Quick + Easy Spring Chain Cowl

Is the weather getting a little more bearable in your neck of the woods? It’s getting better here . . . we even ventured outdoors for a walk yesterday afternoon! Sure, we only made it a block and a half, and okay, we required warm cookies and many episodes of Dora while wrapped in blankets to warm back up afterwards, but still. The end of winter is in sight!

So when I got my hands on some of Lion Brand Yarn’s new Zpagetti yarn, I knew just what to do with it. Turn it into an easy-to-make, easy-to-wear, lightweight spring cowl that will keep me warm until we can make park visits for longer than 20 minutes, but won’t make me sweaty once the weather gets warmer. Perfect!

The Zpagetti yarn is way cool—it’s made from garment manufacturing remnants, so each colorway is limited edition and unique. And since it’s a super bulky elastic and cotton blend, it’s very sturdy and great for dozens of home décor projects. It has the feel of a smooth, comfortable jersey or knit fabric, and I thought it would make for a great, stylish transition piece to wear into warmer spring weather. I love how soft and comfortable and wearable it is, I was really impressed with the feel and stretch of it, and it was seriously fun to crochet with.

You could of course make this cowl with any bulky yarn, although that might make it better suited to chillier winter weather, depending on the fiber content. If the Zpagetti isn’t an option for you, perhaps you could even try your hand at making a similar version yourself with knit or jersey fabric. But I’m loving the Zpagetti. Fun stuff.

Although portions of this cowl use crochet stitches, you certainly don’t need to know how to crochet! All you really need to be able to do is make a chain and a slip stitch. The absolute most basic basics of crochet. So don’t worry if this is new to you—there’s nothing to be scared of here.

Start by making a slip knot around your crochet hook. I used an N hook because that’s the biggest size I own—the yarn actually recommends a Q hook (mega!). The N worked fine for me.

(If you need help making a slip knot, visit this link for a how-to.)

Now, you’re just going to start making chains. This is pretty simple stuff, and you’ll be flying once you get the hang of it. Just wrap a loop of yarn around your hook, like so:

(Make sure you’re grabbing the yarn that leads to the ball, not the tail dangling from your slip knot!)

Then just pull that loop straight down and through the loop that’s already on your hook.

That’s it! You’ve made a chain. Now just keep chaining.

Chain chain chain. (Bet you’ll never guess what song was stuck on repeat in my head while I worked on this.)

You’ll go on and on and on. When you’ve got a big ol’ pile of chained-up yarn, start testing the length by draping it around your neck. Make sure you’re keeping it loose enough that you can pull it straight on and off—the little button cuff on the finished product is purely for show, so you’ll need to keep it loose enough to just slip on and off.

(Butterfly removable hand tattoo courtesy of my sister and the Valentines she gave us last week. Think I should make it permanent?)

If it isn’t big enough, chain some more. When you’re happy with the look, just make sure you have enough chains on your hook to reach back to the starting end. If you need to, add a few more chains or pull a few out so they’ll reach nicely.

To connect the ends, you’ll use a slip stitch. With your hook still in the ending chain’s loop, just insert your hook through one of the loops of the first chain:

Then grab a loop of yarn, just like you’ve been doing all along:

And pull that loop straight through both of the loops on your hook.

That’s a slip stitch!

To finish it off, make one last chain:

Then snip the yarn a few inches out and pull the chain all the way through.

You’ve got your cowl all finished! Now, if this marks the far reaches of your crochet experience, you can just wrap some of your extra yarn around a side of the cowl to hold it all together and secure it while you wear it. But if you know how to make single crochets (or are willing to try it out), then let’s make the button cuff.

Start by making a slip knot and 6 chains.

Now just work 5 single crochets back across the row, starting in the second chain away from the hook. If you need more details on this, you can visit this tutorial of mine, or this great one from One Dog Woof.

When you reach the end of the row, chain 1, turn your work, and single crochet back across. Repeat.

