Cold Weather Crochet:

21 Cozy Garments, Accessories, and Afghans to Keep You Warm
By Marly Bird
Interweave/F+W; $22.99
http://bit.ly/1PJm6PI

 Cold Weather Crochet:

21 Cozy Garments, Accessories, and Afghans to Keep You Warm

When the weather outside is frightful…Cold Weather Crochet is delightful!

Living in Southern Ontario, Canada I am no stranger to cold weather. Current temperatures (this week) have ranged from -15 to -30 degrees before we even add in the windchill effect. Accessories to keep you warm in the winter are a necessity here and during some winter seasons are worn from October until March!

Marly Bird’s newly released book Cold Weather Crochet  includes 21-fantastic projects for both men and women.  These crochet projects will make staying warm during the cold days and nights, easy and fashionable.

If you are looking for gift giving ideas, you will find a number of great projects in this book – quick items like hats, mittens and slippers to larger items like blankets and lacy wraps.

The projects included in this publication are designed for beginner level crocheters.

Each pattern is provided in written U.S. Crochet Terms and includes a stitch diagram. Many also include multiple size options in the instructions.

The designs included are:

• Pewter Slouchy Hat – Sizes Small, Medium and Large; #3 Light Yarn
• Cabled Shawl – Size: 35″ across the top and 70″ across the bottom; #2 Fine Yarn
• Pretty in Pink Infinity Cowl – Size: 10″ wide and 56″ long; #4 Medium Yarn
• Ultra Alpaca Hat – Size: 8.5″ by 21″; #4 Medium Yarn
• Tilt-o-whirl Afghan – Size: 48″ by 48″; #4 Medium Yarn
• Thrummed Slippers (scroll down for the bonus pattern excerpt!!) – Sizes: Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large;  #4 Medium Yarn
• Ombre Cowl & Fingerless Mitts – Size:  Mitts: 6.5″ around by 8″ long; Cowl: 5.75″ wide by 30″ around; #3 Light Yarn
• Keyhole Fringed Scarf – Size: 7″ wide by 16″ long plus tassels (before seaming);  #4 Medium Yarn
• African Flower Afghan – Size: 62″ by 67″;  #4 Medium Yarn
• Newsboy Cap – Size: 7.5″ by 21″;  #4 Medium Yarn
• Denim Infinity Scarf – Size: 7″ by 56″; #2 Fine Yarn
• Cross Creek Hat – Size: 7.75″ by 20″; #3 Light Yarn
• Linen Stitch Scarf – Size: 5″ by 75″;  #4 Medium Yarn
• Hat & Chevron Cowl Coordinates – Size: Slouchy: 20.5″ by 9.5″; Cowl: 25″ by 10″; #2 Fine Yarn
• Green Mountain Spinnery Hooded Scarf – Size: 29″ by 4.5″ plus hood;  #4 Medium Yarn
• Big Pink Hat – Size: 22.5″ by 10″; #5 Bulky Yarn
• New Favorite Socks – Sizes: Size: Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large; #1 Super Fine Yarn
• Lace Motif Wrap – Size: 28″ by 63″; #2 Fine Yarn
• Log Cabin Blanket – Size: 51.5″ by 51.5″; #4 Medium Yarn

The Abbreviations section is included at the end of the book and is written in U.S. Crochet Terms. Many Techniques have also been provided and include drawings to demonstrate hook placement.

Many different types of yarns have been used to create these designs.  A section for: Sources for Yarn has been included to make finding a particular brand quick and easy!

Some of my favorite designs in the book include:

I really love the variety of designs included in Cold Weather Crochet. I found the written instructions easy to follow and understand and the charts included help me visualize how the stitches should be worked. If you are looking for a new accessory for yourself, or to use as a gift – you will find the instructions in Cold Weather Crochet.

As an added bonus, F&W Media International, Ltd. has provided us with an excerpt of the pattern:

 Thrummed Slippers

Take a basic slipper pattern and add thrums and you get a heavenly cloud for your feet. Mix and match the color of the thrums to make these your own.

 

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS

7 (8, 9, 10)” (18 [20.5, 23, 25.5] cm) long. Shown in size 9″ (23 cm).

Directions are given for size Small. Changes for Medium, Large, and XL are in parentheses.

YARN

Worsted weight (#4 Medium).

Shown here: Cascade Yarns 220 (100% Peruvian Wool, 220 yd [201 m]/3½ oz

[100 g]): #8011 Aspen Heather (A), 1 skein.

Twisted Fiber Art Divine Roving Fiber (50% cultivated silk, 50% merino wool), Roy G. Biv, about 2 oz (56 g).

HOOK

Size I-9/5.5 mm hook. Adjust hook size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.

NOTIONS

Stitch markers; yarn needle.

GAUGE

With 2 strands of A held together as one, 12 sts and 10 rows = 4″ (10 cm) in pattern.

