Well hello Friday! It’s been a busy week here, lots of design submissions, sample making and even a bit of gardening (and yes, laundry, dusting, housework – I am the ultimate procrastinator!)
Speaking of which, five years since I shared the Bobble Cowl with you, I have finally made a new sample, photographed it and I’ll be uploading the patttern pdf to all the usual places next week.
Meanwhile, for you lovely readers, here is a free version just for you. These are instructions to make the green 4 ply version which I’m wearing in the photo – the grey DK version is made in exactly the same way, just with a bigger hook. You’ll need about 300m, so this is perfect if you have a 100g skein of 4 ply or sock yarn lurking in your stash. Make it bigger by adding more stitches or working extra rounds (you’ll need an odd number of chains).
The bobble stitch is very easy and with only one round to memorise, you’ll hook it up in no time at all. If you have a copy of 200 More Crochet Stitches, you’ll find some photos and a chart to help you with the bobbles on page 57 (Three Colour Bobbles).
So, gather up your yarn, a 3.5mm hook and you’re ready to go! Remember – I write in UK crochet terms.
Technically, this stitch is a cluster not a bobble – but let’s not split hairs! You’ll find instructions for making clusters on p 182 of 200 More Crochet Stitches or p90 of Crochet, Learn It, Love It. After the first round, you’ll be making all your stitches into the chain spaces, so it’s easy to remember where to put your hook – handy if you’re crocheting this in fron of the TV.
Special stitches:
Beginning Bobble (BegBob): 3ch, yoh, insert hook into stitch, (yoh and pull up loop, yoh, pull through two loops) twice, yoh and draw through all loops on hook.
Bobble (Bob): yoh, insert hook into stitch, (yoh and pull up loop, yoh, pull through two loops) three times, yoh and draw through all loops on hook.
Make 90ch, join to make a ring, being careful not to twist your stitches.
Round 1: 1ch (does not count as a stitch), 1dc in same place as join and 1dc in each ch to end, sl st in same place as first dc. (90dc)
Round 2: Make 1 Beg Bob in same place as sl st, 1ch, skip 1dc *Make Bob in next st, 1ch, skip 1dc; repeat from * to end, sl st in top of Beg Bob.
Round 3: Sl st into first ch sp. Make 1 Beg Bob in same place as sl st, 1ch, skip 1dc, *Make Bob in next st, 1ch, skip 1dc; repeat from * to end, sl st in top of Beg Bob.
Round 3: Sl st into first ch sp. Make 1 Beg Bob in same place as sl st, 1ch, skip bobble, *Make Bob in next ch sp, 1ch, skip bobble; repeat from * to end, sl st in top of Beg Bob.
Rounds 4 – 20. Repeat Round 3.
On the 4 ply version, I added a round of crab stitch to the top and bottom. You’ll find instructions for crab stitch on page 121 of Crochet. Learn it, Love It. Or, there are numerous tutorials online.
Fasten off yarn, weave in ends and wear with a smile!
So there you are, I told you it was easy! The beautiful green yarn is a skein of Eden Cottage Yarns Tempo 4 ply. The shade is “Cottage Original”, I’ve got at least 100m left, which I’ll use to knit the feet of a pair of scrappy socks and I’ll make up a few flowers for my Vintage Flowers Blanket. The grey yarns for the dk version were from my stash and I made it so long ago I cannot find my notes, nor can I remember the yarns! This year I’ve resolved to file away my design notebooks more carefully – let’s see how that works out..
Happy Making everyone xxx
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