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Craft projects

Design your Lockdown Lapghan

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The Lockdown Lapghan is a very easy crochet blanket for beginners. This is the second in a series of three posts. The first post contains the free pattern for each square of the blanket. You can read this post here. In this second post you will find the charts to help you design your Lockdown Lapghan.

The design is based on five colours. I have two suggests sets of colours in my first post but you can make your own choices. This way your Lockdown Lapghan will be your own design. There are two versions of the chart for you to download at the bottom of this post. The colour version follows the Autumn Sunset colours used in the completed blanket below. Sorry about this picture – all it has done here recently is rain!

lockdown lapghan - autumn sunset
lockdown lapghan – Autumn Sunset

The black and white version of the chart will be easier for you to follow if you are choosing your own colours. You could print this black and white version and do a bit of mindful colouring in as part of your process to select colours. I love a bit of colouring in 🙂

Yarn Selection

The yarn I used for this blanket was Stylecraft Special Chunky. This yarn is very good value and there is a wide range of colours as you can see here at Woolwarehouse. As you design your lockdown lapghan, I recommend you start with a view of the colours available.

You don’t have to stick to the yarn I used. It is possible to use any yarn type as long as you adjust the tension to match. However, this can get a bit tricky and this pattern is designed for beginners so I won’t cover that here. Please let me know if you would like instruction on how to do this and I will put up a separate post.

Design your Lockdown Lapghan – Joining up and edging

The final touches to your lockdown lapghan design will be the joining colours and edging. For both the blankets I designed I used the strongest colour for the joins and edging. I think that this gives the squares more definition which is the look I was going for. However, the joining method I recommend can be ‘invisible’ if you use the colour of one of the squares you are joining. This is a design choice so over to you!

Your choice of joining colours will have a big impact on the appearance of the finished blanket. Similarly, the edging you choose will make a real difference to the look of your work. I like to edge in a darker colour, again this is partly for the definition I think it gives. Practicality also tells me that a white edge would be asking for trouble in terms of my ability to keep it clean. Maybe that is just me, in a house with three muddy dogs!

I think that is all you need from me so here are the two free downloads.

Lockdown Lapghan chart – colour (83 downloads)

Lockdown Lapghan chart – black and white (75 downloads)

I hope you have fun designing your own Lockdown Lapghan and if you are new to crochet I hope you come love it as much as I do. Please do let me know how you get on. I would love to get some comments. Happy crocheting!

Annie 🙂

Crochet Parcel Decorations

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The wrapping season is upon us! I am trying to reduce my plastic waste which means no glittery plasticised ribbons or paper. I still want my gifts to look special so I am experimenting with crochet parcel decorations. These hearts parcel decorations use my pattern for hearts in three sizes. You could also use star motifs in the same way, or you could use a combination! Here is a link to my stars in three sizes patterns.

https://stickytapeandstring.co.uk/crochet-stars-in-three-sizes

The stars and hearts are very quick to make. To use them for parcel decorations you simply make a chain rather than fastening off the yarn when you complete the motif. For the white strand in the picture below I put a heart on each end of the chain. The length of chain you will need obviously varies with the weight of yarn and the size of parcel you are wrapping. The good thing about chain is that it is very easy to adjust as you work either pull out any excess or make some more if it isn’t long enough.

crochet hearts parcel decoration

This is a great way to use up scraps of yarn and I hope you agree that the finished look is pretty. I found that it worked best in a chunky yarn for larger gifts but you could use very fine yarn for tiny presents. You could jazz up your crochet parcel decorations by adding tassels or pompoms. The sky is the limit – let your imagination run wild.

If you have time you could make more fancy braiding than this simple chain. I don’t know whether I will have enough spare time for that this Christmas. I have a long list of unfinished Christmas makes! Maybe next year 🙂 Happy crocheting!

Annie 🙂

Twinkling star decoration

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I don’t know how you are feeling but for me, this year, Christmas cannot come soon enough! I have already started to get decorations together and some are sneaking their way around the house 🙂 This twinkling star decoration is a new one I have just made. It uses the pattern I put out in my Stars in Three Sizes post earlier this year.

One of the few pleasures we are allowed at the moment is a daily walk. My hubby found a small broken branch for me on one of his walks with our three dogs. Whilst I was working on the project I had to defend the branch from the dogs. For some reason they were not convinced it was an essential piece of craft supplies. They thought it was just a stick. They love sticks. Most of all they love turning sticks into chewed up fragments of wood!

