged Mikey to crochet his first pair of granny shorts for Virgin Voyages. In looking around, there isn't much for men and a granny square pattern that would catch Mikey's interest enough to make enough squares to complete this quest.

As this is a heat-related item, the yarn choice was the first step, and I selected Red Heart With Love Better Half, which is 50% cotton and 50% acrylic. I wouldn't have made these with 100% acrylic, as cotton needs to breathe.

1st Step Was To Design A Square

I was playing with my hook the night before and decided to chart out my steps in real time so I would have a template to work through. I eventually finished this design, but altered it again later that evening because the joins were too tight.

Began to Make the Squares

I have a chaotic but working system for making random squares. I was using 12 colours in all. I crochet each colour for the first round.

For the 2nd round, I use a different colour and use it only once and continue each square the same way.

With 12 colours and using only 5 per square, there are 95,040 possible coloured squares. I only need 42. My shorts have no duplicate squares.

I didn't favour any colours and just let them be random.

As I finished just up to sixth round, I laid the circle portion on top of my existing shorts to get any idea of how many squares I needed.

You can see by my chart, the corners on the final round were horrible and it wasn't sitting flat as I noticed on just one square, so I continued to make up to 6th rnd knowing I would have to change the final round.

No Joining 7th rnd: Ch 2 (counts as dc), 1 dc in same st as join. Ch 3. 2 dc in same stitch as join. 1 dc in next sc. Ch 1, sk next sc, 1 hdc in next st. Ch 1, sk next sc. 1 sc in next sc. Ch 1, sk next sc, 1 hdc in next st. Ch 1, sk next sc, 1 dc in next sc. *(2 dc. Ch 3. 2 dc) all in next sc. 1 dc in next sc. Ch 1, sk next sc, 1 hdc in next st. Ch 1, sk next sc. 1 sc in next sc. Ch 1, sk next sc, 1 hdc in next st. Ch 1, sk next sc, 1 dc in next sc. Rep from * around. Join with sl st to top of beg ch-2. Fasten off. 

Joining Strategy

If you are joining, chain 1 spaces are substituted for (Ch 1. Sl st to the chain space of the matching square. Ch 1). On corners, chain 3 is substituted with the same information (Ch 1. Sl st to the chain space of the matching square. Ch 1)

My layout on the shorts was 10 squares around. Begin the joining on the upper left and strategically add the squares sequentially. Do not jump around. Build out the structure from top to bottom, and then move to the next column of squares and so on. 

You will only be joining two sides at any one time until you finish the last column, then you will need to join using 3 sides to complete the circumference. 

The bottom layer has to skip joining in two areas to allow the legs to separate. There is an additional square on each inner thigh to connect the front panel to the back. Using the same connection techniques. 

I wasn't sure how many squares to make, and I would come to make 50 circles and only to realize I needed 42. Leaving me with 8 left over motifs in the end. No harm, though, I made a crochet cell phone tote with four of them.

I started to put together the shorts and decided that white would be the final round of my squares. HATED IT! A LOT! It felt old and stale. Knowing I did my granny jacket in the summer of 2025, where every square was random and didn't have a common border to each other, I knew it had to be ripped out.

It felt like a tablecloth or way too vintage for what I was going for. I had to remove the final round from all of these squares and restart.

With the white removed, the restart of Rnd 7 for the first half of the shorts was slow. One of the biggest mistakes was not weaving in the tails as I went. Before I started the back half of the shorts, I wove in all the tails from the first side, then wove in the tails for each square as I finished the second portion.

I GOT Stuck

I wasn't sure how to do the gusset area, essentially the crotch section. I attempted it, but accidentally misaligned the crochet area, resulting in one leg opening much too large and the other much too small. I didn't divide it equally and had to frog back several squares to realign it.

I used the pattern above to understand the construction, as a diagram was provided. It put me back on the right track.

Upper Waist

I have numbered the squares for visualization. The first square you will do has nothing to connect with. The remaining squares have to connect when the sides butt up against each other. 

Connection Strategy

I wouldn't jump all over the place; work strategically in the unfortunate event you need to remove stitches. You can see in red where the connections happen.

On your first column going down, you are only connecting on one side, which is the top of a square labelled 2 as there are no other columns at this time. 

Waist Band

The join-as-you-go method allows the squares to stretch while still maintaining discretion. I am wearing gray boxers under my shorts. 

The upper waist needs to be done and trimmed around the leg openings. I needed to tighten up the waist, so I used the following strategy. 

I did the waistband in a continuous circle to avoid the slip-stitched look. 

1st rnd: I single crocheted evenly around starting at the front middle of the shorts, but I skipped the double crochet stitches closest to each corner on both sides of the square. You can see in green the stitches I skipped. I wasn’t worried about stitch count. 

2nd rnd: I switched over to the waistcoat stitch as I know it’s much tighter and has a knitting appearance. I visually looked at the circle of the waist and even eliminated 8 sc by using 2 together stitches. 

3rd rnd: Using the waistcoat stitch again, I eliminated 12 sc by using 2 together stitches, and I was happy with the circumference. I know in a few rounds, it will get tighter.

We will create the drawstring holes in the next round. 

4th rnd: Just after the middle of the shorts, I chained 2 and skipped 2 sc. 1 did the waistcoat stitch around and near to the end of the round, I chained 2 and skipped 2 sc. 

5th rnd: Using the waistcoat stitch, I crocheted in each stitch and filled in the ch-2 holes with 2 single crochet. 

6th rnd: Waistcoat stitch around. 

7th rnd: 1 scbp in each stitch around. 

8th rnd: Regular single crochet around. 

9th rnd: 1 dc in each sc around. Fasten off. 

Get the draw string ready, and when you do the next instruction, you will trap it inside. I used Bernat Macrame cord. Pull the cord through the holes so the tie is on the front of the shorts. Lay the remaining cord around the waist and fold over the top of the waistband to keep the cord floating on the inside. 

On the front side, you will do a surface overlay that runs through the front of the band and catches the top of the double crochet to create the permanent fold. Surface-apply around, and be sure the cord stays inside the fold. Fasten off using an invisible join. 

Leg Openings

1st rnd: RS. Starting on the inner thigh. I used every stitch and joined around by single crocheting in a continuous rnd. 

2nd and 3rd rnds: Waistcoat stitch around. Fasten off. 

Edging of Legs

I have seen the edging in a reel that is really neat. For this edging, do it on the WS (wrong side) of the pants for the best effect. 

Join with a sl st to the first st. Ch 3. Remove the hook. Sk next st. Insert hook into next stitch and grab the loop and pull through. *Sl st, Ch 3. Remove the hook. Sk next st. Insert the hook into next stitch and grab the loop and pull through. Rep from * around. 

Do both legs the same way. 

Fasten off, and your shorts are completed.

Any leftover circles you may have, you can easily make a cell phone cross-over tote for yourself. I made one as I made too many squares. The joining technique is the same to make the pouch, and the chain was 130 using 4 strands of the Red Heart With Love Better Half yarn. 

Conclusion

They turned out amazing, and I am absolutely loving it. My only thing is I don't like to crochet the same thing twice, so I would need to crochet a different type of square if I wanted another pair of shorts. It's doable.