January photo journey

February 7, 2015February 5, 2015 ~ solrencoret ~ 4 Comments

The first month of the year is behind us, no idea how that happened but happy to say goodbye to January and hopefully leave the worst of the winter behind. If you follow my blog you will know I have some resolutions for this year, and thought it might be good to share some of my progress with you.

I am proud to say I have been meeting my goals for the year, including number 4: Take more photographs, go on a photo journey around town once a month.

A couple of weeks ago I woke up early on a Saturday morning, excited to start my day because I had planned to go on my first photo journey of the year. I decided to go to the Water of Leith since it is one of my favourite walks in Edinburgh. It was a frosty but sunny morning, and even though I was a bit shy at first I soon became quite relaxed and really enjoyed it. Here are some of the pictures I took:

Having the blog has definitely helped to keep my resolutions and I am happy to share them with you. I have been listening to many podcasts lately and have enjoyed listening to the journey of such amazing crafty people. This has made me realise how important it is to give yourself time to be inspired, to be creative, to be in awe of life and everything around you. I would have never considered myself a creative person before but I have come to find how much I love to have creative escapes in my life, how much I love colour, textures and shapes and how great it is to feel inspired by them.

It is strange but lately I have been feeling as if I’ve finally started to settle in to… well, me. I am realising what it is that I truly like and don’t like, even if it is unexpected or if it doesn’t fit with the way I have always been. I am sure it will keep on changing but that is alright, I just need to keep filling my life with what makes me feel good, happy and relaxed and I will know I am on the right track.

Everything is a journey I guess, a crochet journey, a life journey.

Sol

Cobbled Street Cowl Ta-dah!

February 4, 2015February 2, 2015 ~ solrencoret ~ 5 Comments

Hello my dear readers! How did January treat you? This month went incredibly fast for me, despite the bad weather and short days. I did get quite a lot of crochet time with all the travelling that my work requires, many train rides to just relax, crochet and listen to podcasts.

I have realised that crocheting in trains is where I enjoy it the most, and thinking about this today I realised there is a very simple reason for this: there is nothing else I have to be doing. We all have busy lives and you probably struggle just like me to fit in some crochet time in the day. Even if we managed this there is always something in the back of our minds that is screaming for our attention like laundry to fold, plates to clean, or sometimes in my case even having to make myself some food. When I am on the train, there is nothing else that I could be doing. I couldn’t possible use that time to clean or cook, or anything else for that matter and I think that is why crocheting on the train is such a bliss, because it gets all my attention and it fills up a time that otherwise would be “wasted”. I always want to be productive, can’t help it, its the engineer in me.

By the way, I am obsessed with a few podcasts lately, specially Woolful and Knit British. They are quite different, Woolful is the podcast of Ashley, in each episode she shares interviews with people in the fibre industry and you get to hear their fibre journey which is always so inspiring. Knit British is the podcast of Louise, and here she shares her love of yarn produced, spun or dyed in the UK. Be sure to check them out if you are looking for a new podcast.

The reason for this post is that my cobbled street inspired cowl is finished! This cowl was, as many of my projects recently, a lovely train companion. It is worked in tunisian crochet using only two stitches, it was very easy to work and the yarn is lovely. It really does remind me of cobbled streets so I am very pleased with how this turned out. It uses only one skein so it is a great little project if you want to start with tunisian crochet.

The only problem I had with this project was that the yarn (Madelinetosh Merino Light 4ply) smelled a bit like vinegar when I bought it. It went away while I was crocheting with it but when I blocked it (just spraying some water) it came back and it smelled awful! Had to do an intense wet blocking to get the smell off but it is all good now.

I will post this pattern soon, need to do a chart for it so may take a bit. I am not a fan of opening Excel when I am not in the office but will do it for you guys 🙂

Hope all is good with you, I am working on a couple more tutorials and of course some more patterns. I will share my progress of that Moroccan-inspired bag soon 🙂

Have a great day!

Sol

Yarn cake love and giveaway winner

February 2, 2015February 2, 2015 ~ solrencoret ~ Leave a comment

Hello there! I am having a lazy Saturday night and thought I should write a few blog posts for you. The lovely yarn cakes in the picture were my activity of last Saturday night (you can see how wild my weekends are) after I purchased a yarn winder and swift.