Make your own Twinkling Star Decoration

First step – find a fallen branch or stick. If you don’t have access to the outside or cannot find something that works you could use pretty much any straight object – something from your kitchen perhaps. You could use an old wire coat-hanger. I managed to make this work with a knitting needle!

Next – you will need to make your stars. Following this link will take you to the Star patterns. The pattern should open in a new tab so you don’t lose this post. Choose your colours – will you go for a theme to match the colours of your decorations or will you go for a riot of colours.

This is a great stash buster project in that you can use tiny oddments of yarn – they don’t have to be the same weight or type. I chose to make mine in red and white yarn. The white is left over from my lock down lapghan project which I will be posting on here soon! The red is some of the left over cotton yarn from my sunshine flower blanket. I doubled this cotton, using two strands at a time to make the stars a similar size to the white ones which are made of chunky yarn.

The picture below shows a group of yellow/gold themed stars I made for a second twinkling star decoration, not yet completed!

Making the stars

Consider how many stars you need to make along with the sizes of star you want to use. You could have one large star as a central point with smaller ones surrounding it. You could make the stars into a pattern, alternating colours or a rainbow.

As you finish each star work a long chain before cutting off the yarn. You will use these to hang the Stars from the support/branch. It doesn’t matter if you don’t know exactly where you want the stars to be positioned at this point. Make the chains as long as the longest drop you want to see to your stars then you can adjust the length when you hang them.

You can see the chains on my stars in this photo below which shows them being blocked. Blocking the stars when you have completed them makes a big difference to the way they hang. I really recommend you block yours for the best finish.

Blocking stars on a child’s foam play tile

If you want to increase the size of your stars you could double the yarn as I did. Another option you might want to consider if you are using particularly fine yarn is doubling the thickness of your stars by making two of each size/type and stitching them together.

Finish off the starting thread of each star neatly. TIP – You will not be able to control which side of this work is visible at all times so make as neat a job as possible!

Assembling the Twinkling Star Decoration

Start with the lights! There are lots of sets of small LED lights available on the market. What matters most for this project is that the battery pack is SMALL!! That said, you can hide the battery pack behind the support when you hang the decoration. You will also find that your eye is not drawn to the battery pack but to the stars and lights.

Work out where you want to place the battery pack. Working from the opposite end of the support, wrap the lights around the branch/support. Try to space out the lights evenly along the support. You might need to secure the end of the lights with tape.

Adding the Stars to the Twinkling Star Decoration

Lay the branch or support on the table in front of you. Next, lay out the Stars you have made below the branch/support. Play with the positioning of the stars until you are happy with the overall look. Lengthen or shorten the chains to fit with your design. Pull the final loop through so that you have a big loop to attach the star to the branch or support.

If your branch or support has two ends that are equally easy to work with then I suggest you start with the stars in the middle of your layout. Slide each one onto the support. Once you have each star where you want pull the loop tight and tie it off with a knot. Using a wool needle thread the end of the yarn back through the chain to tidy up the work.

Finished twinkling stars decoration

I hope you like the result! If not, you can keep playing with the positioning of the stars. You could even built it up over the festive season, adding a new star each day!

Happy crocheting 🙂

Annie

Easy Crochet Lapghan for Beginners

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I am calling this pattern Lockdown Lapghan which I hope dates this post forever because I really hope that lockdown is a feature of 2020 alone! This is a great time to try new hobbies so I wanted to create a really easy pattern for crochet newbies. To complete the pattern, you only need to know how to do one stitch plus chain. This is an easy crochet lapghan for beginners. You can put your own stamp on the pattern by choosing a different set of colours. I am working with two colour ways initially. The first set of colours were inspired by autumn sunsets, I love the warmth of these colours.

Lockdown Lapghan - Autumn Sunset
Stylecraft Special Chunky. Midnight, Aster, saffron, spice and pomegranate

The second set of colours I picked were more for winter and the approaching festive season. I am calling those Berries in the Snow :-).

Lockdown Lapghan - berries in the snow
Stylecraft Special Chunky. Black, Graphite, Silver, White, Pomegranate

The yarn I am using is Stylecraft Special Chunky. This is a good quality inexpensive yarn with a great range of colours. I buy all my yarn through woolwarehouse in the UK as I find their range and customer service exceptionally good! Please note I have no relationship with this business but the link above will take you to their website.

