Freeform Crochet Tutorials & Books

Photo from Sylvia Cosh::James Walters Crochet

Sylvia Cosh & James Walters have what I think is the most comprehensive selection of downloadable worksheets on Freeform Crochet Techniques. They've got downloads with both "English" and "American" translations of crochet terminology for each worksheet. The last sheet was posted in 2007, so it looks like this is they'll be posting. Reading through the list , it sounds like the syllabus for a complete course in Freeform Crochet.

1: Choosing Yarn & Hook
2: Terms/Abbreviations/Symbols
3: Crochet Stitch Reference – the Basics
4: Colour and the Colour 'Wheel'
5: Grey, Stone, Brown, Beige, Ochre & 'Natural' Colours
6: Colour Schemes
7: 'Scrumbling'
8: 'Crochet Circles' Fabric
9: Organic Crochet Patchwork
10: Spiral Scrumble
11: Square Scrumbling
12: 'Bosnian' Scrumbling
13: Bosnian Crochet – Neckpurse (simple project)
14: 'Tunisian/Afghan' Scrumbling
15: Openwork Scrumbling
16: Raised Square & Roundels (stitch patterns)
17: Raised Flower Hexagon & 'Lazy Wheel' (stitch patterns)
18: Intermeshing – Double Filet Basics
19: Intermeshing – Double Filet Neckpurse (simple project)
20: Spinnerama (Solomon's Knot Hanging Fabric)
21: Tote Bag Project
22: Simple Rounds and Spirals
23: Keeping Edges Straight
24: 'Flying' Stitches I'm a huge fan of James Walters & Sylvia Cosh through which I've collected over the years. I'd say "The Crochet Workbook" is the book I turn to the most when starting a freeform project. I wasn't able to find it at any local bookstores, but of course Amazon's got it.

My Favorite Free Knit and Crochet Patterns for Blankets

Blackberry Stripe Baby Blanket is worked using 7 colors of Lion Brand Cotton-Ease (1449 total yards). It's based on an easy to learn Bobble Stitch, and links to a how-to video if the stitch is new to you. For the blanket pictured she used 7 different colors of yarn and randomly grabbed a different skein for each row.












Great blanket made up of 24 squares using self-striping sock yarn. Calls for 750 grams of yarn & US 4 needle for a gauge of 23 sts x 46 rows in garter st = 10 x 10 cm / 4'' x 4''. Click on the picture to go to the pattern.


Happy Colors Blanket is crocheted following a free tutorial on the Just-do blog.


A cheerful crocheted blanket, Orange Blossom  mixes stripes and flowers in warm summer colors using an H hook and a gauge of 14 dc x 8 rows = 10 x 10 cm / 4'' x 4''.

One of my all time favorite designers, Kaffe Fassett, has posted free instructions to make this patchwork knit

blanket, the Jubilee Throw, using Rowan Felted Tweed DK. It's a very extensive free pattern, written in several languages. But when you scroll to the end it has charts for each of the squares, any one of which could make an interesting cushion or bag. 

"An African Adventure", created by Horst Schulz. It'a on Ravelry so there are lots of different versions for inspiration.

My Favorite Free Hat Patterns to Knit or Crochet

A list, with photos, of my favorite free patterns to knit or crochet hats.There are so many lists of free knit and crochet patterns out there, but they usually don't have photos. So here's a quick list of what I think are the best free patterns out there. Leave me a message below with a link to your favorite if you'd like to add it here.

Easy Slouchy Hat

This is the hat I've knit the most. It can be finished in an afternoon and using variegated yarns make it look much more complicated than it actually is. The pattern is available as a free Ravelry download. It's shown here in Twisted Sister Jazz yarn. I used two colors (60 & 69) and alternated with two rows of each color throughout the hat. I've also seen it knit up in Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton (if you're on Ravelry you can see a photo here), Malabrigo Rios (Ravelry photo here), Debbie Bliss Andes Alpaca Silk (Ravelry photo here).

La Parisenne

I love the zigazaggy stripes of this one. the pattern calls for a yarn called SockPixie Sock yarn. The free knitting pattern for this beret can be downloaded here.It appears to be knit with an artisan dyed yarn that isn't available currently. I of course will go to one of my favorite yarns for striping, Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn or Noro Silk Garden Sock Green/Aqua/Brown.

