I've heard of how much of a pain it is to make & knot each square individually, so I thought I'd figure out a better way. It's a bit complicated, so I'd say this is more of an intermediate tutorial. I'll be making 4 squares (2×2) as an example to get you started. My hopes is that you can use this as a building block to make whatever you want out of granny squares (a bag, the strap, a panel, etc). For this tutorial, I'm going to make 2 red & orange squares, & 2 green & brown, with alternating colors because I feel that best fits the example. You can use whatever string, just make sure it's not too thick to allow for multiple pass-throughs. I've done it with fabric elastic, but for this example I am using WildFire (non-stretchy fishing line). For any questions, suggestions, or if you caught any mistakes & want to helpfully point them out, I made a Q&A forum post here: https://kandipad.com/forum/advanced-techniques/making-multiple-granny-squares-with-one-s-41372735
Step 1
Start with a circle of 16 beads, crossing thru the last bead (red). These will be the outer edge beads of the 1st granny square.
Step 2
Thread each side of the string thru 2 beads on either side.
Step 3
At 1 bead (red) on both ends of the string.
Step 4
Skip 3 beads on the circle of 16, crossing thru the 4th (red) bead on either side.
Step 5
Add 1 bead (red), cross.
Step 6
Pull tight, & cross back thru 3 of the inner circle of beads (red) on either side.
Step 7
Add 1 bead (red), cross. This will be the last bead of the 1st square.
Step 8
Pull tight, & string back thru the beads of inner circle, crossing back out through the bead on the opposite side.
Step 9
Add 3 beads (green, red, green) on one end of the string, & cross thru the third (green) bead. The green beads will be the beginnings of the green & brown squares.
Step 10
Add 7 beads on either side of the string. This will be the start of the 2nd granny square, & which will be the 1st green & brown square.
Step 11
Add the last (green) bead of the circle, crossing the strings thru opposite sides.
Step 12
Thread each side of the string thru 2 beads on either side.
Step 13
At 1 bead (green) on both ends of the string.
Step 14
Skip 3 beads on the circle of 16, crossing thru the 4th (green) bead on either side.
Step 15
Add 1 bead (green), cross.
Step 16
Pull tight, & cross back thru 3 of the inner circle of beads (green) on either side.
Step 17
Add 1 bead (green), cross. This will be the last bead of the 2nd square.
Step 18
String each end as shown in the picture, thru the inner (green) beads, out thru the opposite corner, & thru either end of the next (red) corner bead, to start the 3rd square.
Step 19
Add 7 beads on either side of the string. This will be the start of the 3rd granny square, & which will be the 2nd red & orange square.
Step 20
Add the last (red) bead of the circle, crossing the strings thru opposite sides.
Step 21
Thread each side of the string thru 2 beads on either side.
Step 22
At 1 bead (red) on both ends of the string.
Step 23
Skip 3 beads on the circle of 16, crossing thru the 4th (red) bead on either side.
Step 24
Add 1 bead (red), cross.
Step 25
Pull tight, & cross back thru 3 of the inner circle of beads (red) on either side.
Step 26
Add 1 bead (red), cross. This will be the last bead of the 3rd square.
Step 27
String each end as shown in the picture, thru the inner (red) beads, out thru the opposite corner, & thru either end of the next (green) corner bead, to start the 4th square.
Step 28
Add 7 beads on either side of the string. This will be the start of the 4th granny square, & which will be the 2nd green & brown square.
Step 29
Add the last (green) bead of the circle, crossing the strings thru opposite sides.
Step 30
Thread each side of the string thru 2 beads on either side.
Step 31
At 1 bead (green) on both ends of the string.
Step 32
Skip 3 beads on the circle of 16, crossing thru the 4th (green) bead on either side.
Step 33
Add 1 bead (green), cross.
Step 34
Pull tight, & cross back thru 3 of the inner circle of beads (green) on either side.
Step 35
Add 1 bead (green), cross. This will be the last bead of the 4th square.
Step 36
Cross thru the inner (green) beads on either side, out thru the adjacent corners.
Step 37
Thread thru the outer edge beads of the 4 squares to connect all the outer corners, ending with both ends of the string coming out of the opposite corner bead.
Step 38
Left Picture: If you are planning to add more rows of squares, you can start a new section of squares by adding 3 beads like the left picture. That way you can continue to add squares upwards & to the sides. Right Picture: If you are on the edge row of squares of whatever you are trying to make, & only want to continue to the side, you can just add 1 bead, using it to start 1 square to the side.
I hope this tutorial can be helpful for people that want making granny squares to be somewhat less tedious. If there is a more efficient way to do something like this, let me know in the Q&A post.