Crochet Yarn Tamer

For center-pull balls of yarn that refuse to stay put. This pattern uses any gague, any yarn, but I recommend your most hated acrylic yarns, although it may not use it up quickly enough.

Directions are in US crochet notation.

Materials

~ 50 yards of worsted weight yarn
~ 5-10 yards in a worsted weight contrasting color
Size I, J or K hook. (you can modify the hook size to match the yarn and the desired size of the tamer slightly)

Gauge:

Gauge does not matter for this project, as long as the finished product can fit over a ball of yarn. I specifically needed to tame small mill-end balls of yarn, perhaps 1-2 ounces of slippery DK yarn, probably rayon. You can increase the size of the project with hook size, or by adding Vs in round 1 so that you can tame larger balls of yarn.

Abbreviations

ch
chain stitch
slst
slip stitch
dc
double crochet (US)
tr
triple crochet (US)
C
contrasting color
B
base color
V
V-stitch: tr in indicated stitch, ch 3, tr in same stitch
picot V
tr in indicated stitch, ch 4, sl st in the top of the tr, ch 3, tr in indicated stitch

Note: If you're going to do multiple V or picot V stitches, I recommend that you leave the last 2 loops on the hook. On the first tr of the next V go through all 3 loops on the hook when you have 3 loops left on the hook. In other words, the first tr ends like a half-double crochet (US) using 2 loops from the previous tr. I found this keeps the Vs very tidy at the top.

Pattern

Setup: with B: 18 dc in magic ring, join with sl st, pull magic ring so that you have an eyelet in the center.

Row 1: ch 4, * skip 1 stitch and V in next stitch * do * to end, tr in base of ch4, ch 3 and sl st in top of ch4. 9 Vs made (including the ch 4 V). [for a larger yarn tamer, you can skip fewer stitches and make additional Vs]

Rows 2 & 3: ch 4, * skip ch 3 and V in the next tr * to end then tr in base of ch4, ch 3 and sl st in top of ch 4. 9 Vs made (or same # Vs as row 1). [To make a longer yarn tamer, continue making rows.]

Ending Row: ch 4, * skip ch 3 and picot-V in next tr * to end then tr in base of ch4, ch 4 and slst in top of tr, ch 3 and slst to top of starting ch4.

Cut yarn, pull through slst and weave in loose ends.

Drawstring: ch 50, weave end of chain through all picots, slst on the first 4 ch to make a circle. Cut yarn, pull through, weave in end.

To use

Pull center-pull string through magic ring eyelet, pull tamer over ball of yarn with center-pull feed down, pull drawstring closed. I made this to fit firmly over a small 1-skein ball of yarn. Optionally, you could pull the center-pull yarn through the drawstring area instead.

Other Posts in January 2013


© Criss Ittermann. All Rights Reserved. Website by Eclectic Tech, LLC."