Keep going until your rectangle is long enough for the ends to meet when wrapped around your cowl.

Then just slip stitch the ends of the rectangle together—insert your hook through a loop on each end of the rectangle, grab a loop of yarn, and pull it straight through. Slip stitch down the ends until your rectangle is fully closed, then fasten off just as you did when finishing the chain cowl.

Once again, you’re at a good stopping point! If you like the look of just that little cuff, leave it as is and proudly wear your cute new springy cowl!

I thought some little buttons would be the perfect way to finish it off. You can of course sew these buttons on—I was in no mood to search through my mess of a craft room for a needle and thread, and my hot glue gun just happened to be left out on the counter from an earlier project, sooooo . . . I just hot glued them on. As long as you keep the glue along the outer edges of the button so it doesn’t squelch up through the buttonholes, no one’s the wiser.

There you have it! A quick, easy, comfortable and lightweight spring cowl. I love the cheerful red color, I think the little button cuff is a fun finish, and I love the feel of the jersey-like yarn.

(With most crochet projects, you’ll want to weave in the ends of your yarn to hide and secure them. I didn’t have a needle large enough, so I just made sure all the ends were pulled as tight as I could make them, then cut the yarn off about 1/2 inch away from the knot, and hot glued the ends down.)

Yarn provided by Lion Brand Yarn.

Crochet Valentine Hearts Photo Tutorial

I am a woman of my word. I promised a step-by-step photo tutorial for these little heart cuties, and I am here. to. DELIVER!

(Hey look, I did that blogger thing where I made a nice pinnable image for you!)

These itty bitties are so leetle and so sweet and so quick and simple. Now, first things first: this is not my own pattern. I found the pattern HERE at Heloise V. This tutorial is to help you out in making the smallest heart pattern on her site. She also has instructions for medium and large adaptations, as well as a pattern for adorable little applique flowers, so hop over and check out her fun site! The size variations in my photos are due to different hook sizes, but all 3 were made using the same, smallest heart pattern.

Second things second: although this isn’t a difficult crochet pattern, you’ll of course have an easier time if you are already familiar with crochet basics. Visit my Crochet tab at the top of the page to find some basic crochet tutorials and step-by-steps to help you learn. If you get stuck at any point, just look up the stitch you’re stuck on in google, and you’ll find a zillion and one videos to help you out.

Aren’t they darling? I’m smitten.

You can use any old scrap yarn you have lying around, and any size hook that is appropriate for your yarn (if you’re using worsted weight yarn, anywhere from an F through a K should work nicely). I used a G hook for the tiniest pink heart in my photos (it’s about an inch and a half across), an I hook for the medium size bright pink one, and a K hook for the largest maroon heart. They were all made with the same pattern, all are made of worsted weight yarn, and the only thing that I changed from one heart to the next was the hook size, so play around and experiment with different hook sizes to find a size you love!

You’ll need to start with a magic circle. To be honest, I find this tough to capture in pictures and to explain, so please refer to this tutorial and this video if you need help.

Make your magic circle and chain 3.

Now you’re going to work 3 treble (or triple) crochets into the circle. Yarn over your hook twice:

Then insert your hook into the circle and pull up a loop, then yarn over again:

You’ll now have 4 loops (plus the yarn over) on your hook (as pictured above). Pull the yarn over through just the first two loops on your hook, then yarn over again:

You’ll now have 3 loops on your hook, plus the yarn over. Pull the yarn over through just the first two loops again, exactly as you did in the previous step. Yarn over again:

You’ll now have two loops left on your hook, plus the yarn over. Can you guess what’s coming next? I bet so. Pull the yarn over through the two remaining loops on your hook.

There’s your first treble crochet! Now just repeat those steps for two more treble crochets:

By now, you should have your chain 3 on the right, then your three treble crochets, as pictured above.

