Free Fruity Coaster Patterns

I'm back! It's been over a month since I last posted something in my blog. I've been busy making stuff for Christmas gifts - yes, as early as July! Since I want to give crocheted gifts to a handful of family members and friends. Ambitious, right? But that's why I started early. I remember one of my friends told me she planned on giving placemat-coster sets to her married couple friends for Christmas, but she started a bit late so in the end she crammed and stayed up for several nights to finish everything, and it was not a pleasant experience for her. Thanks to her, I learned from her story, started early so I think I can make it in time. :)

As promised, I am finally making my first pattern collection: fruity coasters! Here are 5 fruit coaster patterns that I've tried. These are really good patterns to begin with when you're practising your newly-acquired crochet skills. I've also managed to master crocheting circles because of these. I also think these coasters are cute and unusual, which makes them great as gifts, too.

Some of these patterns are designed by me, and some I found in other cool and interesting blogs.

1. Whole Lemon Coaster
Lemony! Tangy! A new take on a lemon coaster - not the cross-section, but the whole thing. Get it now. Make it. Have fun with it.

2. Watermelon and Grapefruit Coaster
Refreshing fruits for your refreshing refreshments!

3. Kiwi Coaster
Kiwi is juicy, kiwi is funny, kiwi is yummy! I totally have no idea what I'm saying here.

4. Apple Coaster - For this one, I skipped the last optional round since I have achieved the coaster size I wanted, and I also wanted the apple shape to be more evident.

5. Strawberry Coaster
Straw-very easy to make! Get it? Pun-ny, I know.


I still have a number of fruit coasters I want to make, and I'll post them too as soon as I get them done. Right now, I hope you enjoy making these fun fruity coasters as much as I did. And as always, Enjoy crocheting AF! \m/




This pattern is free and not for sale. Please credit and link back to this site when sharing, using for business, etc. Thanks! :)

Kiwi Coaster Pattern

Kiwi!

I can't think of an introduction to this post other than my boyfriend loves kiwi, and he eats it without peeling off the hairy skin. WTF right?? He says he eats the skin as well because it's nutritious, but I still don't understand how he manages to eat them without getting itchy or something. But we all have our own quirks right? So I don't judge him (I just occasionally make fun of him for that, which is all cool with him, or which he already got used to, hehe).

So this is my third coaster pattern, and it basically uses the same pattern as my watermelon and grapefruit coasters, but with different color changes and I think one less row as well. Hopefully next post I'll be doing the list of coaster patterns I made and used before. Next Monday, maybe? I'm thinking of posting stuff regularly, and so I'm currently deciding which day of the week is best - currently deciding between Monday and Tuesday - what do you guys think? :)

Anyway I said I won't be doing much introduction but I got derailed but now I'm back on track and here it is now, without further ado, the pattern!

Orange on kiwi! Not sure why I did this.

Materials
Hook: 4mm crochet hook
Yarns:
Gantsilyo Guru Light Cashmere Blend White
Gantsilyo Guru Milk Cotton Light Lime (green)
Creme de la Creme Fudge Brown
Some black yarn

Note: Again, I would recommend using the same type of yarn throughout the project, to get the same gauge and thickness and all that in all parts of the coaster.


Stitches Used
ch (chain)
dc (double crochet)
sc (single crochet)
sl st (slip stitch)
magic ring


Kiwi Coaster

Using white yarn, make a magic ring.

Row 1: ch 2, 12 dc in the ring. Join with a sl st to the first dc (12 sts).

Row 2: Change to green yarn. Ch 2, 2 dc in each st around. Join with a sl st to the first dc (24 sts).

Row 3: ch 2, *1 dc in next st, 2 dc in the next* repeat around 12 times. Join with a sl st to the first dc (36 sts).

Row 4: ch1, *1 sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in the next* repeat around 12 times. Join with a sl st to the first sc (48 sts).

Row 5: Change to brown yarn. Ch 1, *1 sc in next 3 sts, 2 sc in the next* repeat around 12 times. Join with a sl st to the first sc (60 sts). Fasten off.

For the seeds, kiwi seeds aren't really that random, so what I did was on the second row (first row of green), I stitched between the st and dc spaces (not sure if this makes sense) all around. It's a bit hard to explain, but you can refer to the image below to get a better idea of what I'm trying to say. You can also choose not to follow how I put the seeds there, and do what's easy for you (and make sure to share your technique in the comments below!) :)

For a more realistic kiwi look, I would suggest using a brown fuzzy yarn for the skin for a more hairy look; I remember my boyfriend asking me, "why doesn't it have hair?" when I showed him the kiwi coaster. He's passionate about kiwi. And the nutrition it brings. Did you know there's a lot of vitamin C in a single kiwi? Like, enough (or more than enough) for you daily vitamin C requirement? His kiwi passion has rub off me. And I am making fun of it again (I'm sorry! haha!).

