Tutorial (sorta): Crochet Garlands

Making little motifs is fun and a great way to use up scraps of yarn that would otherwise sit around collecting dust or end up being tossed out. But what are you gonna do with a bunch of motifs? Make a garland, of course. All you have to do is find some motif patterns, bust ‘em out, and connect them all together with a chain.

Here are some links to motif patterns:

circular motif
five-point flower
two flowers
sun
tiny heart
lacy heart
floral heart
sunflower
flower in a circle
star in a star
three stars
star flower
granny star
medallion
aruba motif
mini hex
little hex
circle in a square
granny triangle
golden season motif
half granny motif
snowflakes

Okay, that’s plenty for now (there are TONS of free motif patterns on the web). When making the motifs, use the same weight/ply of yarn (and hook) for the whole works, regardless of what each individual motif instructions say. Motifs look especially striking when you use a different color thread for each round. So now you have all your lovely motifs made. Decide how far apart you’d like them. Let’s say you want 20 chains between each motif. To start, chain 5. Now slip stitch into your beginning chain (this makes a nice hanging loop). Next, make your 20 chains. Grab your first motif and decide where you want it connected to your chain. Insert your hook into your motif (into a stitch or space, depending) from front to back. Yarn over, draw the loop through, and make a single crochet. Chain 20, connect your next motif. Keep on going in this manner. When you have made your last 20 chains, chain 5 more and slip stitch into the 5th chain from the hook (to make hanging loop). Finish off. Weave in chain ends. Done!

You may encounter a situation in which you want to connect the whole top of a motif to the chain (as in a square or a triangle). Simple — you can either connect motifs with a single crochet in each corner, or just single crochet into each stitch across the top. If you are feeling adventurous, you could make a decorative edging instead of just a plain old chain (Do not make the hanging loops if you plan on taking this route). All you have to do is find an edging you like, and when you get to the end of your chain, turn your work to crochet back across the foundation chain.

You can see in the picture above that I connected all my motifs, turned my work, then half-double crocheted all the way across to the beginning again. You could do scallops, picots, loops, or whatever tickles your fancy. I guess this is more of an obvious how-to rather than a full-blown tutorial, but I hope it inspires you to make your own!

About these ads