More Granny Squares

With the arrival of the second set of Bon Bon mini skeins, of course I had to crochet more granny squares.  This time I focused one using a different combination of four colors for each square.  But how many squares would that result in?  I remembered an old formula from my school days: n(n-1)(n-2)...(n-(x-1)), where n is the set of options and x is the number of objects per permutation.* So if each square uses four colors and there are eight colors total, the solution is 8x7x6x5=1,680 permutations.  That's a lot!

But that assumes that order counts -- pink/purple/green/orange is counted separately from purple/orange/pink/green.  I wasn't that fanatical.  I had to look up the "combination formula" I really needed: n(n-1)...(n-x-1) / x(x-1)...(x-(x-1)) -- 8x7x6x5 / 4x3x2x1 = 1,680/24 = 70.  A much more manageable number. 

But who was I kidding?  There wasn't nearly enough yarn.  So after the fun but pointless math, I simply organized the squares I did have into matching pairs, where the two together had all eight colors, and for the unpaired ones I crocheted matching squares with the unused colors.  The result was sixteen squares, which will make a nice pillow top someday:

I also crocheted a couple of ornaments in my favorite color combinations, from patterns designed by  Annoo and the Lazy Hobby Hopper:

Mine are lumpier than the originals

I only have a little bit of the yarn left over, but these items and the mandala are a pretty good output for two sets of mini skeins.

*I'm most certainly using the terminology and symbolism wrong.