Pre-Order My Beginner Crochet Class on DVD!

by | May 18, 2017 | Classes I Teach, Crochet | 0 comments

Over the last three years, I’ve taught over 25,000 people how to crochet through my online class over at Craftsy. Over 25,000! It boggles my mind, to be honest.

That class streams online through the Craftsy website, and though I stream pretty much everything these days – from craft classes to television to radio – I know lots and lots of people still prefer physical goods.

Which is why I’m excited that my class is amongst the first that Craftsy is offering as a DVD. And also? It means I can now offer signed copies of the class! Which may not sound all that exciting, but when it comes to giving gifts to people you love, I think a signed object is pretty special. Especially one that will teach them a new craft they’re sure to love. Just saying.

So if you love DVDs or you love people who want to learn how to crochet at their own pace, on their own TV or computer at home, now’s the time to order them a personalized signed DVD class!

Pre-order a DVD now!

Pre-orders will be accepted through June 1st. Note that the class price is listed in Canadian dollars (so a super bargain for you Americans), and that DVDs will ship in mid-July.

(And hey, do you think I should sign the cellophane wrapping around the DVD case, or remove the wrapping to sign the actual case? The actual case, right?)

Get a signed DVD of my class, Crochet: Basics & Beyond!

Spring Spirals

by | May 15, 2017 | Crochet, Why I Love Vancouver | 0 comments

Spirals in ferns in Vancouver, BC – https://kimwerker.com/blog

When I decided to make a spiral the science-y part of my Science Hat design, I was thinking of the ferns. (Also the snails.)

This spring has been a total mess here in Vancouver – way too rainy, way too cold. (I was also motivated to demand climate-change action when I designed that hat, to be clear.) And I feel like maybe the ferns have unfurled a bit later than usual (but I honestly have no idea about this at all).

But unfurled they have! Which I discovered the other day while walking through the woods.

Here’s how you can keep spirals around you all the time by crocheting them in two colours.

Spirals in ferns in Vancouver, BC – https://kimwerker.com/blog

Spirals in ferns in Vancouver, BC – https://kimwerker.com/blog

How to Crochet a Two-Colour Spiral

by | Apr 5, 2017 | Crafts, Crochet | 0 comments

Crochet hat with 2-color spiral

If stripes are the simplest way to play with colour in a crochet project, then creating a striped project in the round that begins with a nifty spiral is the best next step.

It might be a little mind-bendy to think about it, but once you make your first spiral, it'll make perfect sense and become something you'll hopefully do again and again to spruce up any simple project in the round.

Here's what you need:

  • 2 colours of yarn in the same weight; consider one colour A and the other B (shown here is Cascade 220; blue is A and green is B)
  • a hook the right size for your yarn
  • a removable stitch marker

Step 1

With colour A, begin with an adjustable ring. Here's how:

Step 2: Round 1, First Half

Insert your hook into the ring and pull up a loop, chain 1.

If you're working in single crochet: Make six sc into the ring.

If you're working in a taller stitch, start with single crochet and gradually increase in height as follows:

For half double crochet: Make 3 sc, 3 hdc into the ring.

For double crochet (shown in example here): Make 2 sc, 2 hdc, 2 dc into ring.

For all stitches: Finally, remove your hook and pull up your working loop to prevent unraveling (see photo above).

Step 3: Round 1, Second Half

How to crochet a 2-color spiral: first round

Join yarn B as follows: Leaving a 6" (15 cm) tail, insert your hook into the centre of the ring and pull up a loop of B, chain 1.

If you're working in single crochet: Make six sc into the ring.

For half double crochet (shown in example here): Make 3 sc, 3 hdc into the ring.

For double crochet: Make 2 sc, 2 hdc, 2 dc into ring.​

For all stitches: Finally, place marker in last stitch made to indicate the end of the round; remove your hook and pull up the working loop to prevent unraveling (see photo above).​

This completes the first round. Next, you'll tighten up the ring, then move on to establish the striping pattern.