It took a few tries to get it right and I still manage to get everything tangled every now and then but this yarn winding thing is very addictive, I must warn you! It was frustrating when I couldn’t get a nice cake but after getting one right I couldn’t stop. I am not even showing all the ones I did that night in the picture, there were four more I believe.

I am predicting there will be loads more yarn winding in my future after the Edinburgh Yarn Festival so I am trying to get all my current skeins done in preparation 🙂

Weekends are lonely sometimes in this new city I call home, so my yarn and crochet keep me company. I am very thankful to have this craft and this blog in my life and for you lovely readers who stop by to read my words or see my patterns. I shared with you in my resolutions post that I wanted to start appreciating the good things in my life and I have actually kept my promise, I have a little notebook that goes with me everywhere and I have been writing down a few things when they come to me. I will share a post with more detail of this every month, the January one will come soon.

Finally I wanted to announce the winner for the #crochet giveaway (chosen using random.org):

Pamela!

I really did get a number 2 on random.org, it is not because you said you liked my pattern, I swear! Thank you for your comment, I will be contacting you through email to ask your details and get that magazine sent to you soon. Thank you to all others who left a comment, love reading them 🙂

Hope you all have a great week!

Sol

Free pattern: Vintage Chunky Cowl

January 28, 2015 ~ solrencoret ~ 3 Comments

This is my second chunky cowl design of this winter, it is an oversized cowl using vintage colours which goes well with many things in my (and hopefully your) wardrobe. It is quite big, so if you don’t like too much fabric around your neck I would make this less wide and maybe a bit longer. It is up to you!

If you are looking for a quick and warm project for this winter then you should give this a try, the yarn is quite affordable, easy to work with and lovely colours available.

Enjoy 🙂

Vintage Cunky Cowl Pattern

This tunisian crochet pattern is worked flat and then folded and sown to make it double. The inside of the fabric is therefore not shown so there is no need to weave ends since they can be left inside. It uses only two stitches and it works up very quickly.

If you don’t know the stitches or how to change colours with tunisian crochet please refer to my tutorials page where you will find everything you need to work this pattern. The two stitches used for the sample in the picture are tunisian reverse simple stitch and tunisian twisted knit stitch, though I will replace this last one in the following pattern for the normal tunisian knit stitch since I don’t have a tutorial for the twisted version. If you like the look of the twisted knit stitch please give it a try, it is a bit slower to work but it looks very nice, there are several tutorials online you can search for.

The cowl measures 40cm wide and 85cm long when flat (before sewing) but you should make it as wide and long as you prefer, it is quite big as you can see in the picture. My gauge for this yarn is 10sts and 10 rows in the stitch pattern in 4inx4in, however gauge is not essential since you can just adjust the amount of stitches to get the width you want for the yarn you wish to use.

Materials

Deramores Vintage Chunky Yarn:

2 x 100g Chalk (Colour A)
1 x 100g Rose (Colour B)
1 x 100g Barley (Colour C)

9mm tunisian crochet hook with extension

Needle to sew ends together if you prefer this instead of slip stitching.

Abbreviations

ch – chain

st – stitch

Tks – tunisian knit stitch

Trss – tunisian reverse simple stitch

lp – loop(s)

sl st – slip stitch

yo – yarn over

end st – last stitch of forward pass (see stitch guide below)

Stitch Guide

Foundation Row – Forward Pass: Chain number of stitches needed. Skip first chain, insert hook under back strand of next chain, yarn over and pull up a loop. Repeat until last chain.

Return Pass: Yarn over pull through one loop on hook, (yarn over and pull through two loops on hook) until you have one loop left on hook.

Last stitch of any forward pass (End st): Insert hook under last vertical bar and strand behind it, yarn over and pull up a loop.

Tunisian Knit Stitch (Tks): Skip first st, insert hook between front and back vertical bars, yarn over and pull up a loop. Continue this way until last stitch, work last stitch normally. Work return pass normally.

Tunisian Reverse Simple Stitch (Trss): Skip first st, insert hook from right to left under back vertical bar, yarn over and pull up a loop. Work last stitch normally. Work return pass normally.