If you are using Stylecraft Special Chunky yarn you will need a 6mm hook and each block will measure around 10 inches square. If you are using a different yarn please check the ball band for the appropriate hook size. This is the paper wrapped around the yarn and normally shows the suggested hook size in millimetres. As a guide to quantities of yarn – I bought four balls of each colour. This should give you more than you need to complete the lapghan. You might even get a cushion out of the leftovers 🙂

You will use the same basic square throughout this design. Colour changes within each square bring the design to life. I will cover colour changes in a separate post. If, like me, you have a design that includes several plain blocks of a single colour then I suggest you get started with those. Here are the instructions 🙂

Easy Crochet Lapghan for Beginners – basic square pattern – UK crochet terms.

First round

Make a magic loop and chain three. Photos below should help you with this.

magic loop
make a magic loop as shown
work three chain into the magic loop and it should look like this

Work into the magic loop as follows 2Tr, 2 CH, 3 Tr, 2CH, 3 Tr, 2CH, 3 Tr, 2CH, pull the magic loop closed and join with a slip stitch to the third loop of the starting chain. To join with a slip stitch push the hook through, wrap round the yarn and pull the yarn back through the loop and through the loop on the hook.

first round of lockdown lapghan
first round before closing magic loop
first round with magic loop closed – before slip stitch to join to the start

At the end of this round you should see a square is already starting to form.

lockdown lapghan at end of first round
first round completed with a slip stitch to the starting chain

Second round

Chain 3, work 2 Tr one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner 2 Tr, 2 CH, 2 Tr (as shown below). Work 3 Tr along the next side then into the corner again work 2 Tr, 2CH, 2 Tr. Repeat this pattern working 3 Tr on each side and 2 Tr, 2H, 2 Tr into each corner. When you are at the last corner join with a slip stitch to the top of the starting 3 chain.

first corner round two lockdown lapghan
first corner of second round of Lockdown Lapghan

Third round

Chain 3, work 4 Tr one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner on the odd rounds we will only be working 1 Tr, 2 CH, 1 Tr (as shown below). Work 7 Tr along the next side then into the corner again work 1 Tr, 2CH, 1 Tr. Repeat this pattern working 7 Tr on each side and 1 Tr, 2H, 1 Tr into each corner. When you are round the last corner work 2 Tr and join with a slip stitch to the top of the 3 starting chain.

corners on odd numbered rounds of lockdown lapghan

Fourth round

Chain 3, work 5 Tr one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner 2 Tr, 2 CH, 2 Tr. Work 9 Tr along the next side then into the corner again work 2 Tr, 2CH, 2 Tr. Repeat this pattern working 9 Tr on each side and 2 Tr, 2H, 2 Tr into each corner. When you are round the last corner work 3 Tr and join with a slip stitch to the top of the starting 3 chain.

Fifth round

Chain 3, work 7 Tr one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner on the odd rounds we will only be working 1 Tr, 2 CH, 1 Tr. Work 13 Tr along the next side then into the corner again work 1 Tr, 2CH, 1 Tr. Repeat this pattern working 13 Tr on each side and 1 Tr, 2H, 1 Tr into each corner. When you are round the last corner work 5 Tr and join with a slip stitch to the top of the 3 starting chain.

Sixth round

Chain 3, work 8 Tr one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner 2 Tr, 2 CH, 2 Tr. Work 15 Tr along the next side then into the corner again work 2 Tr, 2CH, 2 Tr. Repeat this pattern working 15 Tr on each side and 2 Tr, 2H, 2 Tr into each corner. When you are round the last corner work 6 Tr and join with a slip stitch to the top of the starting 3 chain.

Seventh round

Chain 3, work 10 Tr one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner on the odd rounds we will only be working 1 Tr, 2 CH, 1 Tr. Work 19 Tr along the next side then into the corner again work 1 Tr, 2CH, 1 Tr. Repeat this pattern working 19 Tr on each side and 1 Tr, 2H, 1 Tr into each corner. When you are round the last corner work 8 Tr and join with a slip stitch to the top of the 3 starting chain.

