Free Pattern: Celebration Coasters

Hello. My name is Joanna, and I am addicted to designing coasters. In my defence, my cousin got married and although he and his wife said they didn't want presents, I couldn't resist making a little something!

These coasters have a matching holder, fastened with ribbon. Alternatively you could chain a length of yarn in a contrasting colour, or leave off the ties altogether.

The coasters are10cm/4in across when made in Sugar'n Cream, and 9cm/3.5in across when made with Rico Creative Cotton Aran, using a 4.5mm hook. 


Pattern

You will need:

• Worsted/aran weight cotton yarn, for example Lily's Sugar'n Cream, or Rico Creative Cotton. For one coaster you will need about 11m/12 yards of yarn. For the holder you will need about 24m/26 yards.  For a full set you'll need around 92m/100yards of yarn in total.
• 4.5mm hook
• 1m  ribbon (or 1m chain of contrasting colour yarn with ends sewn in)
• tapestry needle for sewing in ends
• Iron, tea cloth, water spray for blocking

Stitches used: ch, sl st, sc, hdc, dc, magic ring, chainless starting dc (this stitch is a bit tricky but well worth learning; if you don't want to use it you can ch3 instead). Some stitches need to be worked into back loops; if you're not sure how see this tutorial. US terms are used throughout; if you prefer UK ones please use this conversion chart.

Made with Rico Creative Cotton Aran

Coaster

Round 1: Dc 12 times into magic ring. Pull tight and sl st through first dc to join. (12)

Round 2: Ch 1. In back loops, 2 sc in each st around, join with sl st into first sc. (24)

Round 3: Chainless starting dc (or ch3), dc in same st, skip 1 st, (2dc in next st, skip 1 st) 11 times, join in top of 1st dc/ch3 (24)

Round 4: Ch 1, (sc in back loops of next 2 dcs, 3dcs into gap) 12 times. Join with sl st to first sc, bind off and weave in ends.

unblocked coasters don't lay completely flat

Blocking: When you finish, the coaster will not lay completely flat. Steam blocking will fix this, and only takes a minute per coaster. Lay one coaster upside down on an ironing board, and cover with a clean tea towel. Spray water over the towel, then iron briefly to flatten the coaster. If you have a steam iron you can use that instead of spraying water, and if you don't have a water spray, just dampen the tea towel first.

Holder

Round 1: Dc 12 times into magic ring. Pull tight and sl st through first dc to join.

Round 2: Ch2 (does not count as st - make 1st dc into same space as ch 2 throughout), 2dc in each dc around. Join to first dc. (24 sts)

Round 3: Ch2, (2dc in next st, dc in next st) 12 times. Join. (36 sts)

Round 4: Ch2, dc, (2dc in next st, dc in next 2 sts) 11 times, 2dc in next st, dc, Join (48 sts)

Round 5: Ch1, In back loops only, hdc in each st around. Join (48 sts)

Round 6: Ch1, (hdc, ch2, skip 2 sts) 16 times, join with sl st into 1st hdc. (16hdcs, 16ch2 spaces)

Round 7: (3hdc into ch2 space, sl st into hdc) 16 times. Bind off & weave in ends.

To add the ribbon, turn the holder inside out and weave ribbon in and out through the holes until it goes round one and a half times (so the ends are on opposite sides of the holder). Adjust the ribbon so that both ends are the same length, and turn the holder right way out again. Place the coasters in the holder and tie a neat bow.

made in Lily Sugar'n Cream

Do check out my other coaster patterns ♥

Free Pattern: Sunshine Flower Coasters

I love spring. I love the daffodils on the grass on my street, I love the cherry blossom beginning to bloom, and I really love the light evenings so I can crochet in daylight - occasionally in sunshine!

Two years ago I made these coasters for Mothering Sunday for my mother in law and my grandmother in law. I wrote down the pattern, but then lost it D: Happily it turned up again a couple of weeks ago!

Made with Rico Creative Cotton Aran

I had inherited a set of wooden coasters that came in a holder, and I thought it would make an extra special gift to make a set of crochet coasters with a holder too. These are very simple to make and work up very quickly, perfect for a Mother's Day gift, especially if you've left it a little late.

Made with Lily Sugar'n Cream

The coasters are10cm/4in across when made in Sugar'n Cream, and 9cm/3.5in across when made with Rico Creative Cotton Aran, using 3.5mm hook. The holder is 12cm/4.5in in diameter, and 2.5cm/1in tall.

Pattern

You will need:

• 2 or 3 colours of  worsted/aran weight cotton yarn, for example Lily's Sugar'n Cream, or Rico Creative Cotton. For one flower you will need about 15 yards of one yarn + scraps of a contrasting colour. For a full set you'll need around 140 yards of yarn in total.
• 3.5mm hook
• tapestry needle
• Iron, tea cloth, water spray for blocking

Stitches used: ch, sl st, sc, hdc, dc, trc (triple crochet), magic ring. US terms are used throughout; if you prefer UK ones please use this conversion chart.

Flower

Round 1: Dc 10 times into magic ring. Pull tight and sl st through first dc to join.

(Optional - bind off and change colour)

Round 2: Ch2 (does not count as st - make 1st dc into same space as ch 2 throughout), 2dc in each dc around. Join to first dc. (20 sts)

Round 3: Do not ch; treat the st you did sl st into on previous round as first st. * skip next st, (dc, 3trc, dc,) in one st, skip 1 st, sl st* 5 times. Sl st into 1st st. (five petals formed)

Round 4: Ch1 *hdc, 2dcs in next 3 sts, hdc, sl st* 5 times & fasten off.

