Clock Hotpad - part 2

The last round in the main color (from the previous post) was essentially:

* dc1, dc twice into same st, dc 1 * 12 times

for 48 sts around.

For the next round (in a contrasting color, burnt orange), we'll need to identify the stitches from two rounds before (Round 3) into which we dc'ed twice (in Round 4).

Round 5: (in contrasting color) dc in each st around plus work an elongated dc into each stitch in Round 3 that has 2 dc's in it. Slip stitch to end the round (60 sts). Break yarn and weave in ends.

We can start anywhere. But, let's start the next round by dc'ing into a first dc after the dc twice into same st (in the previous rnd).

Put a slip knot around the hook -- making sure to have a long enough loose end to weave in at the end of the round. Wrap the yarn around the hook once. Place the hook through the top of the dc from the previous round. Then continue to make a dc as usual.

Double crochet into the next 2 sts.

Then make an elongated dc.... Wrap the yarn around the hook once. Place the hook through the top of the same stitch in Round 3 that has 2 dc's in it (in Round 4). Wrap the yarn around the hook and pull it through (shown in the picture). Then continue to make a dc as usual.

Double crochet in each of the next 4 sts before making another elongated dc. Continue this pattern until reaching the start of the round. (Since there were 12 increases in the last round, there will be 12 elongated dc's in this round.)

Slip stitch into the top of the first dc of the round.

Finally, cut the yarn and weave in the two ends.

Note: We made 12 increases this round -- just like all the previous rounds. Only, these increases were made by working an elongated dc instead of dc'ing twice into the same st.

Round 6 (in main color): * dc4, dc2 in same space * 12 times. Slip stitch to end round (72 sts). Break yarn and weave in ends.

Edited to change Round 6 repeat from dc5 to dc4 (on Sept 30, 2010).

Start this round just as the previous round. Again, it makes no difference where we start the round. When reaching the end of the round, slip stitch into the top of the first dc of the round. Then cut the yarn and weave in both ends. The hotpad is finished.

Note: We could make more of these elongated dc rounds for a larger hotpad. The only restriction is that an elongated dc round needs to have a "dc2 in same space" round preceding it.

To make an elongated dc round after Round 6:

Round 7 (optional): (in perhaps another contrasting color) dc in each st around plus work an elongated dc into each stitch in Round 5 that has 2 dc's in it. Slip stitch to end the round (84 sts). Break yarn and weave in ends.

Clock Hotpad - part 1

a circular dc hotpad

For this hotpad, I'm going to break a rule of thumb -- the one on how to substitute for a dc. Usually one substitutes a ch3 for the first dc of a round. I find it nicer in cases like this to substitute "sc1, ch2" instead -- for the simple reason that it looks more like a dc.

This hotpad begins just like the last dc hotpad -- with a ch-4 loop. The increase scheme is exactly the same as before. The "magic" number is still 12. The big difference is that this one is knit circularly instead of in a spiral.

Materials:
size 7 hook (4.5 mm)
2 skeins worsted-weight yarn (I used leftover Peaches & Creme white for the main color and burnt orange for the contrasting color.)

Finished size: 6 1/2" in diameter

Directions:
Using main color, make a ch-4 loop.

(Make a slip knot. ch 4. Slip stitch into 1st chain -- the slip knot -- to complete the loop.)

Rnd 1: sc1, ch2, dc11 into loop. Slip stitch into second ch st of rnd.

In other words, sc1 in the loop. Then ch2. Then dc11 in the loop. As before, when coming to the end of the round, hold the tail next to the chain sts and dc around both the tail and the chain sts to hide the tail.

Finally, since this is circular, make a slip stitch -- to end the round. The first picture show a completed first round.

Round 2: sc1, ch2, dc1 into same st, dc2 into next st 11 times. Slip st into 2nd ch st to end round. (24 sts)

For Round 2, sc1 into the next st. Then ch 2. Then dc into the same st as for the sc. (The second picture shows this.) Then, dc2 into each of the next 11 sts. The round ends as before with a slip stitch.

Round 3: sc1, ch2, dc1 into same st, dc1, * dc2 into next st, dc 1 * 11 times. Slip st into 2nd ch st to end round. (36 sts)

"sc1, ch2, dc1 into same st" is a substitute for dc2 into the same st.

Round 4: sc1, ch2, dc2 into next st, dc 1, * dc 1, dc2 into next st, dc 1 * 11 times. Slip st into 2nd ch st to end round. (48 sts)

"sc1, ch2, dc2 into next st" is a substitute for dc1, then dc2 into next st.

Cut yarn. Weave in loose end.

Next time, we'll start crocheting with a contrasting color, burnt orange. In crocheting, it's often easier to cut the yarn and weave in the end than try to try to hide the yarn when starting a contrasting color.

Spiral DC hotpad -- part 2

-- with a "faux slip stitch" --
(The French word "faux" is pronounced like the English word "foe". And, it seems to me, in some cases such as the one here, the imitation is better than the original.)

In the last post, we worked the spiral dc hotpad to the end of the sixth round.

The yarn I was using was left over from a knit dishcloth. So, I decided to crochet this one until running out of yarn.

I did a couple repeats of the pattern for Round 7:

Round 7: * dc twice into same st, dc 5 * 12 times (84 sts)

Then to make the hotpad more circular and less "spiral-ry", I did essentially what I did at the beginning of the spiral (though in the opposite order) -- one half double crochet, two single crochet, and finally a slip stitch.

The first picture shows these stitches plus the beginning of what I'm calling a faux slip stitch -- for lack of a better term. The first time I saw the stitch was at the end of Cat Bordhi's video on Jeny's bind off (knitting).

To work the "faux slip stitch", first cut the yarn. Then draw the yarn through the top of the next stitch (as in the first picture).