​Step 4: Tighten the Adjustable Ring

As shown in the video above, firmly pull or tug on the tail of the ring to close it up entirely. There should be no visible hole in the centre, as in the photo above.

Now we're ready for Round 2.

Step 5: Round 2 and Establishing the Striping Pattern

​Just as in any project in the round, we begin increasing here. Because we began with a total of 12 stitches in Round 1, we'll be adding 12 stitches in total to each subsequent round – we'll increase by 6 stitches in each colour.

Insert your hook back into the last stitch of Round 1 (this is in colour B).

In this example, B is to be worked in half double crochet (hdc). If you're working in a different stitch, just substitute that one.​

Continuing with B, [2 hdc in next stitch] 6 times, remove hook and pull the working loop long so it doesn't unravel.

In this example, A is to be worked in double crochet (dc). ​If you're using a different stitch, just substitute that one.

Reinsert your hook in the working loop of A. With A, [2 dc in next stitch] 6 times.

You now have a total of 24 stitches at the end of the round – 12 in B and 12 in A (see photo, above.

The striping pattern has been set up: You will always work B into A, and A into B.

CLICK HERE TO GET MY CHEATSHEET: 7 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR CROCHET SHINE!

Step 6: Continue in Pattern as Established

There are two patterns you've established, of course: the increasing pattern (adding 12 stitches to each round; 6 in each colour), and the striping pattern (always working B into A and A into B).

As you continue, you'll keep at both patterns until, if you're making a hat or a bowl or something else that's 3-D, you stop increasing so that your circle will begin to cup into the proper shape. When it's time for that, simply maintain the striping pattern without increasing anymore.​

Here's what Round 3 will look like: Continuing with A, [dc in next stitch, 2 dc in next stitch] 3 times; remove hook and reinsert in loop of B; with B, [hdc in next stitch, 2 hdc in next stitch] 3 times — 36 stitches total.​

And there you have it! A two-colour crocheted spiral.

To seriously get a feel for how and why crochet behaves in the round, take my class Crochet in the Round: Basics & Beyond! We go deep, with lots of projects and video instruction.

This spiral is at the heart of the Hat for Science pattern, which you can get for free right here.​

How to Crochet a 2-color Spiral: Tutorial from https://www.kimwerker.com/blog

Crochet a Hat for Science! (Free Pattern, BYO Activism)

by | Mar 28, 2017 | Activism, Crochet | 0 comments

Crochet a Hat for Science! Show your support for the scientific community and for fact-based decision making, and learn how to crochet a 2-color spiral while you're at it!

Spirals! Spirals appear throughout the universe in spectacular displays of mathematics and science. Also, they're really cool-looking. And spirals are very nifty to crochet in multiple colours.

This hat starts with a two-colour spiral at the top, and I designed it in part to showcase this neat technique. I also designed it in the wake of the incredibly powerful visual impact Pussyhats made at the Women's Marches in January. The Hat for Science is a simple craftivist project just in time for the worldwide Marches for Science on April 22, 2017.

A chilling report that major U.S. news shows spent a combined total of less than an hour reporting on issues related to climate change in all of 2016 means we need to get seriously loud about the importance of scientific enquiry and fact-based decision-making. Those words may not sound sexy, but ignoring our dire need to address the impending devastation of life on earth​ isn't sexy either. So.

Grab your hook and make a statement! Better yet, wear that statement to a March for Science near you. Phone and write to your elected representatives (no matter where you live – this is not only an American issue!) and tell them you expect them to support funding for scientific research and to consider solid, peer-reviewed scientific findings when making decisions that affect our environment, education, food safety, medicine and more.​

Find the free Hat for Science pattern below, or download it as a print-friendly PDF:

CLICK HERE TO GET THE CROCHET PATTERN AS A PDF

Note: A small mistake in the pattern was corrected on 29 March 2017, indicated in bold text. Another was corrected, again in bold text, on 12 April 2017. To make sure you have the corrected version of the pattern PDF, check to make sure the file name has "v3" at the end.

Hat for Science

Sizing

To fit a medium/large adult head.