Round 5: With contrasting colour, join in back loop of hdc on previous row. Starting in hdc, * 2sc in each of 8 sts around petal,  sl st down to st in round 2 below sl st on round 3* five times. Sl st into where you joined the yarn, bind off, weave in ends.

Unblocked the coaster isn't flat

Blocking: When you finish, the flowers petals will curl up slightly. Steam blocking will fix this, and only takes a minute per coaster. Lay one coaster upside down on an ironing board, and cover with a clean tea towel. Spray water over the towel, then iron briefly to flatten the coaster. If you have a steam iron you can use that instead of spraying water, and if you don't have a water spray, just dampen the tea towel first.

Holder

Round 1: Dc 12 times into magic ring. Pull tight and sl st through first dc to join.

Round 2: Ch2 (does not count as st - make 1st dc into same space as ch 2 throughout), 2dc in each dc around. Join to first dc. (24 sts)

Round 3: Ch2, (2dc in 1st st, dc in next st) 12 times. Join. (36 sts)

Round 4: Ch2, dc (2dc in next st, dc in next 2 sts) 11 times, 2dc in next st, dc, Join (48 sts)

Round 5: Ch2, (2dc in 1st st, dc in next 3 sts) 12 times. Join. (60 sts)

Round 6: Ch2, In back loops only, dc in each st around. Join, & bind off. (60 sts)

Round 7: Attach contrasting yarn. 30 hdc, ch 25, sl st in 1st ch, 30hdc, join to first hdc with sl st, chain 16, sl st in fourth ch from hook, bind off.

Butterfly: With first colour, attach to ch4 loop. Ch2, dc, ch2, dc, sl st into loop, (ch1, hdc 2, ch1, sl st into loop) twice, ch2, dc, ch2, dc, ch2, sl st into loop, bind off, weave in ends.

Put the coasters in the holder, and hook the butterfly through the loop to fasten it.

You may also like to try my Lacy Coasters pattern ♥

Free Pattern: Lacy Coasters

At the beginning of this week I moved offices. Where I was before there wasn't really any scope for expressing myself because it was in a more public area, and there was lots of work stuff around that didn't really fit with my style.

However, my new office was almost literally a blank canvas. It is very bright, very magnolia, but very plain, with no decoration in at all. I wanted to start by cheering up my desk, so I thought it would be nice to make some coasters, and to express my current obsession with picots and shell stitches. I didn't want to take too much time though, so these are lacy without being full on, lightweight yarn lacy.

I also picked up this really cute hello kitty clock, so I thought it would be nice to make a smaller coaster to put that on, too.

Patterns
These coasters should be pretty easy to make. The smaller one requires you to crochet in back loops. If you're not familiar with doing that, here is a good tutorial.
I blocked these to make them lay completely flat by laying them face down on an ironing board, placing a tea towel over them, spraying the tea towel with water and ironing them briefly through the damp tea towel.

You will need:

• A small amount of worsted weight yarn (I used Lily Sugar'n cream, and used less than half a ball for the three coasters)
• A 5mm hook (US size H)

Pattern is in US terms throughout.

Large Coaster
This coaster measures about 11cm across with the yarn/hook combination above.

Round 1: Make a magic ring, chain 2 (counts as first dc), 11dc in the ring. Pull tight & sl st into top of chains to join the circle.
Round 2: *Ch 2, skip a dc and sl st into the next dc* repeat from * 6 times. (Six ch 2 loops made)
Round 3: Sl st into first ch2 loop, ch 3, (counts as a dc) dc 4 into the loop. *ch2, 5dc in next loop* repeat from * 5 times, ch 2, sl st into top of ch 3.
Round 4: sl st in top of next 2 dcs, *ch 3, sl st in same dc, dc 7 times into next ch2 space, skip 2 dcs, sl st into next dc* repeat from * 6 times. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Small Coaster
This coaster measures about 9cm across with the yarn/hook combination above.

Round 1: Make a magic ring, chain 2 (counts as first dc), 11dc in the ring. Pull tight & sl st into top of chains to join the circle.
Round 2: 2sc in back loop in each dc around. sl st into first sc. (24 sc).
Round 3: *Skip 1 sc, 5 dc in next sc, skip one sc, sl st in next sc* repeat from * 6 times
Round 4: *ch3, sl st in same stitch, sc in back loops of next 5 dcs, sl st into next st* repeat from * 6 times. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Enjoy your new little coasters! ♥

Projects and ideas

I feel like I have a lot of projects on the go at the moment. I probably always do. Right now...

...I just finished a Baby Blanket.  The pattern is Classic Baby Blanket. I didn't follow the pattern exactly because I used dk weight yarn where it called for aran, and therefore a smaller hook, though perhaps not small enough. My blanket didn't wind up being all that ribbed, but it is pretty and very very soft after I washed and sort of blocked it. If you're interested in the yarn I used etc, you can check it out on my Ravelry Project Page.

I am making Flower Coasters for Mothering Sunday, which is this Sunday in the UK. I am going to put the pattern on this blog when I'm finished, if you want to make some too. I don't think I'll get it done in time for Mother's day over here, but it should be done for Mother's day in the US at least!

Instagram photo of the Owl Blanket I am making for my niece. She is two and she loves owls. It's so colourful! I need to get it done in the next week. There are so many ends to weave in D:

I keep eyeing up a recipe for Strawberry Milk Cake. I recently got some bright food colours (of which more in another post) and the idea of making a bright pink cake appeals. Rather too much. I rarely make big cakes - I normally go for cupcakes. So I might make this for my birthday next week, although I don't think I'll have anyone but my husband to eat it with on the day... I'll have to see.