Eighth round

Chain 3, work 11 Tr one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner 2 Tr, 2 CH, 2 Tr. Work 21 Tr along the next side then into the corner again work 2 Tr, 2CH, 2 Tr. Repeat this pattern working 21 Tr on each side and 2 Tr, 2H, 2 Tr into each corner. When you are round the last corner work 9 Tr and join with a slip stitch to the top of the starting 3 chain.

Ninth round

Chain 3, work 13 Tr one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner on the odd rounds we will only be working 1 Tr, 2 CH, 1 Tr. Work 25 Tr along the next side then into the corner again work 1 Tr, 2CH, 1 Tr. Repeat this pattern working 25 Tr on each side and 1 Tr, 2H, 1 Tr into each corner. When you are round the last corner work 11 Tr and join with a slip stitch to the top of the 3 starting chain.

Tenth round

Chain 3, work 14 Tr one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner 2 Tr, 2 CH, 2 Tr. Work 27 Tr along the next side then into the corner again work 2 Tr, 2CH, 2 Tr. Repeat this pattern working 27 Tr on each side and 2 Tr, 2H, 2 Tr into each corner. When you are round the last corner work 12 Tr and join with a slip stitch to the top of the starting 3 chain.

And there it is, one completed block! The next section is a repeat of this one but gives the US crochet terms so jump down to ‘blocking and finishing’ if you have been following the UK instructions.

Easy Crochet Lapghan for Beginners – basic square pattern – US crochet terms.

First round

Make a magic loop and chain three. Photos above in the UK instructions should help you with this.

Work into the magic loop as follows 2Dc, 2 CH, 3 Dc, 2CH, 3 Dc, 2CH, 3 Dc, 2CH, pull the magic loop closed and join with a slip stitch to the third loop of the starting chain. To join with a slip stitch push the hook through, wrap round the yarn and pull the yarn back through the loop and through the loop on the hook.

At the end of this round you should see a square is already starting to form.

Second round

Chain 3, work 2 Dc one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner 2 Dc, 2 CH, 2 Dc (as shown above in the UK instructions). Work 3 Dc along the next side then into the corner again work 2 Dc, 2CH, 2 Dc. Repeat this pattern working 3 Dc on each side and 2 Dc, 2H, 2 Dc into each corner. When you are at the last corner join with a slip stitch to the top of the starting 3 chain.

Third round

Chain 3, work 4 Dc one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner on the odd rounds we will only be working 1 Dc, 2 CH, 1 Dc (as shown above in the UK instructions). Work 7 Dc along the next side then into the corner again work 1 Dc, 2CH, 1 Dc. Repeat this pattern working 7 Dc on each side and 1 Dc, 2H, 1 Dc into each corner. When you are round the last corner work 2 Dc and join with a slip stitch to the top of the 3 starting chain.

Fourth round

Chain 3, work 5 Dc one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner 2 Dc, 2 CH, 2 Dc. Work 9 Dc along the next side then into the corner again work 2 Dc, 2CH, 2 Dc. Repeat this pattern working 9 Dc on each side and 2 Dc, 2H, 2 Dc into each corner. When you are round the last corner work 3 Dc and join with a slip stitch to the top of the starting 3 chain.

Fifth round

Chain 3, work 7 Dc one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner on the odd rounds we will only be working 1 Dc, 2 CH, 1 Dc. Work 13 Dc along the next side then into the corner again work 1 Tr, 2CH, 1 Tr. Repeat this pattern working 13 Dc on each side and 1 Dc, 2H, 1 Dc into each corner. When you are round the last corner work 5 Dc and join with a slip stitch to the top of the 3 starting chain.

Sixth round

Chain 3, work 8 Dc one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner 2 Dc, 2 CH, 2 Dc. Work 15 Dc along the next side then into the corner again work 2 Dc, 2CH, 2 Dc. Repeat this pattern working 15 Dc on each side and 2 Dc, 2H, 2 Dc into each corner. When you are round the last corner work 6 Dc and join with a slip stitch to the top of the starting 3 chain.

Seventh round

Chain 3, work 10 Dc one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner on the odd rounds we will only be working 1 Dc, 2 CH, 1 Dc. Work 19 Dc along the next side then into the corner again work 1 Dc, 2CH, 1 Dc. Repeat this pattern working 19 Dc on each side and 1 Dc, 2H, 1 Dc into each corner. When you are round the last corner work 8 Dc and join with a slip stitch to the top of the 3 starting chain.