Next up, we need to work 3 double crochets. Yarn over your hook just once:

Insert your hook into the circle, pull up a loop, and yarn over again:

Pull the yarn over through the first two loops on the hook, and yarn over again:

Then pull the yarn over through the two remaining loops on your hook:

There’s your double crochet! Now work two more double crochets.

From right to left in the picture above, you should have your chain 3, 3 treble crochets, and 3 double crochets. (My chain 3 is kind of hiding my first treble crochet in that picture. Don’t worry about it, it’s in there, I promise.)

Now chain 1 by yarning over the hook and pulling it straight through the loop on your hook.

Work one treble crochet into the circle. Refer to the pictures up top if you don’t remember how. This treble will be the ‘tip’ of your heart.

Chain 1 again.

Now you’re basically going to repeat the first half of the pattern, backwards, to form the second half of the heart. First up is 3 double crochets. Refer to the double crochet pictures above if you need help.

Then you’ve got 3 more treble crochets. You’re probably a pro at these by now.

Now just chain 2:

Then slip stitch into the circle to finish it up. Just insert your hook into the circle, pull up a loop, and pull the loop straight through the loop already on your hook.

And you’ve got your little heart! Mostly!

See the loose ‘tail’ yarn at the top? Pulling that will tighten your heart and cinch it closed (the magical part of the magic circle—it disappears like magic!). Give it a good firm pull until your heart is completely closed in the center.

Ah, that’s more like it. Fasten off your yarn by pulling a loop through the loop on your hook (just like working a chain), snipping your yarn a few inches away from the hook, and pulling the loop completely through. Tighten it up and weave in the ends, and you’re done!

In case you want to see all the stitches labeled on the heart, enjoy this pictographic brilliance:

So, to sum up, the hearts are simply made by . . .

Magic circle, ch 3, 3 trc, 3 dc, ch 1, 1 trc, ch 1, 3 dc, 3 trc, ch2, sl st.

(trc = treble crochet; dc = double crochet; ch = chain; sl st = slip stitch)

Ta da!

Fun, huh? Once you’re comfortable with the stitches, you’ll be able to whip these up in no time at all.

I used these hearts as little ornaments for a Valentine’s ‘tree’ in this post, and I have another fun project incorporating them that I’ll share in a bit.

Hope you enjoy! If you have any questions, leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them for you.

Crochet Camera Strap Cover Tutorial

I’m hopping onto the camera strap cover bandwagon a little bit late. Can I still be one of the cool kids? Please?

There are so many tutorials for adorable fabric camera strap covers out there—including an adorable ruffled one from Midwestern Sewing Girl that Maggie kindly shared on my blog—but it’s one of the many projects on my to-do list that I’ve never gotten around to (and was starting to think I wouldn’t ever get around to). But lo and behold, Pinterest came to the rescue (yet again). Someone had pinned a sweet and cozy-looking crochet camera strap cover from Avery’s Loft on etsy. I thought to myself, “Self, maybe this is why you’ve never gotten around to sewing a camera strap cover . . . your inner granny wanted to crochet one instead!” So, inspired by the yarnilicious no-sew strap cover from Avery’s Loft (a lovely shop, by the way), I got to work and came up with this:

Pretty cute, right? I’m really enjoying it—it is super soft and cushy, and makes lugging around a big heavy camera so much more comfortable. And although I wasn’t really watching the time while I made it, I’d guess it took maybe 30 or 40 minutes to make. I doubt that I could have sewn one that fast—crochet for the win!

I wrote up a pattern for it, but fair warning . . . this is just what worked for my camera strap (a Nikon DSLR). I don’t know if strap measurements are universal across different brands/models, or if my stitch count would work for someone else’s camera. So just use this pattern as more of a guideline and adjust the stitches as necessary to get the right size to fit your strap, okay?

Okay!

