Sharon Zientara - Quick Crocheted Accessories

Everything in life moves along so quickly these days. I think that this is one of the chief reasons why the movement toward handmade items has seen so much success in recent years. The idea of creating something that takes time, care, and thoughtful consideration is a virtue in a time of dashed-off text messages, emails, and one-click Internet transactions. But this doesnt mean that you have to spend a huge amount of time, money, or effort to satisfy this impulse to create something by hand. The feeling that you put into choosing the perfect fiber or yarn color and the love that goes into each stitch are the same no matter how big the project or how long it takes to make. The (near) instant gratification comes built in to these pages. Each pattern in this collection is a relatively quick piece that takes three skeins or less of yarn to create, and many of the projects can be crocheted in an evening or two. The love and care is something only you can supply. I hope you find yourself reaching for this book time and again with that thought in mind.

Happy making, stitching, sharing, and giving.

Sharon

This project was designed to showcase two of my favorite things: hats and buttons. I could spend hours in front of a button wall picking the perfect combination. I chose the stitch pattern on the brim because the lacy openings create built-in buttonholesno extra steps are required. Just sew on buttons and wear this hat anywhere!

19" in circumference 9" tall (48.5 23 cm).

Sportweight (#2 Fine)

Shown here: Blue Sky Alpacas Sport Weight (100% alpaca; 110 yd [101 m]/134 oz [50 g]): #504 light tan, 2 skeins.

Size F/5 (3.75 mm)

Yarn needle; stitch markers; darning thread; four 34" (2 cm) buttons.

30 sts and 10 rows = 4" (10 cm) in shell st pattern. 25 sts and 24 rows = 4" (10 cm) in sc.

Brim of hat is crocheted flat and stitches are picked up around brim to form crown. Crown is worked in spirals. Place marker (pm) in beg st of rnd to keep track of rnds.

Ch 32.

Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook, *sk next 2 ch, 7 dc in next ch, sk next 2 ch, sc in next ch; rep from * across, turn.

Row 2: Ch 4 (counts as tr), sk (sc, first dc) *dc in each of next 5 dc**, sk next 3 sts; rep from * across, ending last rep at **, sk next dc, tr in last sc, turn.

Row 3: Ch 3 (counts as dc), 3 dc in tr at base of ch, sc in center dc of next 5-dc group, *sk next 2 dc, 7 dc bet last skipped st and next st, sk next 2 dc, sc in next dc; rep from * across to last 3 sts, sk next 2 dc, 4 dc in top of turning ch, turn.

Row 4: Ch 3 (counts as dc), sk first dc, dc in each of next 2 dc, *sk next 3 sts, dc in each of next 5 dc; rep from * across to last 6 sts, sk next 3 sts, dc in each of next 2 dc, dc in top of turning ch, turn.

Row 5: Ch 1 (does not count as st), sc in first dc, *sk next 2 dc, 7 dc bet last skipped st and next st, sk next 2 dc, sc in next dc; rep from * across ending with sc in top of turning ch, turn.

Rep Rows 25 until piece measures 19" (48.5 cm), ending with a Row 5.

Work 115 sts evenly around as follows:

Rnd 1: Ch 1 (does not count as st), sc in same st as join, pm in beg st, (ch 1, sc in row end) evenly around58 sc, 57 ch-sps.

Rnd 2: Ch 1, sk first sc, (sc in next ch-1 sp, ch 1, sk next sc) around, sc in first ch-1 sp to join. Move marker to first sc.

Rnd 3: (Ch 1, sk next sc, sc in next ch-sp) around, moving marker up each rnd to first sc made.

Rep Rnd 3 until crown measures 2" (5 cm) from band, or until desired length.

Rnd 1: *(Ch 1, sk next sc, sc in next ch-1 sp) 10 times, ch 1, pm in ch just made, sk next (sc, ch 1, sc), sc in next ch-1 sp, rep from * around52 sc, 51 ch-sps.

Rnd 2: Sc in first ch-1 sp, (ch 1, sk next sc, sc in next ch-1 sp) around, moving markers to ch worked after sc has been worked in marked ch-sps.

Dec rnd: Ch 1, sk next sc, (sc in next ch-1 sp, ch 1, sk next sc) around to and in marked ch-sp, sk next (ch 1, sc), sc in next ch-1 sp; rep from * around, moving markers to ch worked over sk sts.

Rep last 2 rnds 4 more times, then rep dec rnd 7 times.

Fasten off leaving a long tail to sew top of hat closed. Block to measurements.

With coordinating darning thread and yarn needle, sew buttons to placket of hat band, matching up buttons to shell openings in hat band st pattern. Edge of hat should overlap by one row of shell pattern.

Hat Band

This cowl was inspired by the stackable jelly bracelets of the 1980s. Its fun to watch each tube stripe up in a new color. The cowl is also easy to customize by simply removing or adding tubes.