Undergrowth Hat on Knitty

I love Knitty. But I even find it frustrating. Entering a search for "hat" brings up a list with no pictures. And of all the hats on the site, Undergrowth is the one I want to remember. (Download for Undergrowth Free Knit Hat Pattern is here.)  It calls for 1 skein in each of two colors of Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport (colors pictured are #103 Deep Sea & #N003 Grey Heather.)

Tortora Hat on Knitty

Bobbles are one of my favorite stitches. Another Knitty option (free download for the knitting pattern is here), this knit hat mixes bobbles and stripes in an interesting way. It calls for 1 skein of Lana Grossa Alta Moda Alpaca Yarn and has versions for both a typical beanie and a slouchy toque.

Hatticus by Susanna Celso

A great cable pattern knit out of a bulky yarn, the Hatticus knit hat by Susanna Celso is available as a free download on Ravelry with notes on her blog. It's shown here in Cascade Magnum, requiring about 80 yards according to her notes.

Lollipop Hat by Brittany Tyler

This is a fun hat that looks like it will be fun to knit. The instructions, available to download from the Tangled webzine, say it can be knit in up to 8 different colored stripes, making it a good project for using up leftover bits.

Free Pattern: Sugar Cone Skully Hat. Uses worsted weight yarn. Looks as though it will be quick and easy to make.

Norwich is a slouchy stockinette cap worked in the round, with a simple rolled brim using 2 balls of Berroco Floret.

Favorite Free Knit and Crochet Patterns for Bags

There are so many free patterns to available that I find it a bit overwhelming to choose, or to keep track of the ones I might want to make someday. There are sites that list free patterns, but they only list the name, not a photo of the piece. Even Ravelry can get overwhelming. So I'm going to start linking to favorites of mine, with pictures. Hopefully someday I'll be able to include my own photo of each of the items....

"Sunburst Granny Bag" by Rajeswari on her blog diapermum is a fresh colorful take on a summer bag. It's got a very thorough tutorial and a link to instructions on making the sunburst square.

Hexagon Beach Bag in Sugar'n Cream

Made out of Lily Sugar'n Cream this brightly colored crocheted beach bag (the body measures 15" x 17") requires just 15 motifs.And at just under $2.50 a ball, the whole bag is only $20. Seems like a perfect summer project! Get the free pattern in .pdf format here from the Lily website.

Materials needed:
Lily® Sugar’n Cream® (70.9 g/2.5 oz; 109 m/120 yds)
Contrast A
Red (00095) 60 m/66 yds or 1 ball
Contrast B
Hot Orange (01628) 65 m/71 yds or 1 ball
Contrast C
Yellow (00010) 90 m/100 yds or 1 ball
Contrast D
Hot Green (01712) 95 m/105 yds or 1 ball
Contrast E
Light Blue(00026) 200 m/220 yds or 2 balls
Contrast F
Mod Blue (01111) 215 m/236 yds or 2 balls

Size 4 mm (U.S. G or 6) crochet hook or size needed to obtain gauge. Optional: Fabric for lining approx 18” x 36” [45.5 x 91.5 cm].

"Staghorn" Cabled Purse in Sugar'n Cream

This knit bag with a large cable stitch repeat reminds me of the Margaret Nicole Bags that I've seen in Vogue & Elle and that are $150 to $200! This one is 18" x 10". You could easily substitute either the straight or round handles that Margaret Nicole uses and add a big satin ribbon. And with only 4 balls of yarn needed, it will only be about $10 for the yarn plus a few dollars for the handles. Download a .pdf of the pattern here from the Lily website.

Materials needed:
Lily® Sugar’n Cream® (70.9 g/2.5 oz; 109 m/120 yds)
Ecru (00004) 345 m/375 yds or 4 balls
Size 4.5 mm (U.S. 7) knitting needles or size
needed to obtain gauge. Cable needle.
2 leather purse handles 24” [61 cm] longas shown in the picture. Or substitute Round Bamboo Handles

Inga's Bag

Another great crocheted bag. It's the same square that's used in the Babette Blanket. Which gives you something to do with the squares you've already made but have come to realize you'll never get enough done for the whole blanket.....
Download the pdf for the bag here.

The bag is shown here in a cotton yarn from the UK called Anchor Magicline. It's essentially the same as Lily® Sugar’n Cream, which also comes in a variegated blue that would look very much like the Magicline.

Stripey Noro Messenger Bag

I can't think of anything I've seen in Noro that I don't love, but this striped knit bag is pretty terrific. Striped knitting is so much fun with Noro yarns. I always work through it very quickly because I'm so excited to see what happens next with the yarn. And the shape and size of this bag are just what I like, big, but not huge. Designer Deborah Cooke talks about it in a blog post, and the pattern is available to download on Ravelry.