After that, draw the loose end through the back loop of the previous stitch (second picture).

Finally, weave in the loose end.

Spiral DC Hotpad - part 1

Double crochet stitches give a hotpad a different look. This hotpad is worked with a size 7 hook (4.5 mm) and leftover Peaches & Creme yarn (Mar-Di-Gras). It's 7" in diameter.

12 is the "magic" number here. We'll be starting with 12 sts for the first round and increasing by 12 stitches for each round after that.

Directions for the hotpad are in bold. The hotpad starts with a chain loop.

Make a ch 4 loop.

In other words, make a slip knot. ch 4. Slip stitch into 1st chain (ie, the slip knot) to complete the loop.

Then since a dc st is fairly tall, we'll start the first round with a sc and then a hdc. (A hdc, half double crochet st, starts out just like a dc. But, instead of pulling the yarn through 2 loops at a time, one pulls the yarn through all 3 loops to end the stitch. NexStitch has a video of the hdc st.)

Round 1: sc1, hdc1, dc10 in ch loop. (12 sts)

The second picture shows the first 3 sts of the round. When coming to the end of the round, hold the tail next to the chain sts and dc around both the tail and the chain sts in order to hide the tail.

Round 2: dc twice into same st 12 times. (24 sts)
Round 3: * dc twice into same st, dc 1 * 12 times (36 sts)

The third picture shows the hotpad after Round 3. Notice the difference in height between rounds.

Round 4: * dc 1, dc twice into same st, dc 1 * 12 times (48 sts)

Round 5: * dc twice into same st, dc 3 * 12 times (60 sts)

Round 6: * dc 2, dc twice into same st, dc 2 * 12 times (72 sts)

We'll finish the hotpad in the next post.

Spiral Hotpad

-- or "6 is a perfect number"

My aunt Ila was my first crochet teacher. And the first thing I ever crocheted was a hotpad. (I didn't start out with long chains of chain sts but rather with something to use in the kitchen.)

A single crochet spiral hotpad starts with 6 sc sts in the center loop. Then each round after that has an increase 6 sc sts. If you make fewer than 6 increases per round, you'll end up with a cup or bowl shaped object. If you make much more than 6 increases, you'll end up with ruffles.

Something similar holds true for double crochet. A dc st is twice the height of a sc st. To make a circle in dc, start with 12 dc sts in the center loop and then increase 12 dc sts per round. For triple crochet, the "magic" number is 18.

It's difficult to get 12 or 18 sts in a center loop. There are two main ways around the problem. The first is to start with a bigger loop. Instead of crocheting into a ch st, crochet into a 5 or 6 st chain loop. The other method is to replace some of the dc's (or tr's) with ch sts -- ie, work * dc1, ch1 * 6 times in place of the first dc12 (or * tr1, ch2 * 6 times in place of the first tr18).

A Simple Spiral Hotpad
I used Peaches & Creme worsted weight cotton yarn and a size 7 (4.50 mm) hook.
The finished hotpad is almost 7" in diameter.

Rnd 1: Ch 2. Sc 6 in 2^nd st from hook. (6 sc)
-- (in other words) Make a slip knot around the hook. Chain 2. Insert the hook into the second st from the hook (ie, the slip knot) and sc. Make 5 more sc's in the same st (ie, the slip knot).
The out-of-focus photo shows the start of the 4^th sc.

Rnd 2: 2 sc in same st 6x (ie, sc twice in each sc from the previous round). (12 sc)

Rnd 3: * 2 sc in same st, sc 1 * 6x (18 sc)

Note: If you wish, you can place a stitch marker on the first st of a rnd to let you know when you're about to start a new rnd.

In the photo, you can see that at the end of rnd 3, there are 18 sts on the outside (by counting the top loops) and that there are 3 rows of sc's.

A lot of patterns for simple spiral hotpads have for the next few rounds:
Rnd 4: * 2 sc in same st, sc 2 * 6x (24 sc)
Rnd 5: * 2 sc in same st, sc 3 * 6x (30 sc)
Rnd 6: * 2 sc in same st, sc 4 * 6x (36 sc)

This produces a hexagon with rounded corners. To get something circular, one needs to vary where one places the increases. Here's a way to do that:

Rnd 4: * sc 2, 2 sc in same st * 6x (24 sc)
Rnd 5: * 2 sc in same st, sc 3 * 6x (30 sc)
Rnd 6: * sc 2, 2 sc in same st, sc 2 * 6x (36 sc)
Rnd 7: * sc 4, 2 sc in same st, sc 1 * 6x (42 sc)
Rnd 8: * sc 6, 2 sc in same st * 6x (48 sc)
Rnd 9: * 2 sc in same st, sc 7 * 6x (54 sc)
Rnd 10: * sc 2, 2 sc in same st, sc 6 * 6x (60 sc)
Rnd 11: * sc 4, 2 sc in same st, sc 5 * 6x (66 sc)
Rnd 12: * sc 6, 2 sc in same st, sc 4 * 6x (72 sc)
Rnd 13: * sc 8, 2 sc in same st, sc 3 * 6x (78 sc)
Make loop: Ch 10 (or more), attach to top of last sc as you would a picot.
Rnd 14: * sc 10, 2 sc in same st, sc 2 * 6x (84 sc), ending with a slip st into the base of the picot-like loop.

For added sturdiness, slip stitch along the chain sts also.

Cut yarn. Weave in loose end.

A final word:
As you work around, you'll find that just before it's time to make an increase, the sts are slanted to the right. After the increase, the sts are slanted to the left.

The way I learned to make hotpads was not to follow a pattern -- but to make an increase when the sts start pulling to the right. (This did work out to about 6 increases per round). Also, if there was a choice about where to place the increase, I learned place it in the middle of a flat edge.