To change colours at the start of next forward pass: work previous return pass normally until you have two loops left on your hook. Drop old colour and pick up new colour, yarn over and pull through two loops on hook.

Slip st as in Tks: Insert hook between front and back vertical bars, pull through two loops on hook.

Slip st End st: Insert hook under last vertical bar and strand behind it, yarn over and pull through both loops on hook.

Instructions

With A ch 40. Work foundation forward pass, you should have 40 sts, each loop in the hook counts as a st. Work return pass.

Row 1: Skip first vertical bar, Tks in next st and each st across until last st, work End st. Work return pass.

Row 2 – 6: Repeat Row 1.

Row 7: Skip first vertical bar, Tks in next st and each st across until last st, work End st. Work return pass, change to B at the end of return pass. No need to cut yarns, you can carry it along on the back.

Row 8: Skip first vertical bar, Trss in next st and each st across until last st, work End st. Work return pass.

Row 9: Repeat Row 8.

Row 10: Skip first vertical bar, Trss in next st and each st across until last st, work End st. Work return pass, change to A at the end of return pass. No need to cut yarns, you can carry it along on the back.

Rows 10 to 100: Repeat Rows 1 to 10 alternating colours B and C.

Row 101: Skip first vertical bar, slip st as in Tks in next st and each st across until last st, slip st End st.

Fold the fabric lengthways so that the wrong side of the fabric is facing you and sew in the long edge to make a tube. You can use slip st or any other joining method you like. Turn the fabric over so that the right side is facing (make sure all the ends remain inside the tube) and close the tube to turn it into a cowl by sewing both edges together. You will be sewing one circumference against another so that you end up with something like a donut (I am not sure I am making any sense so please ask if you are totally lost!). Don’t sew the four layers together or you won’t be able to hide the seams on the inside of the cowl when you are wearing it.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Sol

#crochet Review and Giveaway! Closed

January 21, 2015January 31, 2015 ~ solrencoret ~ 4 Comments

Hello there! How are you? It has been very cold here in the last few days so I am writing this post from my bed with a hot water bottle next to my feet 🙂

Today I bring you a quick review for a new magazine I purchased a few weeks ago and I will also be doing my first giveaway! I know this is something that more popular blogs do but I thought it would be nice and a smaller following means more chances of you winning so I am sure you are OK with it 🙂

The magazine is #crochet and it is published in the UK by Immediate Media. It is a quarterly magazine and they only recently published their third issue so it is quite new. I purchased the second issue which has the astounding amount of 63 patterns from garments, to accessories and amigurumis.

I really enjoyed this magazine, not only because there are some nice patterns but also because there are some great recommendations of blogs, Etsy shops, books, yarn and more. Even though there were a few garments in there what really catches your attention are the lovely accesories for your wardrobe and your home, starting with the beautiful cowl featured on the cover. It was nice to buy a magazine with more than one pattern that I really liked! Of course I have no time at all to add any more projects to my queue but you can’t tell me those cake decorations aren’t the most adorable thing you have ever seen!

There were also some features on designers, on this issue of Kat Goldin and Mola Mills and those were nice to read as well, it is always interesting to know a bit more about the people behind gorgeous patterns.

So if you are looking to try a new crochet magazine I definitely recommend to check this one out, you can buy it for £7.99 at buysuscriptions with free UK postage and you can also win a copy of this issue if you enter my giveaway. All you need to do is leave a comment on this post telling me what has been your favourite crochet pattern/project to date and why. You have until the 30th January at midday (UK time) to enter and it is open to my international readers as well, I will post it wherever you are 🙂

Good luck!

Sol

WIPs

January 17, 2015January 20, 2015 ~ solrencoret ~ 2 Comments

I would like to thank the nice comments I got for my resolution’s post, I really appreciate the support! I have made some progress there and will share it in due time. Today I would like to share what is in my hook these days or my works in progress (WIPs).

I usually love most of my crochet projects but I am particularly happy with my WIPs this month since they all happen to be my own designs and have worked out great (so far).

