"Are your crochet patterns suitable for beginners?"

YES! Many of my crochet patterns are suitable for beginners! It's a question which people frequently ask me, so in this blog post I'm going to share with you which of my crochet patterns are suitable for beginners.

how best  to wear your This Way,
That Way scarf 

I designed my This Way, That Way scarft with the beginner in mind - it only requires double crochet (UK terms). There are ridges running along the length of this reversible scarf, created by changing between working into the front loop and back loop of the stitches, but don't worry - the pattern includes a step-by-step tutorial to keep you right! It's a unisex design which can be made in your own combination of colours in chunky yarn. The pattern is available in UK and US terms.

Calunna Hills cowl

Slightly more challenging, but still with a beginner rating, is my Calunna Hills cowl. It requires just a few simple stitches to create this stunning wave effect. Once you have crocheted a few rows the pattern is repeated and it's easy to remember and get into a routine with. It's available in both UK and US terms.

Jute Plant Pot Cosy

My Jute Plant Pot Cosy pattern is super simple and works up fast in Hoooked 100% natural jute. The finished cosy has a raw, chunky quality which heightens the lush greenery of any plant placed in it. This free pattern can easily be adapted to suit whatever size of plant pot you have.

Small Flower

My Small Flower pattern includes a step-by-step photo tutorial and a chart alongside the full written instructions. You will need to know how to make a magic loop but there are plenty of YouTube videos to keep you right on that! This project is perfect for using up small amounts of left over yarn in any thickness and the flowers can be used to decorate all kinds of things! It's also another of my free patterns! 

Easy Wrist Warmers

Another simple beginners project is my Easy Wrist Warmers pattern - a free Ravelry downoad. There are only a few basic stitches required and the pattern works up quickly giving you an achievable finished item that you can show off to friends and family!

The final pattern I would like to share with you is Zig Zag scarf pattern. It is a super simple stitch repeat which works up really fast! there is an easy to follow chart included with the pattern and it's available in both UK and US terms.

Wow! Six beginner level patterns to choose from! And, once you've mastered a few basic crochet stitches, become more confident with your hook & yarn and learnt to follow a pattern you will be ready to move on to intermediate level patterns. I'm now including charts or video tutorials (or both!) with all my crochet patterns (and going back and adding them to older patterns) because I know they can really help people visualise how the pattern works. If you have any questions relating to my patterns please leave a comment below or send me a message on Instagram (@marta.mitchell.designs)

Until next time,

Marta xx

Yarn Review: Koigu Mori

Hello! Today I am going to review a recent addition to my yarn stash - Koigu Mori. I bought 3 skeins of this amazingly soft yarn from loveknitting.com in their January sale and when I opened my parcel I did a little dance because it was stunningly beautiful!

skeins of Koigu Mori with some sunny daffodils

The colours in the yarn instantly made me think of daffodils - of both their flowers and their folliage - the perfect colours as we look forward to Spring in the northern hemisphere. I chose colourway 533 (they are all numbered rather than named) for its fresh look but there is a massive range of colours to choose from, both variegated like this one and solid colours. You can view the entire collection on the Koigu website here.

The composition of the yarn is 50% merino wool and 50% mulberry silk giving it excellent stitch definition and a luxurious sheen. The silk content makes it wonderfully lightweight and drapy so an idea began to form in my head for a scarf design. Inspired by a swatch in a 70s crochet book I began to play with a filet pattern which incorporated a daffodil like motif. 

early stages of the design process

The yarn worked up beautifully without snagging or splitting and the stitches stand out really prettily. The colour changes in the variegated yarn are very short producing a mottled rather than a stripy effect which I like. 

fast progress on this shawl

Based a few hours outside Toronto, Canada, Koigu Wool Designs is a small family run business. It started up specialising in 4ply 100% merino and the demand for this yarn became so great that the business expanded and introduced other bases, still focusing on 4ply something which makes the brand stand out. Today the yarn is a vailable worldwide.

wonderful stitch definition

So, my plans are to continue with this scarf design, write it up, send it to testers, do the final edit and then share it with you in time for Spring!

Happy hooking,

Marta xx

NB. This blog post has not been sponsored by Love Knitting or Koigu, the viewpoints are entirely my own.

