New Pattern – Simbelmynë

My! My! My! How time does fly! I can’t believe it’s been almost 5 months since I’ve published a new pattern. That’s just not like me! But it’s not to say that I haven’t been designing. Yep, you heard that right. I’m holding out on you. There are actually lots of designs in the works, some even finished, but have been held back for various special releases. You’ll just have to wait and see what they are.

In the mean time I have a little something for you, and I hope you like it. This is Simbelmynë – a brand new, free, 12 inch afghan square pattern designed specifically for the Moogly CAL 2017.

Simbelmynë is a very easy square. She may look a bit intricate, but those are just single, half-double, and double crochets in there. Really! She works up like a breeze.

Click here to go straight to the pattern page.

Click here to favorite, queue, or hook up a project page on Ravelry.

Click here to check out the very nerdy origins of the name.

The free pattern includes my favorite “quick glance” style photo tutorial designed to get you crocheting faster and easier. There’s also a free text-mostly, printer-friendly, PDF file to download (not to distribute) and, of course, a color placement planning sheet.

While I really love this pattern, my favorite part just might be this color palette. I’ve had it tucked away for a while now. I honestly wasn’t sure it would work in practice. Those balls of yarn always look nice sitting next to each other, but the colors don’t always translate well into an actual piece of crochet. I’m happy to say these ones did. If you’re interested, I used the following supplies to make this square:

• Vanna’s Choice yarn in
  • Radiant Lime
  • Toffee
  • Raspberry
  • White
  • Aquamarine
  • Mustard
• Clover Amour crochet hook in size J/6mm

If you’re new to my patterns you’ll notice I don’t give color changes. That’s for two reasons. 1. I change color almost every round – it’s a little bit ridiculous. 2. Much more importantly, I want to encourage your own unique creativity! Therefore, each round is written with the option to continue with the same color (where possible) or to continue with new yarn. If you’re a little worried about choosing your own color placement, relax. I’ve included what I call a color placement planning sheet to help you. It’s basically a coloring page for the square. You can break out your markers, colored pencils, or heck, borrow your kids crayons. Just have fun with it and see what you can come up with. If you already have a pretty good idea of where you want to place colors the sheet can be really handy to mark which round you want to be which color and keep as a guide while you make your square.

Resources

Now, on to some goodies that might be helpful for this particular pattern.

I always always always start with a double magic circle. I know, I only ever call them magic circles, but I always use double. I guess in my mind double magic circles are the only ones. You can visit this very old blog post for a photo tutorial of how I make them, or look at the video tutorial below. If the magic circle just isn’t your thing, the video includes instructions on how to make a standard chain loop and use your starting yarn to make it look like you used a magic circle. Just fast forward, it’s close to the end.

Standing stitches are a personal favorite. If you don’t like them, the special stitches instructions in the pattern include alternatives to them. But first, have a gander at my video tutorial and see what you think. They’re really quite easy when you get the hang of them.

Finally, and I don’t mention this at all in the pattern because I consider it to be more of a personal choice, the invisible join. I’ll admit that I still sometimes avoid it. But when I know my join is going to be obvious – especially on those plain straight rounds of sc and hdc – the invisible join is a must.

I have two tutorials for you on this. First, the tutorial on how to invisible join, then, a tutorial on how to invisible join to standing stitches. Both include instructions on weaving your ends to hide them well and avoid the invisible join bulge.

Please check out the Patterns page here on Every Trick on the Hook or my Ravelry store to see more of my patterns, both free and paid.

The best way to keep up with my goings-on is to follow Every Trick on the Hook on Facebook. You can also message me there, post on the wall, and follow my posts for the latest news.

If you’re looking for a more interactive Facebook experience, join the Polly Plum Pattern Posse Facebook group. We’re a fun and supportive group. Really! There’s so much help there that chances are your question will be answered by someone before I even see it. It’s the best place to go with a question. It’s also a great place to share your Polly Plum makes and see what others are making.

If Facebook isn’t your thing you can also join the Ravelry group – Polly’s Place or follow @polly_plum_crochet on Instagram.

I hope you love making Symbelmynë. I can’t wait to see your squares!