So there you have it, kiwi coaster! Very simple. And nutritious. And helpful. Like your feedback and questions and reactions if you leave them in the comments section below ;) Anyway, as always, enjoy crocheting AF! \m/


This pattern is free and not for sale. Please credit and link back to this site when sharing, using for business, etc. Thanks! :)

Watermelon (and Grapefruit) Coaster Pattern

Last weekend, I was teaching my mom the different kinds of crochet stitches and how to read crochet patterns. My mom actually already knows the basic stitches such as chain and single crochet, but she doesn't know that they are called as such. When she was younger, she used to crochet stuff to earn extra on the side (like mother, like daughter!). She would be given a finished product, and she would copy how it's done based on its stitches. Without a pattern! How crazy is that? I mean, sure, we can copy stitches based on a finished product but imagine if the yarn used was fine, and you had to count how many stitches are in a row, and then count how many rows there are, etc. etc. So hands down to my mother and all the people out there copying a finished product's stitches. And thank you to those who "invented" crochet patterns and for all the available patterns now in the world that make my life and many people's lives a lot easier. :)

Anyway as I was saying, I was teaching my mom how to read a pattern, and I also taught her how to make a magic ring, how to change colors, how to make rounds, etc. When I finished teaching her all these, I looked for a simple pattern she can use to practice her newly-acquired pattern-reading skills. I wanted something that involved different stitches, but simple enough to finish in a few minutes. I simply googled, "basic crochet pattern" and a bunch of patterns came up, but most of them involved only using one or two types of stitches. Most of them are good but I just didn't quite find what I was looking for.

Then I remembered my watermelon coaster. Had I posted this pattern before, I would have used this to teach my mom how to read patterns. Ha ha!

Materials
Hook: 4mm crochet hook
Yarns:
Gantsilyo Guru Light Cashmere Blend Coral (pink)
Gantsilyo Guru Light Cashmere Blend White
Gantsilyo Guru Milk Cotton Light Lime (green)
Some black yarn

Note: I would recommend using the same type of yarn all throughout, but I only had these in hand so I made do with them. Also, it can be anything, really, as long as it's for a 4mm hook.


Stitches Used
ch (chain)
dc (double crochet)
sc (single crochet)
sl st (slip stitch)

Watermelon Coaster

Using pink yarn, make a magic ring.

Row 1: ch 2, 12 dc in the ring. Join with a sl st to the first dc. (12 sts)

Row 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each st around. Join with a sl st to the first dc. (24 sts)

Row 3: ch 2, *1 dc in the next st, 2 dc in the next* repeat around (12 times). Join with a sl st to the first dc. (36 sts)

Row 4: ch 1, *1 sc in the next 2 sts, 2 sc in the next* repeat around (12 times). Join with a sl st to the first sc. (48 sts)

Row 5: Switch to white yarn. ch 1, *1 sc in the next 3 sts, 2 sc in the next* repeat around (12 times). Join with a sl st to the first sc. (60 sts)

Row 6: Switch to green yarn. ch 1, *1 sc in the next 4 sts, 2 sc in the next* repeat around (12 times). Join with a sl st to the first sc (72 sts). Fasten off.

For the seeds, you can randomly sew in black yarn around the pink part. But as you can see in my coaster, they are not very random, because I have some difficulty randomizing things like these (hahaha!). So what I did here was: *sew in one seed in row 3, skip 2 sts, sew in one seed in row 2, skip 2 sts* and repeat that all around. I think this will not be exactly symmetrical, but it would make the seeds somewhat evenly spaced. Alternatively, you can also randomize, it's really up to you. :)

Question: My coaster looks like it has corners (made by the increases), instead of a perfect circular shape. Do any of you guys know how to get rid of those corners? Please do let me know in the comments section, I would love to know your suggestions!


Grapefruit Coaster

I used the same method for my grapefruit coaster, only using different colors, of course. I used Gantsilyo Guru Milk Cotton Light Old Rose, the same white yarn with my watermelon, and Gantsilyo Guru Milk Cotton (light) Sunshine. The adjustments are as follows:

In the beginning, use the Old Rose yarn until row 4.

In row 5, switch to white yarn as well.

In row 6, switch to yellow yarn.

For the division, I simply attached white yarn from one part of the white row to the center, then to the opposite side, three times to achieve six divisions.

The coaster measures up to 4 inches in diameter. The grapefruit measures bigger, because the old rose yarn I used is slightly thicker than the coral one for the watermelon. If you want to resize your coaster, you can simply add rows to increase size, and skip/remove rows to decrease size. Easy peasy. :)

For my recommendations, as I've mentioned earlier, I would prefer to use the same kind / weight / ply of yarns in all the rows, so the stitches will be even, and the size, too. But if you don't have the same kind, it's also just fine, as long as you can work them all with the same hook size. Also for the grapefruit, you can use a different shade of yellow for the outer row, maybe something paler. You can also sl st across the grapefruit to make the divisions, for a "more attached" version (because in this version I made, the white strings tend to loosen up and might get entangled, or something like that. You get it, I know (: ).

By the way if you didn't notice, I included a list of stitches used in this coaster, so you can already decide early on if this is the type of pattern you want to use, especially if you want to teach someone how to read a pattern (like I did with my mom, I had to find a pattern that uses different kinds of stitches). One time I was halfway through a project I was doing when I encountered an unfamiliar abbreviation in the pattern, and at that time I was reluctant on learning a new stitch, because I am lazy. Haha! So I think it's important to list the stitches used especially for beginners. I'm sorry I did not do this in my previous posts, but I will now from this post on.