The first is this cowl inspired on the beautiful cobbled streets you can find in Edinburgh. Even though I am always tripping or getting my shoe in between the stones I am in love with cobbled streets and this is my tribute! I am not sure if this will be a very short cowl or more like an infinity scarf, I will work on the pattern until I ran out of yarn and then decide.

I am using that lovely Madelinetosh yarn I shared with you recently and I think it gives the exact effect I was looking for: that change in colour but also a bit of shine which reminds me of cobbled streets after the rain (which of course happens very often in Scotland). Once it is finished I will post pictures of the finished sample and a picture of my inspiration as well. This has been my “train project” lately and it has been such a joy to work on, simple pattern in a beautiful yarn.

That gorgeous yarn bowl in the pictures is a present I received from my sister for Christmas. Isn’t the most beautiful thing ever? I love it! If you are interested in buying one of these beauties here is the Etsy shop where my sister bought it from, I had a little browse and wanted to buy everything to be honest. *I just found out that my sister actually asked the shop owner to make this baby seal yarn bowl specially for me! She has the design on other products but not yarn bowls, best sister ever 🙂

Also, I am working on a bag pattern, my first bag! It is very early on but so far it is turning out as planned. It uses tapestry crochet and is inspired on this picture I found on Pinterest.

No pictures of this WIP yet but will keep you updated as usual.

I am also working on a pattern for a workshop, I am so excited and scared at the same time when it comes to teaching, definitely more excitement than fear though so I think we are good! It will be a very simple pattern to learn how to crochet basic tunisian stitches and a couple of more advanced ones, it is blocking at the moment so almost finished.

Also on my blocking mat is… my tunisian vest! This vest… OMG, it really needs to get done. It is looking good, though I will probably have to add a bit of length to it with a few rows of ribbed crochet to make sure I actually wear it. Just some sewing and those few rows to add length and I’ll be done. Pictures coming soon!

Those are my WIPs at the moment, I will start swatching soon for a sweater by Doris Chan for a new Interweave class I purchased, and I bought the yarn for that Piped Petals pattern that I shared on my queue post so I will have to start that soon as well.

A lot of crochet in my life as usual but so happy with all my projects. The whole process from the inspiration for a pattern, to choosing the yarn and then making a sample is just so satisfying and it is definitely the kind of things that I try to fill my mind with when I start getting too worried or anxious. I just go to my happy place where I am just crocheting away, surrounded by beautiful yarn and with not a worry in the world.

Thanks for visiting and have a great day!

Sol

Yarn and more yarn

January 10, 2015January 9, 2015 ~ solrencoret ~ 8 Comments

Hello my dear readers! How is 2015 treating you? Life has been quiet around here, it was hard to get back to work and the routine after the holidays but I think I am finally settling in again.

I did a bit of yarn shopping in December so wanted to share my latest buys with you. I have decided not to buy any more yarn until the Edinburgh Yarn Festival (EYF), the vendors have been announced and there are so many stalls (so exciting!!!) so I want to save some money to get some lovely things there. Now, I won’t buy more yarn but I will use a gift voucher for a local yarn shop that my lovely boyfriend gave me for Christmas. I think that now that yarn is taking over the flat he finally realised that really all I want in life is yarn 🙂

If you are planning to go to the Edinburgh Yarn Festival let me know if you would like to meet up, we can do some yarn shopping together, wouldn’t that be lovely 🙂 I am also thinking to take one of the crochet classes so give me a shout if you are thinking the same, a class buddy is always necessary!

Now, about my latest yarn buys, I will begin with this beautiful Madelinetosh yarn, is Merino Light 4ply in a lovely greyish colour. I bought this at Be Inspired Fibres, there are so many beautiful yarns from all over the world in this shop and they will be at the EYF as well. It is already being worked into a cowl and I am loving how this looks with tunisian crochet. The cowl is inspired in the beautiful cobbled streets in Edinburgh, will post pictures and pattern soon!

At Be Inspired I also got a bit of Artesano Alpaca and Alpaca Silk in 4ply, I believe this will become that honeycomb cowl that sparked the idea to start my tunisian crochet tutorials, the colours are the same as my tunisian vest and of course only realised once I got home… 😛

As part of a yarn exchange we did at my knitting group Christmas party I got this lovely Noro yarn, I see some tunisian fingerless gloves in the future! I think tunisian simple stitch would look great with the colour changes in this yarn.

