I have been seeing a lot of Instagram reels of flower coasters that stack up and transform into a flower pot. If anyone knows me well, they would know that I like a good functional decoration in the house.
So it's time for me to start learning how to crochet (again).
In the past I have attempted to crochet a scarf, and even purchased one of those beginner crochet kits that came with video instructions, but I failed again and again and gave up before finishing anything. So this time I made up my mind to keep pushing on, even if I made a mistake.
The first tutorial I watched was an amigurumi ball tutorial that also explains the terminology for basic crochet stitches (between 2:05~3:04) which I found very helpful and lessened my fear of reading crochet patterns. The tutorial was very clear, although I still had some trouble identifying where the first stitch in each row should be... As a result, my ball came out a bit wonky - but to an untrained eye, it looks like a ball!
I've play-tested a few rounds of catch using this ball, and suffice to say - it works like a ball should!
My first crochet ball, using purple DK yarn and 5.5mm hook (I would recommend a smaller hook size!).
Now that I was riding on the high of confidence from having materialised a ball, I started looking at tutorials on flower coasters. This video was the first one I found, and I was successful in making the main round part of the coaster, because its principle is very similar to beginning a ball. Everything went well up until 6:04 of the video, when the popcorn stitch for creating the tulips just didn't work for me.
Centre of the coaster, using DK yarn and 4.00mm hook.
So I looked for other flower coaster tutorials on YouTube, in the hopes that someone else offered any tips & tricks, or an alternative to the tulips. Sure enough, I found this video which made tulips using a different technique (between 5:35~11:00), that I was able to recreate. I decided to make a coaster of pink tulips and another with yellow tulips.
I also saw another video that demonstrated petalled flowers (between 6:00~13:00), which was a nice contrast from the bulbous tulips, so I decided to make two coasters using this new technique. I've chosen blue and purple yarn to make them look like hydrangeas - a beautiful flower that is currently in season.
From the same tutorial video, I also learned to make a basket for the flowers (between 14:00~26:00), the techniques are again, very similar to that of making a coaster or a ball, apart from the handle part, which came out a bit wonky. But I'd say that adds more character to the final piece!
I think the basket was the most challenging part of this project, as using two strands of yarn meant that the stitched and tighter and tiresome work with.
I used cream coloured yarn and brown coloured yarn to produce a result similar to an old wicker basket.
Here are the final results:
I think at many points throughout this project I could have easily unravelled the yarn to start over when I spot a mistake (and I made many), or given up altogether. But I chose to keep moving, which meant I was able to arrive at the destination with a finished piece of work (albeit imperfect). Having completed this flower coaster basket, I feel I now have more of an understanding of the basic stitches in crochet, and I'm excited to tackle a bigger project next!
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