The beauty of crochet is you can just rip it up and start again, no harm done, nothing wasted and frogging (undoing work) is as satisfying as kicking over a sandcastle you’ve just built. Incidentally, have you read this? It’s brilliant.
RocknRoll. He’s not much of a reader but he subscribes to the rip it up part of the manifesto.
Truth be told, I don’t adhere too strictly to instructions or numbers of stitches. I’ll increase or decrease rows wherever I think it needs it. When I started it, I had no idea how many rows I wanted, I just kept experimenting and frogging til it looked right. Same with the edging, I know that I just eye-balled it and I didn’t count the stitches I skipped but no one’s going to be that close to my head to count the stitches – unless I’m on the tube at rush hour but then we’re all too busy trying to block out the awfullness of the Central Line.
With something like this, you can get away with a lot of alterations and deviations from the pattern. Change colours any time you want, do the edging in a different colour, in fact, just cast the instructions aside and cast on.
There is, however, a lot to be said for finishing an edge with a reverse single crochet (aka crab stitch). It makes things look a little more refined.
Once you get your head round behind the post and in front of the post double crochet, it’ll give you a lot more texture in your work. They are not as difficult or as kinky as they sound.
It goes up to 11. The pattern.
I’m using British Crochet terms.
ss=slip stitch
dc=double crochet
bpdc=behind the post double crochet
fpdc=in front of the post double crochet
You’ll need a foundation chain of 11 + 3 (counts as 1 dc)
Rows 1-6: 1 dc into third st from hook, dc into each st til end, 3 ss (counts as 1dc) turn
Rows 7- 35 fpdc in third st from hook, * bpdc, fpdc * repeat from * til end, 3 ss (counts as 1dc), turn
Rows 36-42 are the same as Rows 1-6
You could fasten off here, add the buttons and be finished or you could add an edging. There are loads of other decorative edgings but this is what I used.
I continued with the same colour so I didn’t fasten off at the end of row 42.
A. Turn work 90 degrees so you’re working along the length, *Ch 3, sk two sts, ss* repeat from * til you reach the end of the length/get to the corner.
B. Along the width/shorter end, crab stitch into each st until you reach the end of the row (11sts)
C. Work up the length, *Ch 3, sk two sts, ss* repeat from * til end
D. Along the width/shorter end, crab stitch into each st until you reach the end of the row, fasten off (11sts).
Wrap it round your head, decide where you want the buttons and stitch them on with needle and thread. Tuck the ends of wool into the work and secure with needle and thread.
Done. It’s less annoying than going shopping on the High Street and you didn’t even have to contribute to any tax-dodging, unethical companies.
