The Traveling Crochet Afghan - Square 4 - free pattern

The Traveling Crochet Afghan

Welcome to the Lottie and Albert blog, and to the free pattern for square number 4 in the Traveling Crochet Afghan!

If you haven’t heard of the Afghan before, it is a year-long crochet along in conjunction with Lion Brand Yarn and the ‘My Life in Yarn’ campaign, and it is bringing together over 49 knit and crochet designers from 7 different countries! Each designer will create a 10”x10” square, add it to the blanket, and then publish the pattern for you to join in with, before sending it on to the next designer.

Starting in January 2020, the traveling afghans (a knit and a crochet version) began in New York with the first squares designed by Alexa of @twoofwands. The crochet afghan has since travelled to Spain and then on to The Netherlands, before reaching me in Gloucestershire, England! You can find full details of the CAL here, including a FAQ section.

If you have come across this later in the year, there is no strict start or finish date, so feel free to join in now! You can find links to the previous (and I’ll add future squares as they are released) here:

#1 - 11/1-1/13 - New York City, USA - Alexandra Tavel of Two of Wands

#2 - 1/15-1/28 - Barcelona, Spain - Cecilia Losada of Mamma DIY

#3 - 1/29-2/11 - Utrecht, The Netherlands - Wilma Westenberg of Wilmade

#4 - 2/12-2/25 - Gloucestershire, UK - Lindsey Newns of Lottie and Albert

#5 - 2/26-3/10 - New Brunswick, Canada - Kimberley Giggie of Lakeside Loops

#6 - 3/11-3/24 - Ontario, Canada - Lee Sartori of Coco Crochet Lee

#7 - 3/25-4/7 - Alberta, Canada - Janine Myska of Knits n' Knots

#8 - 4/8-4/21 - Alberta, Canada - Abigail Ellazar of Knits and Knots by AME

#9 - 4/22-5/5 - California, USA - Arica Presinal of Skeinsnsticks

#10 - 5/6-5/19 - California, USA - Meghan Ballmer of Meghan Makes Do

#11 - 5/20-6/2 - California, USA - Nicole Riley of Nicki's Homemade Crafts

#12 - 6/3-6/16 - Arizona, USA - Bailey Williams of Hooked on Tilly

#13 - 6/17-6/30 - Colorado, USA - Jess Coppom of Make & Do Crew

#14 - 7/1-7/14 - Kansas, USA - Emily Davies of Hooked Hazel

#15 - 7/15-7/28 - Michigan, USA - Jennifer Pionk of A Crocheted Simplicity

#16 - 7/29-8/11 - Michigan, USA - Melissa Fisher of Woods and Wool

#17 - 8/12-8/25 - Ohio, USA - Toni Lipsey of TL Yarn Crafts

#18 - 8/26-9/8 - Georgia, USA - Vincent Williams of Visuvio's Crafts

#19 - 9/9-9/22 - North Carolina, USA - Tia Edwards of Simple Things Crochet

#20 - 9/23-10/6 - North Carolina, USA - Ashleigh Kiser of Sewrella

#21 - 10/7-10/20 - North Carolina, USA - Rohn Strong of Rohn Strong

#22 - 10/21-11/3 - Pennsylvania, USA - Jessica Benvenuto of Fly the Distance

#23 - 11/4-11/17 - New York, USA - Brianna Iaropoli of Life and Yarn

#24 - 11/18-12/1 - New York City, USA - Teresa Carter of Debrosse

#25 - 12/2-12/16 - New Jersey, USA - ChiWei Ranck of 1 Dog Woof

My square design

If you made Two of Wands first crochet square, you’ll see that this design uses the same front and back post stitches, but by placing them in a different order you get a completely different pattern! If it looks daunting, don’t be fooled, it’s basically just the same pattern that moves by one every row to create the herringbone pattern.

If you’d like to read more about my design and why I chose this pattern, please do come and find me over at @lottieandalbert on Instagram.

Materials

• 1/2 skein Lion BrandWool-Ease (weight 4/medium, 197yds/180m, 3oz/85g), or approx 100yds/90m of another worsted weight yarn
• 6mm crochet hook (J/10) 
• Wool needle
• Scissors

Gauge

10cm (4in) x 10cm (4in)  = 12sts x 9 rows worked in pattern

This stitch pattern is a grower when blocked! So Make sure you block your swatch before sizing your hook up or down

Abbreviations

US terms used

ch        chain

dc        double crochet (UK treble crochet)

fpdc     front post double crochet (UK fptc front post treble crochet)

bpdc    back post double crochet (UK back post treble crochet)

rep       repeat

st(s)     stitch(es)

Notes

• This pattern uses US terminology
• Turning chains counts as stitches throughout
• The square is worked flat, turning at the end of each row
• The final square is reversible

 

The Pattern

Using a 6mm hook and worsted (or Aran) weight yarn, Ch34

Row 1  Starting in 4th ch from hook, 31dc in each chain along. (32)

Row 2 ch3, *3fpdc, 3bpdc. Rep from * until 1 st left, dc into top of ch3, turn. (32)

Row 3 ch3, 2fpdc, *3bpdc, 3fpdc. Rep from * until 5 sts remain. 3bpdc, 1fpdc, dc into top of ch3, turn.

