Simple Chic Crochet E-Book

Susan Ritchie

• Herausgeber: Ryland Peters & Small
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Simply stylish crochet patterns for fashionable makes in modern yarns and colours. Susan Ritchie and Karen Miller are the proprietors of Mrs Moon, an online yarn store, and their mission is to show you how simple it is to create your own modern-casual crochet garments, accessories and homewares. There are easy-to-hook projects in chunky yarns that will grow so fast you'll be finished in a day, and larger or more intricate items that will take longer, but are well worth every stitch you hook in to them. There are pieces that are perfect for beginners to crochet – such as a chevron throw, a simple beanie, or a snuggly cowl – and other projects that introduce lacy and textured stitches so you can expand your skills at your own pace, and with the help of the techniques section at the back of the book. Choose to make a delicately lacy ombré scarf, a hipster granny-square coatigan, or a giant owl amigurumi that children will love. Whatever your skill level, Susan and Karen have designed projects for Simple Chic Crochet that you will love to make for your home, your friends, your family, and of course, yourself.

Leseprobe

SIMPLE CHIC Crochet

SIMPLE CHIC Crochet

35 STYLISH PATTERNS TO CROCHET IN NO TIME

Susan Ritchie and Karen Miller of Mrs Moon

Published in 2017 by CICO Books

An imprint of Ryland Peters & Small Ltd

20–21 Jockey’s Fields, London WC1R 4BW

www.rylandpeters.com

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Text © Susan Ritchie and Karen Miller 2017

Design, illustration and photography © CICO Books 2017

The authors’ moral rights have been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

eISBN: 978 1 78249 517 8

ISBN: 978 1 78249 425 6

Printed in China

Editor: Kate Haxell

Pattern checker: Jemima Bicknell

Designer: Vicky Rankin

Photographer: Penny Wincer

Stylist: Jo Sawkins

Illustrator: Stephen Dew

Art director: Sally Powell

Production controller: Mai-Ling Collyer

Publishing manager: Penny Craig

Publisher: Cindy Richards

Contents

Introduction

CHAPTER 1

To Wear

Granny Square Coatigan

Crochet Skirt

Lace Sun Top

Chunky Cardigan

Sparkly Shrug

Tank Top

Easy Crochet Sweater

CHAPTER 2

Scarves and Wraps

Metallic Luxury Cowl

Manly Houndstooth Scarf

Ripple Shawl

Waterfall Scarf

Large Bobble Cross Treble Scarf

Ombré Tassel Scarf

CHAPTER 3

For the Home

Big Bedrunner

Three Scatter Pillows

Colourful Twine Doormat

Hot Water Bottle Cover

Flower Blanket

Textured Cushion

Super Rug

Camping Throw

CHAPTER 4

Accessories

Puff Mitts

Puff Bobble Beret

Twine Shopping Bag

Snowboarder’s Hat

Pinwheel Clutch Bag

Medallion Choker

CHAPTER 5

For Children

Child’s Cowl

Child’s Beanie

Deep Chevron Baby Blanket

Baby Cardigan

Tiger Toy

Granny Rectangle Bolero

Giant Cuddly Owl

Child’s Retro Blanket

Techniques

Suppliers

Index

Acknowledgments

Introduction

We love crochet! When we had our yarn store we were very much a knitting AND crochet retailer, not mainly knitting with a little bit of crochet on the side. Some of this was because – quite handily – one of us (Susan) is very much a crochet-er and the other (Karen) a knitter, although we can both switch between the hook and needles if necessary. However, the main reason for our dual yarn-craft approach was the huge increase in interest in the art of crochet. We were inundated week after week with people wanting to learn this lovely craft.

There are a couple of stumbling blocks with crochet though. One is that it does seem to be that bit trickier to learn than knitting. Whether this is because most people have a go at knitting as a child but maybe not crochet, or if it’s because crochet is just a bit less intuitive, I’m not sure, but it certainly seems a little harder to get to grips with initially. The other issue is that crochet can have a tendency to look a bit… well… too crocheted. Lacy, great! Textured, great! Overly crochet… hmmm… we’re not sure that always works.

So, as you’d expect in a book called Simple Chic Crochet, we’ve tried to create designs that are not only reasonably simple, but also look rather lovely and ‘not too crochet’.