It calls for 3 skeins of Noro Kureyon and 3 skeins of Patons Classic Wool Yarn.

The Simply Lovely Clutch

Seattle Yarn features another Noro Yarn, Tidiori, in this quick to make knit entrelac clutch. The relatively small size, 8" x 5" make this bag a great way to ease into learnign to knit entrelac. Tidiori was discontinued in Spring 2007, but Noro Silk Garden would make an excellent substitute. the pattern is available as a free pdf download on their website.

I'm intrigued by both the unusual shapes of this 

crocheted bag. A free download on the Interweave

 site, the bag is crocheted with 4 different colors of Rowan Cotton Glace: Heather #828 , Shoot # 814 , Sky #749 and Persimmon #832 . (The pattern calls for Pier Blue which has been discontinued, but Sky is a very close shade.) You'll  need 1 ball of each.











A cheerful summery bag to crochet is available on the Drops Design site. The Sicily bag calls for size 3.5 mm/E/4 (or size needed) to get 17 dc = width 10 cm / 4''.  1 square = approx. 10 x 10 cm / 4'' x 4''. 

Freeform Afghan - Second Version

Finished! My second attempt at a Freeform Blanket

10/18/10: 

I’m starting a new blanket - trying to do a bit more “controlled” freeform than I have in the past. I’m wanting something that’s a bit calmer and more serene - not quite as tumultuous and busy as the last one. I’m wanting something linear that flows around circular shapes. Usually I cut a piece of fabric in the general shape that I want the piece to end up. This time I made a paper template (I've compiled a list of standard or average blanket and afghan sizes here) so I can draw in where I want the circles and can look at the big picture as I go instead of just randomly putting together shapes that have just sprung forth. (Which I love to do - just wanting to do something different this time.) I guess it could more rightly be called directed freeform.

My color choice is driven by an old Kaffe Fassett pattern featuring multi-yarn triangle shapes that I started about 5 years ago and never finished. I unraveled it, which made some interesting “Magic Balls” that got me started. I made up a bunch of different circle motifs, using patterns from “Beyond the Square, Crochet Motifs” by Edie Eckman. This is without question the book I use more than any other in my library when looking for interesting patterns in inspiring colors with easy to read written instructions and charts. 



Working about 10" ahead at a time I laid out the circles and then crocheted and knitted in stripes across. I drew lines every 10" just to have reference points.

Working towards the first 10" line

I joined my husband at a work conference on the Chesapeake. While he spent his days in meetings I wandered through the nearby towns and as always seems to happen came across some yarn stores. I bought a few yarns that seemed like they'd be perfect.

Yarns from Fibre Cafe in Cambridge, Maryland

Yarns from Yarns & Company in Easton, Maryland

I bought some really beautiful yarns, but some of the colors were really, really off. I cut some pieces of ribbon and attached the yarns onto them by color. I kept these in my handbag & pulled them out whenever a yarn store appeared in my path. It's a great system that's easy to maintain.

10/25/10:

I’ve been struggling to keep this going - not happy with the way it was heading and having trouble figuring out what to do next. On a meander through Ravelry I came across Melisseio’s Free Range Wrap which got me thinking about how I was approaching the whole thing. Between that and a couple of very encouraging Ravelry messages from Jenny Dowde (JenOz on Ravelry) and looking a bit at her work I’m back into a happy mind about where it’s heading. It’s a very different process than I usually use while “freeforming” in that I’ve got a much more specific idea of where I want to end up and how I want the piece to appear. I’m also using colors that are quite out of my usual sphere. Jenny's book, Freeform Knitting and Crochet  is one I often turn to when needing inspriation or a bit of technical direction.

11/8/10

It’s going much more quickly now. Am keeping up with my 10” per week goal - mostly because I’m already planning the next 3 or 4 projects & can’t wait to get this one finished & get onto those. 

almost finished - just need an edging

11/20/10:

The basic shape is finished. It’s feeling like it needs a border. Something sort of wavy so the uneven edges aren’t so noticeable.

12/3/10:

Finished! I decided I needed a border to finish it off. Used #54 from “Around the Corner, Crochet Borders” by Edie Eckman. I modified it slightly - I did 2 base rounds in purple, then did round 1 in yellow and round 2 in green.

This is the other Edie Eckman book that I use constantly. It's got great pictures, and it's easy to modify the instructions to fit the specific edging that you're trying to achieve. 

detail of edging