Row 4 ch3, 2bpdc, *3fpdc, 3bpdc. Rep from * until 5 sts remain. 3fpdc, 1bpdc, dc into top of ch3, turn.

Row 5  ch3, *3bpdc, 3fpdc. Rep from * until 1 st remains, dc into top of ch3, turn.

Row 6  ch3, 1fpdc, *3bpdc, 3fpdc. Rep from * until 6 sts remain. 3bpdc, 2fpdc, dc into top of ch3, turn.

Row 7  ch3, 1bpdc, *3fpdc, 3bpdc. Rep from * until 6 sts remain. 3fpdc, 2bpdc, dc into top of ch3, turn.

Rows 8-19 rep rows 2-7 twice.

Row 20 rep row 2.

Row 21 rep row 3.

Row 22 rep row 4.

Row 23 ch3, dc to end of row, fasten off and weave in ends.

I’d love to see your finished squares and blankets! Please do tag me @lottieandalbert on Instagram when you have made yours up!

Lindsey x

#travelingafghans #lionbrandyarn #mylifeinyarn #travelingcrochetafghan

Crochet Tie Knot Headband Alice band – free tutorial

Crochet Tie Knot Headband Alice band – free tutorial

The tutorial below will give instructions on how to cover a hairband the same size as mine, but also tips on how to adjust the tutorial to suit your hairband if it is a slightly different size!

This pattern is written in UK terms. See below for US conversions and stitch descriptions.

You Will Need

• A plain rigid plastic headband – TIP if your headband is the same width all the way around, this will be easier to cover.
• Scissors
• Yarn needle
• 3.5mm hook and DK/heavy sport weight yarn 

OR

• 4.5mm hook and Aran/worsted weight yarn

Stitch descriptions

Slip stitch: Insert hook into stitch, yarn over and pull up a loop, pull this loop through first loop on hook

Double crochet (US single crochet): Insert hook into stitch, yarn over and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through both loops

My hairband was bought from my local supermarket (cheap and cheerful!) and measures approx. 41cm (16in) long and 2.5cm (1in) wide.

Tube section

DK weight yarn (Aran weight yarn)

• Using a 3.5mm (4.5mm) hook, create a magic ring and chain 1.
• Make 10 (8) double crochet into the ring and pull closed.
• Working in a continuous spiral (do not slip stitch to join each round), work 1 double crochet into each stitch.
• Continue working double crochets, creating a tube, until your tube measures 41cm/16in (or the same length as your headband). Don't try and crochet around the headband: crochet the tube first and then put the headband in after.
• Slip stitch to fasten off, cut yarn and leave a long tail for sewing up later. 

TIP – after a couple of rounds, check your headband fits the tube. If it is too tight, restart and add 2 stitches. If it is too loose, restart with 2 less stitches.

Tie knot section

DK weight yarn (Aran weight yarn)

• Using a 3.5mm (4.5mm) hook, chain 10 (8), turn.
• Chain 1 (this does not count as a stitch now or throughout), make 10 (8) double crochet into each chain, turn.
• Chain 1, make 10 (8) double crochet into each chain, turn. Repeat this step until your long flat strip measures 54cm/21in (the length of your 41cm/16in headband, plus 13cm/5in)

At this stage, check your tie knot section is long enough before you fasten off the yarn: find the mid point of the long flat strip you have just made, and tie a knot in the middle, around the headband. Create a knot as tight or as loose as your like the look off, and keep it central on the headband. The two ends of the long flat  strip should reach the ends of your headband. If you need to pull gently to get them there, this is fine, but if they are far too short to reach, untie and add a few more rows.

Slip stitch to fasten off, cut yarn and leave a long tail for sewing up later.

Making up

• To make up the headband, first slide the tube onto your headband, and sew up the open end. Leave the tail.
• Find the middle point of your long flat strip and tie around the middle of your headband, you can adjust at this point until you are happy that the position is central and the knot looks how you would like it.
• Sew the ends of the strip section to the end of each hairband, by wrapping the strip round the base of the ends, and bringing the two bottom corners of the strip together on the inside of the headband. Sew the strip to the tube, and fasten off, sewing in any ends. Repeat on the other side.

How to modify the pattern for a different size headband

To make this pattern fit a wider or narrower headband, I recommend you do a test chain first. Using your hook and yarn, chain 12 sttiches. Hold this chain up against your headband, to see how many chains wide it is. If your headband is 6 chains wide, for instance, you will need to create a tube that is double this: 12 stitches around, and a flat strip that is 12 stitches wide.

Ta da! Your headband is complete. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, please do tag me as #lottieandalbert or @lottieandalbert online if you create the headband so that I can see it!

Lindsey xx

Ps you are free to make and sell headbands from this pattern, as long as you credit me as the designer. You are not free to distribute or sell the pattern itself.