Well, a promise is a promise. As you’re aware if you’re a regular visitor of this blog, writing tutorials is a rare occurrence for me, mostly because I feel there are so many more seasoned crafts writers out there whose standard I can never hope to achieve. And while I don’t think that mine is going to suck completely, please take it with a grain of benevolent salt, okay?
The potholder you can see above was one of the many that were sold here, by the way, at my daughter’s school Summer Fayre two weeks ago.
Waffle Stitch Crochet Potholder
Onward to making one.
You will need 1 ball of mercerized cotton yarn (you could use any yarn you like, of course, but for functionality and this particular purpose, I think that would be best suited. Mercerized cotton is durable, easy to wash, and won’t split while you work.)
Also, you need a crochet hook. Try a 2, 2,5 or 3 size, depending on how tightly or loosely you crochet.
First, make a chain of 46.
Turn the work, chain 2 and then make a row of double crochet into the foundation chain.
Turn the work. Chain 2, then make 1 DC into the first loop. Then, make one front post double crochet (insert hook into the stitch in the row below from the front, go around the post of the stitch from the back,then finish your DC stitch. Make *2 regular DC, then again 1 FPDC*. Repeat until end of row, which you end with 1 regular DC into the last stitch.
It should look like this. As you can see, the 3-D effect you want is clearly visible already. This side will be referred to as the right side of your work.
Turn the work. Chain 2, then make 2 regular DC. Then make *2 FPDC, and 1 DC*. Continue like this until end of row. End with DC into the last 2 stitches.
This is what the wrong side of the potholder will look like.
Continue in this manner, alternating the right and wrong side patterns until you’re happy with the size of your potholder. It can be square shaped, or rectangular, whichever you prefer. The 46 stitches is what size I feel is the correct one, but you could make it larger, or smaller.
The last of your rows should be a wrong side row. Turn the work, then make 1 chain and start making a neat border as follows:
Crochet single crochet stitches into the ‚even‘ edge. In the corner, make 1 SC, 1 chain, and move on to the ‚uneven‘ side edge.
For this, use half double crochet. It’s a neat stitch that will straighten out the slight bumps. I try to space the stitches out evenly as best I can. Here, the exact number of stitches is not as important as the the neat look. You’ll see what I mean as you work. In this corner, end the edge with 1 HDC, 1 chain, and begin the next side of the border with 1 DC into the same stitch. Continue making SC into the ‚even‘ edge.
The corners look neater if you make a little ‚ear‘ by crocheting the last stitch of one edge and the first stitch of the next edge into the same stitch, with 1 chain in between.
Once you’ve gone all around the potholder and are back to the first DC, slip stitch into the first chain you made, to join the round. Then, chain 28 for the handle. Join the chain to the potholder. Turn the work and make 1 row of single crochet into all 28 chains. Join with slip stitch, maybe make 2 or 3 more slip stitches, then fasten off.
Darn in your ends, and you’re done!
Well, I hope this made sense to you guys. I taught someone the pattern at the school crafternoon, and then she had to leave, and I could only explain the border and finishing via text, but she understood what I meant :-), so I hope you will, too.
Today is a post manuscript submission day, so my brain is a little fried; not to the point of only being able to do manual labor, walk or bake. I wouldn’t be able to write a tutorial, otherwise! But I will admit that I’m tired, and also slow.
Speaking of which, I wanted to tell you about slow drawing. I just finished translating a very cool book about this, by artist Amy Maricle. It’s a mindful art practice, and it was a lovely book to translate. She talks about slow drawing as a meditative, calming activity, and encourages her students to embrace the slowness, and to experience with all your senses the joy and serenity it will bring to let loose your creativity.
Needless to say, I went out and bought watercolor paper and drawing pens right away, so strongly did I feel the pull of those beautiful, tiny patterns. She says to just go ahead and draw something any time you have a spare minute; for example all the instances when you’d normally pull out your phone and disappear into cyberspace for a few: use that time to draw instead. Much as I do with my small crafts baggies, she recommends carrying a small art kit with you at all times, so you’re prepared. A great book, a wonderful practice – highly recommended. Once again, I love my job :-)!
Other than that, our summer break is almost here. Next installment will probably be written from the North Sea. We’re going to Denmark this year, a country of which we’ve seen little else but Copenhagen, so far. Looking forward to windswept beaches, seagulls and shells, and some well deserved down time with my family.
Thank you for reading, and please let me know if you could work with the Waffle Stitch tutorial!
A Stitch is a stitch 