Free Crocheted Bunting Pattern

April 25, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Free Crocheted Bunting Pattern

Making crocheted bunting is a fun way to use up odds and ends of yarn from other projects.

This pattern shows how to make traditional bunting triangles, worked in the round. The triangles are quite small, although obviously that depends on the weight of the yarn and the size of hook you use!

If you want to make your flags bigger, you could go round again a couple of times. There are instructions for doing this in the pattern.

I used 2 colours to make mine because I wanted the centres to look like flowers and to stand out from the rest of the flag. You might choose to use more colours, or just one.

year of bunting free crocheted bunting pattern

5 flags from this pattern makes a little bit of bunting, perfect for hanging off a bookcase, a smallish dresser or a fireplace. If you want to make more, for some weird reason odd numbers look best!

Hopefully you know already that I’ve declared 2019 to be the Year of Bunting! You can read about why here, and if you’d like to join in, there’s a list of challenges here.

If you’re planning to join in with Challenge 3, feel free to use this pattern!

Instructions

Please be aware that as I am English, I have used English crocheting terms.

In colour A (white):

4 ch, then join with ss.
3 ch, *then yarn over hook, insert hook into ring, yarn over hook. Pull back through ring, yarn over hook again and pull through 2 of the loops on the hook.* Repeat the starred section once, then yarn over hook and pull through remaining stitches. This makes the first cluster.

Clusters 2-5:
*3 ch, then yarn over hook, then insert hook into ring. Yarn over hook again, then pull through the ring. Yarn over hook once more and pull through 2 loops on the hook.* Do this 3 times, then yarn over the hook and pull through the rest of the loops.

Repeat this 4 more times, then 3 ch. Join to the first cluster with ss. Fasten off.

In colour B (blue):

Round 1
Work dc into a ch sp to join. 2 ch (counts as 1 tr), then 2 tr onto the same space.
3 tr into next ch sp, 1 ch, then 3 tr into same ch sp.

*3 tr into next ch sp. Into the next ch sp, 3 tr, 1 ch, 3tr.* Repeat starred section once. Join with ss.

Round 2
*3 tr into next ch sp. Into next ch sp, 3 tr, 1 ch, 3 tr. 3 tr into next ch sp.* Repeat twice. Join with ss.

To add extra rounds for bigger flags, work 3 tr, 1 ch, 3 tr into the points of the triangle, and 3 tr into the other ch sp.

When you’ve finished your flags, thread some ribbon through the chain spaces along one edge of each triangle.

Year Of Bunting Challenge 3: Knitted or Crocheted Bunting

April 18, 2019 · Leave a Comment

Year Of Bunting Challenge 3: Knitted or Crocheted Bunting

Welcome to the Year of Bunting Challenge 3!

Challenge 2 was to make some bunting embroidery and several people took part.

Hazel made a cross stitched book mark.

Julie made a needle case (she has a craft blog too which you can find here).

Christine made an embroidery hoop hanging with bunting and tassels.

Challenge 3

Challenge 3 is to make some knitted or crocheted bunting.

Since we’re already half way through April, this challenge will run until midnight BST on Sunday 12th May.

If you’d like to enter, all you have to do is knit or crochet some bunting, then either post it on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #yearofbunting, or post it on the Tea and a Sewing Machine Facebook page.

If you don’t do social media, you can email me a picture instead at teaandasewingmachine@gmail.com.

Tips and Ideas

If you’re stuck for ideas, here are some that might help.

You could use up odds and ends to make stripy bunting.

If there’s a stitch you particularly enjoy, you could make triangles featuring that stitch.

For crocheted bunting, you could make the flags either by crocheting rows, like knitting, or by crocheting in the round.

Crocheting in the round is a good way to make bunting if you want to start with a flower in the middle.

Another option is to make the flags, then add your design. You could embroider it or add knitted or crocheted details.

Some Tips

If you find that the edges of your knitted triangles are not as neat as you would like, try not knitting the first stitch of each row. Instead, slip the stitch onto the the needle, then knit the next one. If you are decreasing stitches, slip the first stitch onto the needle, then knit the 2nd and 3rd stitches together.

To crochet triangles in the round, start off with something that can be divided by 3.

Work out where the corners would need to be. Into those gaps, you’ll need to crocheted 2 groups of stitches. Into the other spaces, crochet one group.

For my crocheted bunting, I made a flower with 6 petals. Into the first space between the petals, I crocheted 1 group of trebles, then into the next space I crocheted 2 groups of trebles.

When that round was completed, I had 3 lots of 2 groups, and 3 lots of one. The groups of 2 made the points of the triangles.

So when I went round again, I crocheted 2 groups into the spaces at the points, and one group into each of the other spaces.