I also got this lovely Brigantia yarn in DK weight at Ginger Twist Studio, I have been eyeing this yarn for some time so happy to finally get to work with it. I am doing a sample for a class project, this New Year may bring some teaching opportunities so will keep you updated but it is all so very exciting!

Finally I also got this from Jess at Ginger Twist: an adorable crochet for my keys! I love it, for me it is only decorative but you could actually use it in those times of crochet emergency 😛

I’ve been hooking away these days and loving every minute of it. It has given me a lot of time to think about what I hope for this year, do you think a New Year resolutions post is too late? I think getting it in writing will help and one of my resolutions is to expand this blog and talk a bit more about life in my corner of the world. I think I will just start working on it and hope you will forgive me for being a little late to the party (or boarding the bus using the back door as we would say where I come from).

I have enjoyed every minute of this blog journey and want it to grow (and me alongside it), I hope to continue to interest you with patterns, colours and yarn goodness if you allow me since it is an honour to have my blog be a small part of your day or of your own crafty journey. Will be back soon with those resolutions…

Hope you have a lovely day!

Sol

My 2015 project queue

January 2, 2015December 29, 2014 ~ solrencoret ~ 6 Comments

Happy New Year everyone! I hope this year brings you loads of good things, including loads of crochet of course 🙂 I have been thinking about what projects I want to start working on this new year, I have loads of magazines and books but put them aside on 2014 to spend more time designing. I will continue to work on my own patterns but I do miss working on other people’s designs, there are such lovely things out there that I want to give a try.

This is a long list and I am aware that there is probably not enough time in the year to crochet all this and also do my own patterns, but a girl can dream right?

Let’s start with magazines, I went through my collection and narrowed down my crochet wish list to the following patterns:

Leaps Cardigan by Annelies Baes: I came across this cardi on Issue 57 of Inside Crochet and immediately fell in love. As you know I am always in the lookout for some wearable crochet and this pattern definitely hits the mark.

Penelope Top by Jennifer Reid: Another find from Inside Crochet, this top is gorgeous and can see myself wearing it all summer long. I think that the alpaca in the yarn used makes it look even nicer so will try to find a similar yarn to the one used by the designer.

Rockin Red Dress by Doris Chan: I purchased a few more Interweave Crochet issues during the holiday sales and there were quite a few projects I really liked. I always check the patterns on Ravelry and was surprised to find that most of the ones I had liked had very poor ratings and comments of badly written patterns. I am not sure if this is common for Interweave Crochet, I had an idea that their patterns weren’t so throughly checked and I believe I had mentioned it before, but I didn’t think it would be that bad. Anyway, I did find a beautiful crochet dress by Doris Chan, she is quite a famous designer and her pattern had good reviews. I have found that for Interweave magazines it is safer to look for patterns with known names, I guess they have a reputation to keep and more experience as well. I have never crocheted a dress but this is really stunning.

Quartz Lace Top by Dora Ohrenstein: You know by now that I am a fan of Dora Ohrenstein, but didn’t know this pattern was hers until I looked it up just now! I saw it on Ravelry a while ago but found it recently in one of the Interweave magazines I bought.

Moving on to books now… I have purchased a few books this year, haven’t reviewed them yet but thought I could still list the projects that are at the top of my wish list. As you can imagine some designers will sound familiar!

Haru from Everyday Crochet by Doris Chan: I found this book at a charity shop at a very cheap price so had to get it. My favourite pattern is this striped long cardigan, I love how colourful it is.

Buttoned Capelet from Hook, Stitch, Give by Kat Goldin: There are quite a few things I would like to make from this book including this beautiful capelet, I am so drooling over that yarn!

Slouch and Bobble Hat from Hook, Stitch, Give by Kat Goldin: Love the hat, love the colours, love the pompom. Love, love, love.

Lorelei Pullover from The New Tunisian Crochet by Dora Ohrenstein: This pattern uses a vintage tunisian stitch adapted by the designer, and it is like nothing I have ever seen.

