Interweave Crochet Blog

In this issue's Yarn Spotlight I wrote about crocheted spirals. At the end of this post you can see the hat I mentioned, which I crocheted from one skein of Noro Matsuri yarn, drawing from both ends of the self-striping skein to produce a two-color spiral.

But first, as promised in my column, I'll explain how to make a three-color spiral, which simply builds on what I wrote about two-color spirals. The result of this tutorial is Swatch D as shown on page 7 of the magazine, shown in Classic Elite Soft Linen yarn. I worked each color in a different stitch, to vary the height of each round.

Form an adjustable ring by looping the end of A behind itself; hold the end against the loop and insert the hook in the center of the ring.

Round 1: With A, ch 1, (sc, hdc, dc) in ring, remove hook from loop (pull loop long so stitches don't unravel); join B to ring and ch 1, (sc, 2 hdc) in ring, remove hook from loop; join C to ring and ch 1, 3 sc in ring, place marker in last stitch to mark the end of the round—9 stitches. (Do not remove your hook from C at this time; I did that just to take the photo, below.)


Round 1

Pull the yarn tail to tighten the ring. (The arrow in this photo indicates the yarn tail; you don't need to pull it to the right, per se. I find that holding the first round stitches in one hand and pulling down on the tail works best.)



Round 2: Continuing with C, [2 sc in next stitch] 3 times, remove hook from loop and reinsert in loop of A; with A, [2 dc in next stitch] 3 times, remove hook from loop and reinsert in loop of B; with B, [2 hdc in next stitch] 3 times—18 stitches. Note that a pattern has been set up: You will always work C into A, A into B, and B into C. It is very useful to mark the last stitch of the round, because the end is actually in the middle of a section of a particular colour.


Round 2

Round 3: Continuing with B, [hdc in next stitch, 2 hdc in next stitch] 3 times; with C, [sc in next stitch, 2 sc in next stitch] 3 times; with A, [dc in next stitch, 2 dc in next stitch] 3 times—27 stitches.

Round 4: Continuing with A, [dc in each of next 2 stitches, 2 dc in next stitch] 3 times; with B, [hdc in each of next 2 stitches, 2 hdc in next stitch] 3 times; with C, [sc in each of next 2 stitches, 2 sc in next stitch] 3 times—36 stitches.

Continue as established, increasing by nine stitches evenly on each round (three increases in each color) until desired size. Fasten off each color. To make a hat or a bowl, stop increasing and work even to desired size.



And here is the one-skein hat. It's a great way to make the most of an odd ball of striping yarn.

Labels: crocheted hat, spirals, Yarn Spotlight

With many thanks to Kat and the Interweave Web Team, I welcome you to the Interweave Crochet blog! I look forward to keeping in closer touch with you than our quarterly magazine publication allows, and to learning more about you and what you love about crochet. Assistant editor Toni Rexroat will also be dropping by the blog every so often; I'm certain you'll enjoy getting to know her.

One of the things I'm most excited about is sharing news and features with you here that we can't fit into our limited number of print pages. I'll dive right into just that.

One of my favourite parts of putting together an issue of Interweave Crochet is preparing my Yarn Spotlight. I get to unplug for a while and play with delicious yarn. I could only fit three swatches into my spotlight from the fall issue, but I actually made six in my exploration of variegated yarns. I used Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted yarn and a 5mm hook for each swatch (click images for larger versions).



Swatch #4: Here's a classic granny square, one of my current obsessions. Just like in the French Square swatch in the fall issue of the magazine, the positive and negative space in the square allows the bold colours to breathe and breaks up any pooling effects that might be tempted to pop up.



Swatch #5: This swatch is a simple 5-chain mesh. I had a tough time getting it to lay flat and even in my scanner, but I think this image tells its tale. Like the granny square, the positive and negative space allow the bold colours to breathe. Maybe its the wonkiness of the mesh, though, but I prefer the uniformity of the granny square. In swatch form, that is. But imagine this mesh used in a garment -- I think it would be pretty spectacular, and surprisingly subtle.



Swatch #6: This one is plain-old single crochet. Here's that dread pooling effect, and not in a cool pattern like the diamonds that developed in my granite stitch swatch in the magazine. I don't mind it so much in this small swatch, but I think I'd start to mind if it were a larger project. I do love, however, how the small stitches create an almost pointillism effect. The swatch almost looks painted.

I very much enjoyed this Yarn Spotlight, and I'm excited about working on my piece for the winter 2007 issue in the next week or two (hint: my stomach is grumbling). What do you think? Do these swatches make you see variegated yarns in a new light?

Have you ever picked up an odd ball of variegated yarn without knowing what you'd do with it? How did you approach it? Did you swatch like mad like I did, or did you dive right in? Were you surprised by the way the colours behaved? Leave a comment* and let us all know.

* We are terribly excited about the interactivity this blog will allow us to enter into with you. We will read every comment you make, but unfortunately we won't be able to answer them all. We'll do our best to chime in within the comments section so all readers can read our responses.

Labels: Fall 2007, Yarn Spotlight