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