Finally, I have a few patterns found on Ravelry and other places… and then I’m done I promise!

Piped Petals Cardigan by Linda Permann: The yoke for this cardigan is so lovely! It looks very flattering as well.

Freyja by Aoibhe Ni: I purchased the Legendary Shawls eBook and still have many left to do… this one is at the top of the list though!

© www.halfadreamaway.com — © http://www.halfadreamaway.com

San Marino Bag by Hooked: I have never liked crochet bags, I had never really found a pattern that doesn’t look a bit tacky but this one caught my eye. I love that the kit comes with the handles as well.

As you can see I am drawn to garments, mostly because I can’t design garments yet so I look for other designers for these patterns. Have plenty of ideas for accessories for this new year so as usual, stay tuned 🙂

Let me know in the comments if you have any patterns in your queue for next year that you can’t wait to try!

Sol

More chunky goodness

December 27, 2014December 27, 2014 ~ solrencoret ~ Leave a comment

Did you have a nice Christmas everyone? I hope so 🙂 I just wanted to share a quick post, remember my chunky obsession? Here is the latest finished project! I think I am finally done with chunky yarns for the moment… moving on to 4ply next, a spring cowl maybe? We will see! I am not sure if it is the holidays or just having time for myself but have been feeling very inspired lately and patterns are swimming around my head, it is a very nice feeling indeed.

I will post this pattern once I post the tutorial for tunisian reverse simple stitch, very easy stitch and it gives a lovely texture as you can see in the pictures.

I better get back to all that leftover food and some more crochet time in front of the TV… hard times!

Sol

Free Xmas Pattern and Tutorial: Mini Fair Isle Hats

November 15, 2014November 29, 2014 ~ solrencoret ~ 2 Comments

*Ravelry link*

Well we are definitely in holiday season: lights are starting to appear, Christmas songs can be heard in every shop and markets soon will follow in my part of the world. And what better way of getting into the Xmas spirit than crocheting this cute little fair isle ornaments!

This pattern works up very quickly, it only has two rows of colorwork but I have prepared a full tutorial so that you can follow it no matter what level of crochet you are comfortable with. I used a DK yarn and 3.5mm hook, but you could also use a 4mm (see the small difference in size in picture below).

And here it is!

Mini Fair Isle Hats Tutorial

This pattern is worked in the round, starting with a row of foundation double crochet. It has two rounds of colourwork where the unused colour is carried as strands on the inside of the hat. The pompom gives the final touch for this cute little Xmas ornament.

Size

8cm (3″) tall

Materials

3.5mm hook (could be replaced for a 4mm if necessary)

DK yarn in two Xmas colours (or any of your preference), I used Stylecraft Special DK in Lipstick, Spring Green and Cream from a blanket I have in progress

Needle to weave in ends

Pompom maker 2cm diameter (bought or made by yourself)

Abbreviations

ch – chain

st – stitch

sl st – slip stitch

fdc – UK foundation double crochet

dc – UK double crochet

dc2tog – UK double crochet decrease

BL – back loop of chain

Stitch guide

fdc: Follow this link for a tutorial.

dc2tog: insert hook in stitch, yarn over and pull up a loop, insert hook in next stitch, yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through 3 loops on hook.

Notes:

When joining each round, slip stitch to first dc (not turning chain), pull very tight to make that stitch as small as possible, then chain one, and pull tight again to make that chain very small. This technique by Crochet Ever After helps keep a straight and less noticeable seam.
The first st of each round is done in the same st where you joined with a sl st.
I have written the instructions for the cream/red hat so those will be the colours I will reference to, just keep your own colours in mind when following the pattern.
Number of stitches in parenthesis shows how many stitches you should have at the end of the round.

Instructions:

1. With the cream colour make 24 fdc (here is a tutorial for this stitch). Make sure your tail is not too short, since you will be using it to close a little gap once finished.

2. Form a circle making sure you are not twisting the stitches.

3. Join to first st with sl st. Pull tight to make it as small as possible. As you can see there is a small gap, we will sew both sides together at the end.

