Pattern time! - Crochet Hoop Earrings Pattern

(Scroll down for the pattern)
I spend a lot of time gawking at crochet earrings and I often came across Crochet hooped earrings such as the ones below :

But I could barely ever find a decent pattern to tell me how to get started on such earrings, let alone how to make them.

So after a lot of trial and error, I finally made a one sample, and while it's not an exact replica of the ones above, it's close enough.

Materials required :

- A pair of hoops - the one shown above is 2.5inches in diameter, but the bigger, the better.

- A crochet needle  1.1 mm

- Thread ( I used Anchor's size 40 crochet thread, but any thread thin enough to be used on a 1.1 mm needle is good enough)

Pattern

The thing with such a design is that there is no exact pattern in terms of number of stitches. I will give you the pattern in terms of how I made it, but you will need to modify a bit. But the pattern is easy, so modification will be a walk in the park.

Row 1 : Make an odd no. of scs on the INSIDE of the hoop. It's very important that the top of your single crochet be on the inside of the circle, not outside, as the rest of the pattern will be done within the circle.

I had to do about 203 scs. I'd recommend doing about 10% more than you need as they will get pulled closer together as you work on the remaining rows.

Turn.

Row 2 : Ch 3, *skip 1 sc , dc in the next sc* all around. Turn.

Row 3 : Ch2, *skip 1 dc, sc in the next dc* all around. As it will begin to get tighter now, make the sc a little looser and longer to cover up the gaps between the stitches. 

Turn.

Row 4 : Ch2, *skip 1 sc, sc in the next sc* all around. Your scs will need to be even looser now.

Turn.

Row 5 : Ch3, dc in the same sc, *skip the next sc, 2 dc in the next sc* all around. Alternating dc's will need to be loose. Turn.

Row 6 : Ch 2, *skip the next dc, sc in the next dc* all around. Weave off.

Whenever your stitches need to be a little loose, just let the needle pull as much thread as it needs to complete the stitch.

Terms

Sc - Single crochet

Dc - Double Crochet.

Turn - Turn the work

If you make this design, post a picture of your work and share your experiences!

Who says earrings are just for girls?

There's a crochet earring for everyone. Even for those boys who wanted to give their mommy's a bit of a shock.

My friend Rajjo had been mourning the fact that he can't quite carry off my big elaborate earrings. But since the day he discovered I could make colorful studs as well, he's been pestering me to make the brightest pair which would give his mom quite the unpleasant surprise. And the result is :

P.S. these haven't been Photoshopped - they're actually this bright! Would love to see his mom's reaction.

On a side note, if you'd like a pair of colorful studs, you could place an order here : Green Studs by Thread Story

Beyond threads

As much as I love crochet, I have to admit that just thread doesn't make for long-lasting earrings. And that's one battle crochet earrings are set to lose against metal and plastic earrings.

But who said crochet's just about threads? There are so many beads and metal findings available in the market that even crochet can be made sturdy. And the use of such accessories often reduces the workload. Consider the earring shown above - simply sc (for the uninitiated, that's single crochet - one of the most basic stitches in crochet) around the ring. Add a bead and a hook, and you're set.

Starting off...

A couple of months back, I started Thread Story. Or should I say, Thread Story gave birth to me. I often found myself without work at my summer internship, and I started bringing my crochet kit to work. A colleague was fascinated by crochet and to please her (read : to get more attention :p) I made her a pair of earrings. Then more and more colleagues started asking for earrings, and that's how Thread Story started.

But Thread Story has turned out to be a much bigger (ad)venture than I had expected. It gives me an excuse to keep on crocheting, but as each project is small (as opposed to making a doily or tablecloth), it keeps it new and interesting.

I keep on learning something new about crochet everyday through Thread Story, and I'll keep sharing what I do learn. Watch this space