Lastly, because I got inspired by teaching my mom how to do basic stitches, I made a page with the basic stitches here. I also plan to make a page for the different techniques I use (e.g., magic ring, changing colors, etc). I will post it once done!

That's it for this post, you know the drill - leave your questions, comments, suggestions, praises, what-have-you, in the comments section below. And as always, enjoy crocheting AF!


This pattern is free and not for sale. Please credit and link back to this site when sharing, using for business, etc. Thanks! :)

Lemon Coaster Pattern [UPDATED]

Hello!!

I've mentioned in my previous post that I've been making coasters these past weeks. I've finished a handful of them already, and I hope to post them in the coming days (sweet!). I made most of them using free patterns I found online, some I adjusted to fit the size I want, and some I improvised. I will be posting the coasters I made using my own pattern first, and hopefully you guys find it useful. :)

First one on the list of my improvised patterns is the lemon coaster - not a lemon slice, but the whole lemon with the pointy ends. I was making these citrus slices coaster one time - green for lime, and orange for, well, orange - and when I was about to start yellow for lemon, I thought, why not make the "un-sliced" version of these coasters too? So I tried looking for patterns for a whole lemon coaster, but all I found were hot pads (which I had difficulty adjusting to make it smaller) and lemon slices. Eventually, I decided to make my own lemon coaster pattern, which turned out to be pretty easy (I already got the right measurement and pattern by the second try!).

Refreshing!

Materials
Hook: 4mm crochet hook
Yarns:
Gantsilyo Guru Milk Cotton (light) Sunshine
Some green yarn


Lemon Coaster

Using yellow yarn, make a magic ring.

Row 1: ch2, 12 dc in the ring. Join with a sl st to the first dc. (12 sts)

Row 2: ch 2, 2 dc in each st around. Join with a sl st to first dc. (24 sts)

Row 3: ch 2, *1 dc in the next st, 2 dc in the next* repeat 12 times. Join with a sl st to first dc (36 sts).

Row 4: ch 1,
*
sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next,
hdc in next 2 sts, 1 hdc 1 dc in next st,
dc in next 2 sts, trc, ch 2, sl st to 2nd ch from hook, trc in same st as first trc,
dc in next 2 sts, 1 dc 1 hdc in next st
hdc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next,
sc in next 2 sts
*
This is the first pointy end of the lemon. Now make 2 sc in next st, and repeat * to form other end. To finish, sc in the last st, and sl st to first sc. Fasten off.


Leaves (make two, or how many you like!)

I used the leaves pattern I found here. As you can see in the picture below, I deliberately made the leaves different in size - I still used the leaves pattern, but used hdc and dc for the smaller one, and htr and trc for the slightly bigger one. You can opt for this too, or you can have uniformly-sized leaves, it's up to you ;)

On the other hand, if you want you can also leave out the leaves and just stick with a plain lemon coaster, and I think that will also look and do just fine.

So after making the leaves, sew them to the lemon coaster, preferably to one of the pointy ends (I actually searched for images of lemons just to see where to put the leaves; silly me, right?). And then you're done!

Lemon coaster

The coaster measures 4 inches in diameter from one pointy end to the other, and 3 inches from the "flat" sides. If you want to make your coasters bigger, you can use trc instead of dc for the first row up to the third row, depending on how big you want it. If you use trc for all rows, I think it can size up to 4.5 to 5 inches measuring from the pointy ends. Additionally, you can also use a paler shade of yellow for a more lemony look.


[UPDATE] Sizing up the coaster

Thanks to AMJ for pointing out that using trc in the first row makes the stitches dense. :) So I came up with an alternative way to make your coaster bigger!

Instead of using trc in some/all of the rows in the coaster, you can also increase the initial stitches by 2 in your magic ring, and then cascade the increase to the succeeding rows. For example,

Row 1:   14  [16 | 18 | 20 | ...] sts
Row 2:   28  [32 | 36 | 40 | ...] sts
Row 3:   42  [48 | 54 | 60 | ...] sts

(The numbers in [] mean you can also start with 16 sts, then row 2 has 32 sts, row 3 has 48 sts. The same goes for 18 and 20. I also color-coded them for easier reading.)

And then for the 4th row, add one [2 | 3 | 4 | ...] *sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st* at the beginning of the round, and one [2 | 3 | 4 | ...] *2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts* at the end. This is to make sure the number of stitches needed for the last row will be met (so the coaster will not curl), and also to keep the pointy ends opposite of each other.

I haven't tried this for much larger sizes, I have a feeling that the pointed ends might become less prominent as the coaster gets bigger. If you want to try it, let me know of your final results in the comments below!


[end of update]


If you guys have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below, and I'd also love to see your finished products so you can also leave them in the comments section. That's it for this post, so stay tuned for the next episode of this coaster series, and I hope you enjoy crocheting AF! \m/


This pattern is free and not for sale. Please credit and link back to this site when sharing, using for business, etc. Thanks! :)