4. Keeping your hook where it is, make a slip knot with the other colour.

5. Pull the red loop through the white one and pull tight (pull the white yarn tight as well).

6. Ch 1, pull tight. You will continue working with the red yarn, leave the white in the back and don’t cut it since you will pick it up again soon.

7. Dc in the back loop (BL) of the same stitch where you did the sl st. From here onwards all dc should be in the back loop only. Dc in next st and every st across (24st).

8. Join to first st of the round with sl st, pull tight.

9. Ch 1, pull tight (You should pull tight after the sl st and ch 1 when closing every round from here onwards, but won’t keep repeating it :P)

10. Insert your hook in the BL of the first st (where you did the sl st) yarn over and pull up a loop. Drop the red yarn, yarn over with the white and pull through both loops on hook.

11. Insert your hook in the BL of next st, yarn over and pull up a loop.

12. Drop white yarn, yarn over with red yarn and pull through two loops on hook.

13. You will repeat steps 10 to 12 until the end of the round (one red st, one white, one red, one white…), but first I will show you how to keep your yarns from tangling. Like on step 10, insert your hook in the BL of next st, yarn over and pull up a loop.

14. If your yarns are tangled already, untangle them and put the white yarn on your left, the red one in front of you. Now you need to pick up the white yarn, so drop the red in front of you and pick up the white from your left. You will notice that the white goes under the red when doing this. Yarn over and pull through 2 loops.

15. Let’s do one more so that it is clear. Insert your hook in BL of next st, yarn over and pull up a loop.

16. Now drop your white yarn to your left, and pick up the red from the front.

17. Yarn over with the red and pull through both loops.

18. If you continue dropping the white to the left and the red to the from your yarns won’t get tangled. Continue this way until the last st, which should be a white one.

19. Dc in last st without changing colour.

20. Still with the white yarn, sl st to first st and ch 1 (pull tight!)

21. We will do the exact same steps for this round as for the last one, except we will do opposite colours, so if the st was red in the last round, in this round you will do a white one and so on. So the first st of the previous round is red (the one where you did the sl st), since we are working with a white yarn already we don’t need to change colours. Insert your hook in the BL of the first st, yarn over and pull up a loop.

22. Drop your white yarn to the left and pick up the red in from of you. Yarn over and pull through both loops.

23. Repeat steps 10 to 12 until last st of round, which should be a red st.

24. Dc in last st without changing colours.

25. Sl st to first st, ch 1.

26. And you are done with the two rounds of colourwork! It is quite easy from here. Still with the red colour, dc in first st and each st across. Remember we haven’t increased or decreased so you should still have 24 st.

27. Sl st to first st.

28. Drop the red colour, pick up the white, yarn over and pull through loop on hook. Pull the red yarn tight.

29. Ch 1 with white and pull tight. You won’t be using the red yarn again so you can cut it now, leaving a tail long enough to weave in comfortably.

30. Dc in first st and each st across. Sl st to first st, ch 1.

31. Dc in first st, dc in next 3 st.

32. Dc2tog in next 2 st (see stitch guide at the top).

33. Continue this way (4dc, dc2tog in next 2 st) until the end. You should finish with one dc2tog in the last 2 stitches. Sl st to first st, ch 1. (20st)

34. Dc in first st and each st across. Sl st to first st, ch 1.

35. Dc in first st, dc in next st, dc2tog in next two stitches.

36. Continue this way (2dc, dc2tog) until the end. You should finish with one dc2tog in the last 2 stitches. Sl st to first st and ch 1. (15st)

37. dc2tog in first two st, place a st marker in the st just finished.

38. dc2tog across until last st. Dc in last st. Sl st to marked st, ch 1 (8st).

39. dc2tog in first two stitches, place a marker in st just made.

40. Dc2tog until the end. Sl st to marked st (4st). Fasten off.

Weave in ends and close the small gap in the first round. You don’t need to close the gap at the top since the pompom will cover it. Make a pompom and attach it to the top, use a piece of yarn or ribbon to make string.

Let me know if you have any questions, I know some pictures are not great but days are very grey at this time of year. I hope to get better with the pictures with time 🙂

If you want to make the Santa hat in the first picture you just need to make a the first white row of fdc in white and then change to red for the rest of the pattern without changing colours. Easy peasy!

Sol