Crochet can be just as versatile as knitting and we hope that we’ve demonstrated that here with a huge variety of garments, accessories and homewares. And in many ways, once you have mastered the basics of crochet, it is much more straightforward than knitting. As well as written patterns we have included charts where appropriate, as we find them very helpful for more complicated designs – you can see exactly where each stitch is supposed to go, which can really help you visualise how everything comes together.

If you are a total beginner, start with one of the blankets, either the camping throw (see page 70) or the bedrunner (see page 52), or if you’d prefer a smaller project, the hot water bottle cover (see page 60) is super-simple, too. There are lots of easy-to-read instructions on techniques you’ll need at the back of the book, and don’t forget to check out online resources or our own website, www.mrsmoon.co.uk, for videos. One word of warning, make sure you know whether you are watching US or UK tutorials; some of the same stitch names actually describe different stitches, which can be very confusing!

We hope you are inspired by our designs; we’ve loved creating them and hope that you do, too!

Susan and Karen xxx

CHAPTER 1

To Wear

The idea of crochet garments might evoke scary thoughts of frilly bed jackets and terrible tabards, but actually crochet can be used to make elegant, easy-to-wear items that will become wardrobe staples. And as crochet is so easy to work, the projects in this chapter will grow encouragingly quickly.

GRANNY SQUARE Coatigan

When I was planning this fabulous cardi/coat, I was thinking about how garments made of granny squares (or actually any crochet), can be amazing or slightly mad… I hope that I’ve achieved the amazing category here! This coat swings out beautifully when you walk because of the way it has been constructed, and it has three-quarter-length bell sleeves to give it a sophisticated edge. The coatigan is super-simple to create because you just need a lot of the squares! Once you’ve made them all, sew them together as shown, then add the all-important collar and front band that finish it off beautifully.

SQUARE

Colour 1 is A or B, colour 2 is the one not used, colour 3 is C.

S/M Make 40 squares with A as colour 1, and 40 with B as colour 1.

M/L Make 55 squares with A as colour 1, and 55 with B as colour 1.

In colour 1, ch5 and join with a sl st to form a ring.

Round 1: Ch3 (counts as 1tr), work 15 more tr into ring, join rnd with a sl st into top of ch 3, fasten off colour 1. (16 sts)

Round 2: Join colour 2 to any tr from rnd 1, ch2 (counts as 1htr), PUFF1 into same space, work 1 PUFF into next tr and into every tr to end of rnd, join rnd with a sl st into top of ch 2, fasten off colour 2. (16 puffs)

Round 3: Join C to any space between puffs, ch3 (counts as 1tr), tr3tog into same space, yrh and pull through to secure, ch1, *tr4tog into next space between puffs, yrh and pull through to secure, ch1; rep from * to end of rnd, finishing with a sl st into top of ch 3.

Round 4: Sl st into next ch 1 space (this is where you need to start this rnd; you may need to sl st twice to do this neatly), into this ch 1 space work (ch3 (counts as 1 tr), 2tr, ch2, 3tr) for corner, do not ch1, *3htr into next space, 3dc into foll space, 3htr into next space, ** and into next space work a corner (3tr, ch2, 3tr); rep from * twice more and then work one final rep, finishing at **, join with a sl st to top of ch 3, do not fasten off.

Round 5 (dc round): Ch1, 1dc into same space, 1dc into each of next 2tr, work 3dc into ch 2 corner space, cont working 1dc into every st, and 3dc into every corner space around, finish rnd by joining with a sl st to top of first dc, fasten off.

TO MAKE UP

You can sew the squares (and the seams) together. However, I have crocheted them together by slip stitching them (see page 123). I find this quicker and easier as I am very bad at sewing; it is also easy to pull back if you go wrong.

To join the squares, first arrange them (see diagrams on page 12). Right sides together and slip stitching through the back loops only, join squares to form long strips. Then join the strips together.

Size S/M

Alternate the colour centres throughout.

Back (B): Lay out a rectangle four squares wide and seven squares long.

Shoulder (SH): Add one square at each end of the top row of four squares.

Front (F): Attach a strip of seven squares lengthways to each shoulder.

Side panels (S): Attach a strip of six squares to each front panel, aligning the bottom edge of the strip with the bottom edge of the front.