I don’t know if there are official terms for strap anatomy, so I’m just winging this: your strap probably has a big long main section that narrows slightly at either end before attaching to the string that loops into your camera. The strap cover pattern starts at one of the narrower ends, grows a little bigger as the strap does, and is worked in a loop toward the other narrow end before shrinking a little bit again to cover the second narrow end.

Camera Strap Cover

(Remember to use this pattern as a guideline—you may need to change the starting chain length and/or increases/decreases to accommodate your strap size! I crochet rather loosely, so you might have to drop a hook size or adjust the starting chain if you crochet more in the normal to tight range. Just check the fit as you go and adjust as necessary.)

I used worsted weight yarn and an I hook.

Chain 8 (or however long/short of a chain you need to wrap around the narrow end of the strap snugly):

Slip stitch into the first chain to form a loop. (Don’t do this around the strap—the picture is just to show how I measured my starting chain.)

Row 1: Chain 1, then single crochet in each stitch around (this should give you 7 stitches, unless you had to adjust the chain length). Slip stitch to starting chain to join.

Row 2: Chain 1, work 2 single crochets in the first stitch, then one single crochet in each remaining stitch; slip stitch to starting chain to join. (You should now have 8 stitches.)

Row 3: Chain 1, work 2 single crochets in the first stitch, then one single crochet in each remaining stitch; slip stitch to starting chain to join. (You should have 9 stitches.)

Row 4: Chain 1, work 2 single crochets in the first stitch, then one single crochet in each remaining stitch; slip stitch to starting chain to join. (10 stitches)

Row 5-?: Chain 2, work 1 double crochet in each stitch; slip stitch to starting chain to join. (10 stitches)

Repeat row 5 until the strap cover is the necessary length (it should cover the first narrow end, as well as the long, straight section of the strap, and stop before the strap narrows down again).

Now we have to decrease again to fit the other narrow end of the strap, so I’m counting down on these last few rows to the end of the strap cover.

Decrease row 4: Chain 1, single crochet 2 stitches together, then work 1 single crochet in each remaining stitch; slip stitch to starting chain to join. (9 stitches)

Decrease row 3: Chain 1, single crochet 2 stitches together, then work 1 single crochet in each remaining stitch; slip stitch to starting chain to join.  (8 stitches)

Decrease row 2: Chain 1, single crochet 2 stitches together, then work 1 single crochet in each remaining stitch; slip stitch to starting chain to join. (7 stitches)

Last row (1): Chain 1, single crochet in each stitch; slip stitch to starting chain to join. (7 stitches)

Now fasten off, weave in the loose ends, and stuff your strap through the cover (this might take some clever finagling!)

I wanted a few cute little flowers to add a little spice to my strap. It’s January, and I need some non-dead, non-ice-encrusted flora in my life.

 

Little Posy Flowers

Start by making a magic/adjustable ring.

Chain 1, and work 1 single crochet into the ring.

*Chain 1, work 2 double crochets into the ring, chain 1, single crochet into the ring.* That makes one petal:

Repeat from * to * for as many petals as you’d like . . . I prefer 5 or 6 petals per flower.

Slip stitch to the first single crochet of the flower to connect the first and last petals, then fasten off.

And pull on the starting yarn tail to close up the center.

Weave in the ending yarn tail, and use the center/starting yarn tail to sew the flower onto the strap. I went with a happy little cluster of 3 flowers to brighten up my strap.

There you go! A cute, comfortable, snuggly soft crochet camera strap cover.

And in case you want a peek into my creative process, here are my pattern notes:

I never said it would be pretty. My brain is a very confusing place, made worse when accompanied by a one-and-a-half year old who got a little jealous of my notepad and kept stealing it for his own messy, scribbly purposes. The little dark lord strikes again.

He seriously looks a teeny bit evil in that picture. I’m frightened. Especially because he has recently started doing this maniacal mad scientist laugh . . . I think he has bad things brewing (and not just in his diaper). I can only assume he was taking my paper to make notes for his wicked master plan. I hope he will be a merciful evil overlord.