Finished brim circumference: ​22" (56 cm).

To make the hat smaller or larger, work fewer or more increase rounds before working even (and adjust the number of work-even rounds). If you want to learn more about sizing hats of all sorts, you’ll enjoy my class, Crochet in the Round: Basics & Beyond!

Materials

Yarn: Worsted weight, about 75 yards colour A and 85 yards colour B. Shown here in: Cascade 220 (100% Peruvian Highland Wool; 220 yards [200 m] per 3.5 oz.) [100 g], 9452 Summer Sky Heather (blue; A) and 2429 Irelands (green; B).

Hook: 5.5mm (US I/9).

Notions: Removable stitch marker.

Gauge

14 sts and 9 rows = 4” (10 cm) in alternating rounds of dc and hdc.

Abbreviations

American terms are used.

A = colour A (shown here in blue)

B = colour B (shown here in green)

ch = chain

dc = double crochet

hdc = half double crochet

rep = repeat

sc = single crochet

sl st = slip stitch

tch = turning chain

Notes​

Hat is designed to have each colour worked in a different stitch (A in dc, B in hdc), so that one colour is slightly more dominant than the other. Choose whether you’re, say, more inclined to advocate for land-related science (green) versus water-related science (blue), and make that colour your dominant colour A. The other will be colour B. (Obviously, you can make this hat in any colours you want, not only in blue and green!)

You will not join each round at the end, but rather work in a continuing spiral.

Use a removable stitch marker to indicate the final stitch of the round; move the marker up as you go.

Pattern​

With A, begin with an adjustable ring.

Round 1: Insert hook in ring and pull up a loop, ch 1, work (2 sc, 2 hdc, 2 dc) in centre of ring, remove hook from A (pull the loop long to prevent unraveling); leaving a 6” tail, join colour B by pulling up a loop, ch 1, work (3 sc, 3 hdc) in centre of ring, place marker in stitch just made (this is the last stitch of the round) — 12 stitches total.

How to crochet a 2-color spiral: first round

Round 2: Continuing with B, [2 hdc in next stitch] 6 times, remove hook and reinsert in loop of A; with A, [2 dc in next stitch] 6 times — 24 stitches. (Note that a pattern has been set up: You will always work B into A, and A into B.)

Round 3: Continuing with A, [dc in next stitch, 2 dc in next stitch] 6 times; remove hook and reinsert in loop of B; with B, [hdc in next stitch, 2 hdc in next stitch] 6 times — 36 stitches.

Round 4: Continuing with B, [hdc in next 2 stitches, 2 hdc in next stitch] 6 times; with A, [dc in next 2 stitches, 2 dc in next stitch] 6 times — 48 stitches.

Round 5: Continuing with A, [dc in next 3 stitches, 2 dc in next stitch] 6 times; with B, [hdc in next 3 stitches, 2 hdc in next stitch] 6 times — 60 stitches.

Round 6: Continuing with B, [hdc in next 4 stitches, 2 hdc in next stitch] 6 times; with A, [dc in next 4 stitches, 2 dc in next stitch] 6 times — 72 stitches.

Continue in colour pattern as established, without increasing, as follows:

Round 7: Continuing with A, dc in next 36 stitches; with B, hdc in next 36 stitches. (Bold indicates corrections to mistakes in the original pattern. It's all good now!)

Rounds 8-16: Continue to work even without increasing, working A stitches into colour B and B stitches into colour A.

Now smooth out the jagged end-of-rounds and begin the brim, as follows:​

Round 17(ish): (This is really a half round, for reasons that will become clear.) Continuing with A, dc in next 27 stitches, hdc in next 3 stitches, sc in next 3 stitches, sl st in next 3 stitches, fasten off A, move marker to final sl st (this will be the new “end” of the round).

Rounds 18-20: Continuing with B, sc all the way around (do not join your rounds); at the end of Round 20, sl st in the next 2 stitches, fasten off.

Weave in loose ends.

When you share your finished hat, make sure to tag me (@kpwerker) and #hat4science!