Fold the coatigan in half across the middle of the shoulder squares, so that the bottom edges of the back and the front/side pieces match. Join the top two squares of each side panel to the aligning squares on the back (these will be the second and third ones down from the top). Leave the lower part of each side seam open as a split.

Sleeves (SL): Lay out a rectangle four squares wide and three squares long. It’s easiest to fit the sleeve into the opening before joining the underarm seam. On the wrong side, join the sleeve squares to the top of the side panel, the single front square, the shoulder square and the topmost back square. Then join the underarm seam.

Size M/L

Alternate the colour centres throughout.

Back (B): Lay out a rectangle six squares wide and seven squares long.

Shoulder (SH): Add two squares at each end of the top row of six squares.

Front (F): Attach two strips of seven squares lengthways to each shoulder.

Side panels (S): Attach a strip of six squares to each front panel, aligning the bottom edge of the strip with the bottom edge of the front.

Fold the coatigan in half across the middle of the shoulder squares, so that the bottom edges of the back and the front/side pieces match. Join the top two squares of each side panel to the aligning squares on the back (these will be the second and third ones down from the top). Leave the lower part of each side seam open as a split.

Sleeves (SL): Lay out a rectangle four squares wide and three squares long. It’s easiest to fit the sleeve into the opening before joining the underarm seam. On the wrong side, join the sleeve squares to the top of the side panel, the single front square, the shoulder square and the topmost back square. Then join the underarm seam.

EDGING

Round 1: Using C, work a rnd of dc all the way around the edge of the coat, working 3dc into every corner st (at the bottom edge of each split and at the bottom edge of each side of the front opening), and at each side of the back of the neck (where the front joins the back) and at the top of the split on the side seam work dc3tog as a decrease around the corner.

Rep rnd 1 once more.

Round 3: Work a further rnd of dc just around inside of opening, working dc3tog either side of back neck, fasten off.

COLLAR

Row 4: Using C, work dc around neck (left SH square, two squares of back neck and right SH square), working dc3tog in corners as for edging, turn.

Row 5: Ch1, 1dc into same space and 1dc into every st to end, working dc3tog in corners, turn.

Rep row 5 twice more.

Row 8: Work dc into every st, do not work dc3tog in the corners, turn.

Row 9: Ch3 (counts as 1tr), 1tr into next dc and into each st to end of row, increasing by working 3tr into each corner st, turn.

Making squares

I find it easier to making all the circles first (rounds 1–3), and then working rounds 4–5; I guess I get into a rhythm. I also weave in the ends as I go, as this can become an almost insurmountable task if left to the end…

Rep row 9, 6 times more.

Row 10: Neaten edge of collar with a row of dc starting at the edge of the collar (where it meets the button band) and working evenly up the edge (as a general rule work 2dc down the side of each tr), then work along the top and down the other edge, working 3dc into each front collar point and back neck corners, fasten off.

LEFT-HAND BUTTON BAND

Row 1: Join C to bottom LH corner, ch1 (does not count as st), 1dc into same place, 1dc into every st up to st before the collar starts, turn.

Row 2: Ch1 (does not count as st), 1dc into same place, 1dc into every st to end of row, turn.

Rep row 2, 3 times more.

Fasten off.

RIGHT-HAND BUTTON BAND

Row 1: Join C to st next to collar at top of RH edge, ch1 (does not count as st), 1dc into same place, 1dc into every st to bottom, turn.

Row 2: Ch1 (does not count as st), 1dc into same place, 1dc into every st to end of row, turn.

Rep row 2, 3 times more.

Fasten off.

Weave in ends (see page 125).

Block coatigan following instructions on ball band.

CROCHET Skirt

Crochet is, for many garments, quite tricky compared to its close cousin, knitting. Garments just tend to work better with the close fabric that knitting creates… I spend quite a lot of time trying to make my designs look not ‘too crochet’! However, the crochet skirt is the big exception! Knitted skirts can be heavy and cumbersome. Crochet creates gorgeous shapes and lace that swings fabulously and really flatters the feminine form. So, here is my first crochet skirt. I’m so pleased with it. It sits on the hips and has no tricky openings to deal with, and it gradually flares out with simple increases in the lace pattern. I urge you to give it a go… your friends will be begging you for one!

Yarn

Cascade Ultra Pima (100% pima cotton) double knitting (sport-weight) yarn, 100g (3½oz), 200m (220yd) skeins