Eighth round

Chain 3, work 11 Dc one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner 2 Dc, 2 CH, 2 Dc. Work 21 Dc along the next side then into the corner again work 2 Dc, 2CH, 2 Dc. Repeat this pattern working 21 Dc on each side and 2 Dc, 2H, 2 Dc into each corner. When you are round the last corner work 9 Dc and join with a slip stitch to the top of the starting 3 chain.

Ninth round

Chain 3, work 13 Dc one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner on the odd rounds we will only be working 1 Dc, 2 CH, 1 Dc. Work 25 Dc along the next side then into the corner again work 1 Dc, 2CH, 1 Dc. Repeat this pattern working 25 Dc on each side and 1 Dc, 2H, 1 Dc into each corner. When you are round the last corner work 11 Dc and join with a slip stitch to the top of the 3 starting chain.

Tenth round

Chain 3, work 14 Dc one into each stitch on the previous round. Working into the corner 2 Dc, 2 CH, 2 Dc. Work 27 Dc along the next side then into the corner again work 2 Dc, 2CH, 2 Dc. Repeat this pattern working 27 Dc on each side and 2 Dc, 2H, 2 Dc into each corner. When you are round the last corner work 12 Dc and join with a slip stitch to the top of the starting 3 chain.

There you are – one finished square!!

Blocking and finishing

‘Blocking’ is important if you want to produce a lapghan that looks really good. When you block your work you set the dimensions of each square and remove any wrinkles and bumps. It is worth taking time over this step. You will need a blocking board and pins. You can pay for specialist equipment but I use children’s foam play floor tiles and dressmaking pins. Any solid surface that will take pins will work but you will be making it damp so bare that in mind!

Pin out each block and give it a little sprinkle of water then leave ideally over night. When you remove the pins you will see that the block has assumed the pinned shape and should now retain this shape (unless it is re-wet). I normally block squares as I make them to avoid having to do all the blocking in one go.

Blocking one of the lockdown lapghan squares on children’s foam play tiles

TIP – when I am making several blocks with the same dimensions I draw the shape on the blocking board and ease each square to those same dimensions. Sometimes there can be slight variation in yarn weight by colour within a yarn brand – although I find Stylecraft is very good on this point with little/no variation. Marking the size on the blocking board ensures you are blocking each square to the same dimensions!

I want to get this pattern up on my blog as soon as possible so I will leave the finishing off for a second post. Hope you don’t mind! Come back to me when you have finished all your blocks and the post should be here!

I really hope you enjoy this easy crochet lapghan for beginners and that you really enjoy making something beautiful in these difficult times. If you would like to try something a little more challenging then you can check out some of my other patterns here Hearts and Stripes Lapghan. Hearts in three sizes. Stars in three sizes. I know that crafting is certainly helping me. Happy crocheting!

Annie 🙂

Crochet Stars in Three Sizes

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In this post you will find free crochet patterns in UK and US terms for you to make crochet stars in three sizes. I originally started working on these because we had heating on for the first time this year. My thoughts went straight to the making time remaining to me before Christmas 🙂

However, these stars don’t have to be for Christmas. There are many uses through the year as card toppers, in garlands or as decoration when wrapping presents. They also work as reusable table confetti like the crochet hearts I made last year. You can find the patterns for the crochet hearts in this post – Crochet Hearts in three sizes.

Firstly let me tell you that the stars in the photos here are worked in Sirdar Cotton DK on a 4mm hook. I love this yarn for the stitch definition and the soft texture. Using this yarn the small star is roughly 4cm across, medium star measures 5cm and the largest one is 6cm across. The pattern will work in any yarn quality but the stars will come up different sizes of course.

Crochet Star – three sizes. Patterns in UK crochet terms – (Scroll down for patterns in US instructions)

Small Star – UK instructions

First round – make a magic loop (see below)

making a magic loop
magic loop

Work 2 chain into the magic loop and 9DC.

chain two into the magic loop
chain two
working the first round into the magic loop
work the first round into the magic loop

Pull the magic loop closed and join the first round with a slip stitch to the second of the starting chains.

close the magic loop and slip stitch to finish the round
pull the yarn tail to close the loop and finish with a slip stitch

Second round – Working into the same stitch, CH2, 1TR, CH2 picot*, 1DTR, 1TR. Work a slip stitch into the next stitch. There are eight stitches on round 1 remaining. Repeat the following pattern between the square brackets to the end of the row. [Working all the stitches in the following bracket into the next stitch (1HTR, 1TR, CH2 picot, 1DTR, 1TR), work a slip stitch into the next stitch] x 4. Finish off the yarn and you have your small star.

