The other day I did something terribly boring and bought a new rubbish bin for my bedroom. I have two there (and indeed two in most rooms in the house!) to separate general rubbish from recycling rubbish, and having bought a nice bin for recycling some time ago, I decided to get the same bin for general waste, so they matched.
But this meant I needed to have some way to tell the bins apart, and so of course I crocheted up a pair of tags to put on the bins.
Aren’t they nice? I like them, anyway, and that’s the important thing 😀 My mother says I’m just like my grandmother, who had ‘labels’ on all sorts of things, all hand-quilted or patchworked. But it’s such a unique way to identify things – you could use it for identifying luggage, or as a tag on a present, or all sorts. They’re quick, simple, and lovely for stashbusting/scrapbusting.
I used scraps of Stylecraft Classique Cotton DK (you see, I’m right never to throw away small bits of yarn!) and a 4mm hook to create these two, each of which is about an inch and a half square. Blue for recycling (because that’s the colour of our recycling bins in this part of the country) and black for black bin (aka general waste).
To call this a pattern is perhaps a little bit of a stretch, but for what it’s worth, here’s how I made them (in US terms):
1) 8 foundation single crochet OR ch9, turn, sc in second ch from hook and next seven ch.
2) ch1, turn, sc in next eight stitches
3-9) repeat row two. Break off yarn.
With contrasting colour, begin with standing sc in any corner. 2sc in same stitch. Then work a sc in each stitch around the square, working 3sc in each corner. There should be six sc across the top and bottom, and eight sc down each side, plus the 3sc in each corner.
When you reach the beginning again, work a long chain (long enough for whatever purpose you need it for), then sl st into the third sc of the beginning 3sc. Break off yarn, sew in all ends.
Using the same contrasting colour, embroider a letter in the middle of the tag. I used the sewing chain stitch, but you could just as easily whipstitch or even surface crochet. Sew in ends carefully, so they don’t show from the front.
See? Simple, quick, and unique. And of course you can use any yarn and the appropriate hook for it. The above is written for a DK weight yarn, but if you use a lighter weight yarn, begin with a longer foundation row and work more rows. Conversely, if you use a heavier weight yarn, you may want to use a shorter foundation row and fewer stitches.
Have fun!
Catherine's Crochet Corner 