Sammi Cox's May crochet square adds texture to blanket project

A six-round square can do a lot of heavy lifting when a blanket needs momentum. Sammi Cox’s May 2026 Crochet Square of the Month leans into that idea with texture, structure, and just enough variety to keep the project interesting without turning it into a tangle of decisions.

A square built for steady blanket progress

Published on May 9, 2026, the May square is made up of three rounds of granny stitch clusters, one round of double crochet, one round of double trebles, and one round of treble crochet. That blend gives the motif a layered surface and a little height variation, but it still reads as an approachable square rather than a puzzle project. Cox’s own framing makes the point clearly: this is meant to be part of a larger blanket strategy, not a one-off novelty square.

That matters for makers who are stitching around work, family, and everything else that competes for time. The square offers a clean structure that can be worked in a single solid color for a quieter finish or broken up with color changes between sections for a more dramatic look. Either way, the texture does the visual work, so the square can stand on its own inside a sampler or disappear into a stash-busting blanket where continuity matters more than showiness.

How the 2026 series is designed to work

May’s release is the fifth square in Cox’s 2026 sequence, following January through April. That ordering is part of what gives the project its appeal: each square feels like another step in a larger build, not a disconnected motif that needs its own rules. Cox said in January that the squares would be roughly 5-inch motifs, written in British crochet terms, and each one would begin with a chain 5 and a slip-stitch loop or small circle to work into.

The earlier months show how the series keeps its visual language consistent while still changing things up. February used a granny stitch and v-stitch combination with a treble crochet border. March followed with a granny stitch and solid square, also finished with a treble crochet border. April shifted again, pairing granny stitch clusters with crossed stitches before ending in a treble crochet border. May fits that same family of texture-led squares, but with its own stitch mix and a more obviously layered surface.

That continuity is the key to making a month-by-month blanket plan work. When every square follows the same basic size and entry point, the maker can keep moving without redrawing the whole project each time. It becomes easier to imagine the finished blanket early, even if the motifs arrive one by one.

Why monthly modular crochet works so well

Cox explained in a May 6 update that her Crochet Square of the Month project is part of a plan to make five crochet blankets for Christmas 2026 gifts. She also said she aims to complete at least 12 squares per month. Those details help explain why the series feels so practical: it is ambitious, but the ambition is broken into pieces that can actually fit into a real schedule.

That is where the modular appeal becomes especially strong. A monthly square project gives a crocheter a defined task, a clear endpoint, and a sense of accumulation that is easy to measure. Instead of facing the pressure of finishing a full blanket in one stretch, the maker gets a repeatable unit that can be tucked into a larger plan. For blanket makers, sampler fans, and anyone trying to use up yarn without letting scraps take over the house, that rhythm is the whole point.

The May square also has value as a planning tool. Because Cox’s 2026 patterns are designed to pair well with one another, the square can slot into a coordinated set without a redesign. That makes it useful whether the final destination is a single blanket, a stack of stash-busting panels, or a group of gift blankets that need to feel related but not identical.

What this square teaches while you stitch it

The stitch mix in the May square is doing more than decorating the surface. Three rounds of granny stitch clusters build a familiar foundation, then the double crochet, double treble, and treble rounds widen the maker’s range in a way that still feels contained. It is the kind of square that quietly builds technique while keeping the workload manageable.

That balance is one reason monthly square series endure. They let crocheters practice stitch transitions, test color placement, and explore texture without committing to a massive project all at once. In a single square, you get enough repetition to settle into the rhythm and enough variation to feel like you have made something new. For a sampler, that makes the square interesting; for a blanket, it makes the square useful.

Cox’s note that some 2026 squares would be simple and others more decorative also helps make sense of the month-to-month pacing. The series is not trying to force every motif into the same visual weight. Instead, it gives makers a range of texture and complexity that can keep a long project from feeling flat.

Part of a wider square-making tradition

There is a reason this format keeps finding an audience. Crochet projects built around repeated squares have long appealed to makers who want flexibility, portability, and room for scraps. Yarnspirations previously highlighted Nadia Fuad’s 365 Days of Granny Squares, a daily project from 2016 that used written instructions, video tutorials, and scrap yarn. That project showed how satisfying accumulation can be when each finished square becomes one more piece of a larger whole.

Cox’s approach follows the same instinct, but at a gentler pace. A daily square project demands constant attention; a monthly square lets the maker breathe between finishes and still feel that steady forward motion. That is exactly why the May square lands well inside the larger series. It is textured enough to feel rewarding, simple enough to keep momentum alive, and consistent enough to belong in a blanket that is meant to grow across the year.

That is the real strength of Cox’s May square: it gives busy makers one textured piece they can finish now, while quietly keeping the bigger blanket in motion.