Notes

• Hold the yarn in double strands throughout.
•  A thrum is a lock of fleece about 4″ (10 cm) long with both ends folded to the middle and then twisted/rubbed tog. Middle of the thrum should not be any thicker than the yarn being used for the slipper.
• Make thrums prior to beginning the slipper.
• Work all thrums in dc sts every RS rnd (thrum tufts will be on WS).
• All increases and decreases will be completed in a non-thrum rnd.
• Slippers are worked from the toe up.

Stitch Guide

Double crochet 2 together (dc2tog): [Yo, insert hook in the next indicated st, yo, draw yarn through st, yo, draw yarn through 2 lps on hook] twice, yo, draw yarn through 3 lps on hook.

Single crochet 2 together (sc2tog): Insert the hook in the next st, yo, draw yarn through st, insert the hook into the next st, yo, draw yarn through st, yo, draw yarn through 3 lps on hook.

Double crochet with thrum (dcwt): Yo, insert hook in the next sc, fold the middle of thrum over throat of hook and yo, pull thrum and yarn through st, wrap tail of thrum clockwise around yarn and hold it tight so it does not untwist, yo with yarn only and draw through (lp, thrum, and lp), tug yarn, yo with yarn only and draw through 2 lps.

Slippers (make 2)

TOE

Make an adjustable ring.

Rnd 1: (RS) Work 6 sc in ring, join with a sl st in the first sc, turn—6 sc.

Rnd 2: (WS) Ch 2 (does not count as a st here and throughout), (sc, dc) in each sc around, join with a sl st in the top of the tch, turn—12 sts.

Rnd 3: (RS) Ch 2, *sc in next dc, dcwt (see Stitch Guide) in next sc; rep from * around, join with a sl st in the top of tch, turn—12 sts.

Rnd 4: (WS) Ch 2, (sc, dc) in each st around, join with a sl st in the top of tch, turn—24 sts.

Rnd 5: (RS) Rep Rnd 3, turn—24 sts.

Rnd 6: (WS) Ch 2, *(sc, dc) in each of the next 2 sts, [sc in the next st, dc in the next st] 5 times; rep from * around, join with a sl st in the top of tch, turn—28 sts.

Rnd 7: (RS) Rep Rnd 3, turn—28 sts.

Sizes S, M, and L only

Rnd 8: (WS) Ch 2, *sc in the next st, dc in the next st; rep from * around, join with a sl st in the top of the tch, turn.

Rep Rnds 7–8 until the Toe measures about 3″ (7.5 cm) from the beg desired length for the top of the slipper, ending with Rnd 7. Skip to the Foot Opening.

Size XL only

Rnd 8: (WS) Ch 2, *(sc, dc) in each of the next 2 sts, [sc in the next st, dc in the next st] 6 times; rep from * around, join with a sl st in the top of the tch—32 sts.

Rnd 9: (RS) Rep Rnd 5, turn.

Rnd 10: (WS) Ch 2, *sc in the next st, dc in the next st; rep from * around, join with a sl st in the top of the tch, turn.

Rep Rnds 9–10 until the Toe measures about 3½” (9 cm) from the beg desired length for the top of the slipper, ending with Rnd 9.

All sizes

Make foot opening:

Row 1: (WS) Ch 2, *sc in the next st, dc in the next st; rep from * 9 (9, 9, 11) times, turn, leaving rem sts unworked—20 (20, 20, 24) sts, 8 sts left unworked.

Row 2: (RS) Ch 2, *sc in the next dc, dcwt in the next sc; rep from * across, turn.

Row 3: (WS) Ch 2, *sc in the next dc, dc in the next sc; rep from * across, turn.

Rep Rows 2–3 until the Slipper measures 7 (8, 9, 10)” (18 [20.5, 23, 25.5] cm) from the beg, ending with

Row 3 of the pattern.

Joining Row: (RS) Fold the slipper in half and working through a double thickness, sl st in each st across to join the back of the slipper. Fasten off.

Edging Row: With RS facing, join with a sl st to the back of the slipper, ch 1, sc evenly around the Foot

Opening, working sc2tog at each inside corner where the sts go from rnds to rows. Fasten off.

Finishing

Weave in the ends.

Excerpted from Cold Weather Crochet: 21 Cozy Garments, Accessories, and Afghans to Keep You Warm by Marly Bird. Copyright © 2015 F+W Media, Inc. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.

Photography by Joe Hancock.

 

About the Author

Marlaina “Marly” Bird balances her day among being a wife, mom, designer, creative director for Bijou Basin Ranch Yarns, and hosting “The Yarn Thing” Podcastas well as the Marly Bird YouTube channel. You’ve seen her knit and crochet designs in Love of Knitting, Love of Crochet, Knitter’s, Knit Simple, Interweave Crochet,Knitscene, Crochet! and Creative Knitting, and in collaboration in many knitting and crochet books. Visit Marly online:

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Ravelry, Pinterest and her blog.

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