Lately, I have been spending a little more time than usual crocheting. In part, I was inspired by a particularly fun Crochet Class I had the honor of teaching a couple of weekends ago (8 new crocheters in the world; woohoo!). Also, I happened to have had a ridiculously cute crochet project on my list of 30.
You may be happy to know that the list is now 28. Boo-yah.
Note that I did not design this adorable creature; it is a Ravelry download by Dawn Toussaint.
I have, however, written up a very simple crocheted beanie pattern (I wouldn’t call it “Design”, but I did do the typing, anyway).
I recently discovered that all my husband ever wanted was a crocheted beanie. The discovery process went like this:
Husband: I would like a hat, please.
Me: I would love to make you a hat!
Husband: Could it be just a plain hat with a plain edge?
Me: (makes stockinette hat with rolled edge)
Husband: I love my hat, but could it have a different kind of edge?
Me: (starts hat with ribbed edge)
Husband: Hmmm…no, just a plain edge. My friend has one I really like; I want one just like his.
*Meet with friend, discover that coveted hat is a crocheted beanie*
He is very happy with it.
Both the hat above and the unicorn are crocheted in spirals. Now, I am generally a discrete rounds kind of girl*, but I discovered through the process of crocheting this hat that spirals are really a wonderful way to show off handpainted yarns, like Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted (used for the hat above).
*When I refer to spirals vs discrete rounds, it has to do with the process of ending and beginning a round in crochet. When you crochet a spiral, you don’t do anything different at the end of the round; you just keep crocheting on top of the previous round. If you were to crochet stripes using the spiral method, you would get a jog at the end of the round when you switch from one color to another. When you crochet in discrete rounds (at least that’s what I call it), you begin the round with a chain to bring the yarn up to the height of the new round. When you get to the last stitch, you slip stitch in the first crochet of the round to close it off.
Anyway, as I was saying…
Both these patterns also start off with a Magic Ring.*
*Not the kind that makes you invisible.
The Magic Ring, (or “Magic Circle” or “Magic Loop”) is an adjustable ring. into which you make the sts of your first round. It takes the place of instructions like, “Ch5, slst in first chain to form ring”. Now, we just say, “Make Magic Ring”.
Here, in painstaking detail, is what that looks like:
You with me so far?
So here is the big secret: the “Magic Ring” is just a slip knot that you don’t tighten. Why didn’t we just say that in the first place?!
That said, let us continue. So you have this slip knot that you haven’t tightened…
From here, I imagine that most of you can figure your way to the beginning of your crochet project. Just for good measure, though, I will include the next few steps.
The number of single crochets you make in the ring will be determined by your pattern. The number will, however, very frequently be 6 (or 5 or 8). In the picture below, I have done 6 single crochets (the thing at the very end that looks like a 7th st is the chain I made in step 8).
Since we’re on the subject, I might as well keep going (I’ll have a whole hat by the end of this post…not really).
If you choose to crochet in a spiral, it is quite helpful to keep track of where you round begins and ends. I do this with a piece of yarn.
Now you have all the skills you need to make a simple crocheted beanie.
This tutorial has been brought to you by the letter G:
and by the color “Franklin’s Panopticon”:
I hope you’ve had fun. With any luck, the next time you hear from me I will have only 27 unfinished projects.
Abundance 