If you’d like some more inspiration, then please take a look at my bunting board on Pinterest.

I’m hoping you’ll join in!

8 Crochet Hacks to Make Crocheting Easier

March 15, 2018 · Leave a Comment

8 Crochet Hacks to Make Crocheting Easier

Who doesn’t love a hack or 8?

Here are some crochet hacks. If you’re a beginner, these will help you to improve your crocheting and even give you more time to do the hobby you love!

If you are more experienced, you might still find one or two crochet hacks that you haven’t thought of!

Learn How to Make a Magic Circle

When you’re crocheting in the round, sometimes starting off with 4 chains is fine. But sometimes, you don’t want a hole in the middle. I discovered this when I tried to crochet a bag!

A magic circle means that the hole in the centre is much smaller. This is a video tutorial showing how to make one. It’s also a useful thing to know how to do if you like to crochet soft toys as you won’t lose the stuffing through the hole!

Join As You Go

Making the granny squares for the blanket is fun. Sewing them all together is not so much.

If you learn how to join as you go, you can make a few squares, join them together, then make a few more until your blanket is completed. I’m doing this with a blanket I’m making, and I’m sure this is the main reason why I haven’t given up yet!

It also means that if you don’t actually know how many squares you need to make, you can just stop once the blanket is big enough.

Making a blanket in this way has the added benefit that you can keep the blanket on your lap while you’re making it, keeping your knees nice and warm!

Use Pencil Grips If You Don’t Have Ergonomic Hooks

Hooks with ergonomic handles cost more than the sort that don’t, but if you do a lot of crocheting, it can get uncomfortable and you might develop pain in your hands.

Ashlea from Heart, Hook, Home suggests using pencil grips instead.

If you’re not sure what pencil grips are, they’re those rubber or foam things teachers put on pencils sometimes to encourage children to hold a pencil properly.

They are very cheap (they’re here on Amazon. This is as affiliate link.), and you can just pop one on a crochet hook.

Store Your Hooks in a Pen Holder or a Crayon Roll

Once you start to acquire a collection of crochet hooks, you’ll need somewhere to keep them. I like to keep mine handy, safe and all together. It would be no good throwing them all in the box thing by the sewing machine as it’s a mess in there and they’d get lost!

My crochet hooks live in a Lego pen pot on the bookshelf above the sewing machine.

A plastic box would be another option, or you could make a crochet hook roll, similar to a crayon roll. There’s a tutorial here for a crayon roll that could be adapted for storing crochet hooks.

Use a Bowl For Yarn, Especially If You Have Toddlers or Cats

You can buy yarn bowls, which are bowls that have a notch in them and prevent the yarn from rolling all over the floor and being tangled up by your cat or your toddler! There are some lovely ones here on Etsy.

You don’t have to buy a special bowl though, unless you want to!

Just pop the yarn in a mixing bowl on the floor. I’ve seen pictures of bowls with bulldog clips on them to guide the yarn, colanders and shoe boxes with holes in them.

Learn to Read Visual Patterns

Sometimes it’s easier to figure out how to crochet bigger stitches from a diagram than it is from written instructions. If your having difficulties figuring out a particular stitch or pattern from a written pattern, a visual pattern might be more helpful.

Some of us are visual learners anyway, which means that we find it easier to absorb information if it’s presented to us in a visual form.

If you decide that you want to develop your own crochet patterns, sometimes drawing them out in diagram form first makes things easier, before writing that patterns out. And if you include the diagrams in the finished pattern, your readers will thank you for it!

Download Digital Patterns To Your Phone

Although you can still buy crochet patterns the old fashioned way in printed form, there are also lots of patterns out there that are digital.

You might still want to print these out, especially if you want to write on them.

But you can also download them to your phone and there are advantages to doing this too.

It means that you always have your crochet pattern with you! If you have a few minutes you don’t have to hunt for your pattern (as long as you can remember where your phone is!) and you don’t have to remember the pattern when you go out if you want to take your crochet with you.

It also means that broken printers, children who’ve used up all the paper, wind and rain won’t be able to stop you from crocheting wherever you are!

Keep Your Crochet in a Bag With Handles

Keeping your crochet in a bag with handles means that when you go out, you can grab the bag, hang it off your arm and crochet wherever you are.

The bag thing has meant that I have crocheted at the bus stop, while waiting for my boys to go into school and during days out that have involved tedious things like car museums.

Bonus Tips From the Facebook Page

Here are 2 more crochet hacks!

There’s a tip for making crocheted baskets firmer using sugar and water, and another for starting off a project with foundation single/ double crochet instead of a chain (there’s a tutorial here on One Dog Woof).

Do you have any other crochet hacks? Add them below in the comments!