* work a picot as follows. slip stitch into the chain two from the hook as shown below.

work a slip stitch into the second chain from the hook to form the picot

Medium Star – UK instructions

First round – make a magic loop (see photos above)

Work 3 chain into the magic loop and 9TR. Pull the magic loop closed and join the first round with a slip stitch to the third of the starting chains.

Second round – Working into the same stitch, CH2, 1TR, CH2 picot*, 1DTR, 1TR. Work a slip stitch into the next stitch. There are eight stitches on round 1 remaining. Repeat the following pattern between the square brackets to the end of the row. [Working all the stitches in the following bracket into the next stitch (1HTR, 1TR, CH2 picot, 1DTR, 1TR), work a slip stitch into the next stitch] x 4. Finish off the yarn and you have your small star.

* work a picot as follows. slip stitch into the chain two from the hook as shown above.

Large Star – UK instructions

First round – make a magic loop (see photos above)

Work 3 chain into the magic loop and 9TR. Pull the magic loop closed and join the first round with a slip stitch to the third of the starting chains.

Second round – Chain 2, DC into the same space. Work 2DC into each of the remaining nine stitches then join with a slip stitch to the second of the starting chains.

Third round – Chain 2, 1TR into the same space. Into the next stitch work (1DTR, Chain 3, picot*, Chain 1, 1DTR). Into the next stitch work (1TR, 1HTR). Slip stitch into the next stitch to finish the first point of the star. Work four more points of the star as follows: [ into the first stitch (1HTR, 1TR), into the second stitch (1DTR, Chain 3, picot*, Chain 1, 1DTR), into the third stitch (1TR, 1HTR), work a slip stitch into the fourth stitch] repeat the instructions between the square brackets [ ] three more times and you are done!

* work a picot as follows. slip stitch into the chain two from the hook as shown above.

Patterns in US crochet terms – (Scroll up for patterns in UK instructions)

Small Star – US instructions

small crochet star

First round – make a magic loop (see photos above)

Work 2 chain into the magic loop and 9SC. Pull the magic loop closed and join the first round with a slip stitch to the second of the starting chains.

Second round – Working into the same stitch, CH2, 1DC, CH2 picot*, 1TR, 1DC. Work a slip stitch into the next stitch. There are eight stitches on round 1 remaining. Repeat the following pattern between the square brackets to the end of the row. [Working all the stitches in the following bracket into the next stitch (1HDC, 1DC, CH2 picot, 1TR, 1DC), work a slip stitch into the next stitch] x 4. Finish off the yarn and you have your small star.

* work a picot as follows. slip stitch into the chain two from the hook as shown above.

Medium Star – US instructions

First round – make a magic loop (see photos above)

Work 3 chain into the magic loop and 9DC. Pull the magic loop closed and join the first round with a slip stitch to the third of the starting chains.

Second round – Working into the same stitch, CH2, 1DC, CH2 picot*, 1TR, 1DC. Work a slip stitch into the next stitch. There are eight stitches on round 1 remaining. Repeat the following pattern between the square brackets to the end of the row. [Working all the stitches in the following bracket into the next stitch (1HDC, 1DC, CH2 picot, 1TR, 1DC), work a slip stitch into the next stitch] x 4. Finish off the yarn and you have your small star.

* work a picot as follows. slip stitch into the chain two from the hook as shown above.

Large Star – US instructions

First round – make a magic loop (see above)

Work 3 chain into the magic loop and 9DC. Pull the magic loop closed and join the first round with a slip stitch to the third of the starting chains.

Second round – Chain 2, SC into the same space. Work 2SC into each of the remaining nine stitches then join with a slip stitch to the second of the starting chains.

Third round – Chain 2, 1DC into the same space. Into the next stitch work (1TR, Chain 3, picot*, Chain 1, 1TR). Into the next stitch work (1DC, 1HDC). Slip stitch into the next stitch to finish the first point of the star. Work four more points of the star as follows: [ into the first stitch (1HDC, 1DC), into the second stitch (1TR, Chain 3, picot*, Chain 1, 1TR), into the third stitch (1DC, 1HDC), work a slip stitch into the fourth stitch] repeat the instructions between the square brackets [ ] three more times and you are done!