Crochet charts - a helpful bonus included with some of my patterns

Hello, last week I was hard at work on a new design for Crate Crochet in Australia. I was beginning to get very frustrated with my stitch counts and the exact positioning of some of my stitches when I decided to step away from the yarn and turn to pencil and paper to try and draw my idea in chart form. This was a real eureka moment for me because I was finally able to see the exact placement of the stitches and every single stitch was accounted for.

I need to keep this particular project under wraps for now but it did lead me to have a think about adding charts as a helpful bonus in some of my patterns. Looking through my published patterns I chose 2 that could quickly and easily be turned into chart form and set to work!

The first is this Simple Flower pattern that I had already produced a photo tutorial for. The addition of the chart will make it really easy for other people to understand how the pattern works. This pattern is available as a free pdf download on Ravelry, you will find it here.

Secondly, I looked to one of my very first designs, my Zig Zag Scarf. It turned out that this pattern neeeded more than just a chart, it needed a lot of TLC! I can't believe how much my pattern writing and layout style have changed in 3 and a half years! So, I drew out the chart and then fixed the formatting and layout - it really did look so clunky and alien to me! Another thing I managed to do with this pattern is translate it into US terms - it's always useful to cover both if I can. I then used the scanner at my local library to scan my drawn charts into the computer and from there added them to the documents.

The Zig Zag Scarf pattern is available for £3.60 to download from Ravelry here. Please do let me know if you follow either of these patterns, I love to see how different people interpret my designs!

My Lark's Knot Scarf pattern is almost ready for publishing and it will have a chart too. Thanks also for your patience waiting for my Lavender Cardigan design - it is still stuck at the photo editing stage - nearly there, I want it to be perfect! Not long now ...

Marta xx

How to Crochet a Simple Flower

Hello! I've a simple crochet flower pattern to share with you, right here in this blog post! The pattern is also available as a free download on Ravelry. The pattern is suitable for a confident beginner.

This all came about because last night I was playing about with some cotton yarn, trying to make a very small flower and getting frustrated because the centre was so big and taking up a lot of wasted space! I was using the magic loop method, ch 1, 12dc (UK terms) into the loop and then on to round 2 for the petals, when I suddenly thought "can I skip round 1?" ... And yes, I can, so you can too!

finished flowers

I'm going to give you a complete step-by-step photo tutorial for the flower below, but firstly I'll give all the instructions in the written format for both UK and US terms. 

NB. You will need to know how to make a magic loop! If this is new to you, my YouTube tutorial below will guide you through the process.

Materials

Small amount of yarn

Appropriate size of crochet hook (I used Erika Knight vintage wool and a 5mm crochet hook for the step by step tutorial)

Needle for sewing in ends

finished flowers turned into a simple greetings card

UK instructions

ch - chain

dtr - double treble

ss - slip stitch

Begin with a magic loop, [ch3, 2dtr into loop, ch3, ss into loop] 5 times. Pull starting tail to tighten magic loop. Finish off.

US instructions

ch - chain

trc - triple crochet

ss - slip stitch

Begin with a magic loop, [ch3, 2trc into loop, ch3, ss into loop] 5 times. Pull starting tail to tighten magic loop. Finish off.

That's it, a very small flower which can be used for all sorts of decorative purposes! Top tip - if you leave your tails nice and long these can be used to secure your finished flower to your project.

Step-by-step photo tutorial

begin by wrapping the yarn around

your fingers to make a magic loop

insert yarn from front to back, pull 

a loop through

extra photo to show the start of the magic loop

chain 3 (to begin petal)

first dtr (UK) / trc (US) into the loop

second dtr (UK) / trc (US) into the loop

chain 3 (to finish petal)

slip stitch into loop

Continue around the loop, working the above pattern 5 times in total

Here's the start of petal no. 2 

2 completed petals

5 completed petals

pull the starting tail 

to tighten the loop

you can leave the centre open or

pull it completely closed.

Weave in your ends and you are finished!

a pile of finished flowers in various 

different yarn weights and textures

Conclusion

I would love for you to get in touch and show me your flowers or let me know how you have found this pattern! You could comment below or tag me on Instagram with the tag #martamitchelldesigns. This pattern is now available as a free pdf download from Ravelry.com!

Happy hooking!

Marta xx