Shell Stitch Crocheted Mug Cosy Tutorial

February 16, 2018 · 2 Comments

Shell Stitch Crocheted Mug Cosy Tutorial

Even though it’s still February and it’s cold, in a couple of weeks it will be March and that means spring!

I’m not a gardener. My garden is a muddy patch with a trampoline in it. Last year I tried to grow vegetables and managed 1 lettuce that bolted because I left it too long and 5 tomatoes.

Although I’m definitely better at sewing than gardening, my plan for this year is to grow some pretty pink things and not bother with the vegetables!

Being out in the garden in springtime with a cup of tea means that the tea gets cold much more quickly than it does indoors.

So the answer is a mug cosy tutorial (and keep an eye on it and drink it quickly)!

Ages ago I made this mug cosy using blanket weave stitch, and more recently, I decided to make another mug cosy, this time using shell stitch.

The mug cosy has 4 rows of shells, with a couple of rows of double crochet at the top and the bottom.

The hole for the handle is achieved by simply not joining the shell rounds and going back round the other way!

If you’d like to buy a kit for this mug cosy either for yourself or as a present for somebody, I have some for sale on Etsy here and here.

Shell Stitch Crocheted Mug Cosy Tutorial

You Will Need

DK yarn, 4 mm crochet hook.

Making the Mug Cosy

Please be aware that being English I have used British crocheting terms!

1. Make 49 ch. Join with ss.

2. Skip one chain, then sc into each chain. Join with ss.

3. Go round again! Sc into each stitch. Join with ss.

4. 1 ch, then skip 2 stitches. *5 dc into next stitch, skip 2 stitches, sc into next stitch, skip 2 stitches* to the end of the round. Don’t join!

5. 5 ch, then sc into 3rd dc of shell. 2 ch, then dc into sc of previous round. *2 ch, then sc into 3rd dc of next shell, 2 ch, dc into next sc* to the end of the round.

Repeat rows 4 and 5 3 more times.

6. Dc into each stitch. Join with ss.

Repeat row 6. Join with ss. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Easy Crocheted Cardigan Tutorial: Solomon’s Knots

May 5, 2017 · 4 Comments

Easy Crocheted Cardigan Tutorial: Solomon’s Knots

A couple of months ago I was sent some beautiful chunky yarn from Wool and the Gang.

I had three balls of Heal the Wool, but I had no idea how much of something it would make up!

So I decided to pick a stitch and start crocheting. If I had enough I would make a cardigan. If not, I would make a scarf instead.

I started off crocheting shell stitch because it’s one of my favourites. I had in mind something lacy, but because the yarn was so chunky, the shells were very dense. So I abandoned the shells and gave Solomon’s a knots go instead.

The results were much better! Solomon’s knots gave it the lacy effect I was looking for. If you’d like to take a look at the tutorial for Solomon’s knots, you can find it here. The post also has a review of the yarn I used.

Because I wanted to make something simple that would be easy to undo if necessary, I decided to make a cardigan along the lines of this one from One Dog Woof.

As I hardly ever just copy things (I have issues with being told what to do 😉 ), I took Chiwei’s advice in making the crocheted rectangle, making the sleeves and the idea of adding an edging. I made it my own by using a different stitch, and as her measurements were all in inches and I didn’t feel like converting them to cm, I’ve no idea whether my rectangle ended up the same size!

If you want to make one yourself, here’s my version of this easy cardigan tutorial!

Easy Crocheted Cardigan Tutorial

For this easy crocheted cardigan tutorial, I used 2 balls of Heal the Wool in dusky blue and a 12 mm crochet hook.

1. Make the first row of Solomon’s knots (the tutorial for Solomon’s knots is here). This will determine how long the cardigan is, so before crocheting, you will need to measure across yourself from neck to hips. Bear in mind that the sleeves will cause it to be shorter at the front so you’ll need it to be sure that it’s gong to be long enough.

You will also need to measure across yourself with arms outstretched. I measured from elbow to elbow.

It’s difficult to measure yourself like this, so you’ll probably need somebody to help you!

2. Work second and subsequent rows until your rectangle is the right width. Remember that this measurement will need to include sleeves.

My rectangle was 16 stitches wide and 18 stitches high, roughly 80 cm x 65 cm.

3. When your rectangle is the correct size, tie off the yarn and lay it out. Fold the corners inwards and pin them together, leaving a gap for your arms. I left a gap of 4 stitches. Slip stitch the sleeves.

4. Starting at the bottom edge, work 2 more rows of Solomon’s knots all the way round.

You could use this easy crocheted cardigan tutorial to experiment with cardigans of different sizes. This one actually turned out to be a little bit smaller than I was expecting (I was worried it was going to be huge!). A smaller one might be nice to wear with an evening dress.

Linking up here.

Free Crocheted Bunting Pattern