* work a picot as follows. slip stitch into the chain two from the hook as shown above.

I hope you love these little crochet stars as much as I do. Happy crocheting!

Annie 🙂

Crochet Rope Edging

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This three coloured rope crochet edging makes a beautiful finish to any project. I was looking for an neat edge that used all three of the colours from my project. This edging forms a pretty rope effect and although it feels a bit fiddly to start with you will soon find you get into a rhythm.

crochet rope edging
three colour crochet rope edging

The materials I am using in this example are Sirdar Cotton DK and a 4mm hook. These photographs use the following colours, Red (shade 510), Honeysuckle (shade 508) and Citrus (shade 531). The base colour is Vanilla (shade 502).

Three coloured rope crochet edging pattern

Choose your start point and join in the first colour. Make a chain of five stitches and take the hook out of the stitch to leave a loop. Tip – as you work it is easy to pull out stitches so I recommend pulling a bit of thread through to leave a larger loop.

Join in the second colour to the stich alongside your first chain and again make a chain of five stitches then remove the hook.

Finally join in the third colour into the next stitch of your project, making your final chain of five stitches. When you have joined your third colour the work should look like this picture below.

crochet rope edging
three colours joined

Start making the three coloured crochet rope

Next we are going to start to make the rope. Put your hook back into the loop at the end of the first chain you made. In my work above this is the yellow chain. This is where it gets a bit fiddly! I found if I worked slowly at first and kept the colours from tangling, I got into an easy rhythm after a few colour changes 🙂

With your hook in the loop at the end of the first chain, bring this chain down in front of all the others and put your hook into the stitch next to the third colour. This is the next available stitch on the edge of your project as shown below.

crochet rope edging
hook placement for first twist of the rope

Make a slip stitch by putting your hook into this stitch, wrapping the yarn around and pull back through the work as shown below. Next pull this through the loop on the hook to form a slip stitch.

slip stitch to make the first twist
slip stitch to secure the first twist

Work another five chains with this colour and remove the hook from the work. Your edging should look like this picture below.

crochet rope edging 4
crochet rope edging after the first twist

You have made the first twist and the rest of the crochet rope follows the same method. Put your hook into the end of the chain nearest to the right of the work. Bring the chain to the front of the work and put your hook into the next available stitch to the left of the work. For my example here this means putting the hook into the end of the orange chain. Bring this chain forward and secure the twist with a slip stitch into the stitch next to the yellow chain, as shown in the photos below.

crochet rope edging 5
bring the next chain to the front of the work
crochet rope edging 6
work into the next available stitch
crochet rope edging 7
slip stitch leaving one loop on the hook
crochet rope edging 9
work another five stitch chain and move the hook to the next colour

Finishing your work – Tips

That really is all there is to it. Continue picking up each colour, bringing it to the front of the work and secure with a slip stitch before making a new five stitch chain. You will see your rope start to grow. More pictures below along with a few final tips.

crochet rope edging 10
third twist secured
crochet rope edging 11
keep going in the same way to form the rope

Using the rope edging on the ends of rows side

If you are working along an edge that has the ends of rows rather than a neat set of stitches this can be difficult to space. Measure the gap between two slip stitches of the same colour on your first edge and use that as a guide to place your slip stitches on this edge.

Changing the pattern to suit different weights of yarn or tension

If you find that the tension of the rope doesn’t sit well or look right then adjust the number of stitches you have in your chain. I found five chain stitches was perfect for this Cotton DK. You might need more/fewer if you are working with a different weight of yarn. Just find the right tension by trial and error working a small section then see how the edging sits.

Dealing with corners

If you are working on a square or rectangular project you will have to deal with a 90 degree corner or rather four corners! You should find that if you work three colours into one stitch either side of the corner the rope will continue round the corner. This means that you work all three colours into the last stich of the row before the corner. Turn and again work all three colours into the first stitch on the next side. Please let me know if you would like to see photos of this and I will add them or put up a separate post.

Adding in more colours

I only used three colours in my design here but you could work a rope with more colours or fewer. Simply adjust the length of chain you use to give the desired effect.

I think that is it for now. I put up a pattern for flower petal edging if you would like to try something different. You can see that pattern here – flower petal edging. Please let me know if you like this edging pattern and if there is anything else I can help with. Happy crocheting!

Annie 🙂