Crochet coasters: Roller Coasters

With your main colour, crochet a magic ring. Alternatively, you can ch3 and join the third chain with a ss to the first ch, thus creating a circle. However, the advantage of a magic loop is that you can pull it tight, leaving no gap in the middle of your work.

Now we’re going to weave in your end tail with a magic fastening, making it near impossible to see.

Take your needle, and insert it in the third ch of the starting dc, under the ‘V’ on top of that stitch. Pull it through the stitch and then back in the last dc through the top of the ‘V’. This way, you have made a slip stitch that looks pretty much like a regular stitch. Don’t worry if your circle isn’t completely flat or a bit wonky; the surface crochet will take care of that.

Switch to your contrast colour(s). You clearly see the 4 rounds you’ve crocheted in your pattern. You are going to crochet over the top of the stitches in each round, starting with Round 1.

Insert your hook in any stitch of the first round and pull up a loop of your contrast colour. Insert your hook in the next stitch and pull up a loop, and then pull this loop through the first loop on hook (ss made). Repeat these steps for all stitches in the round until you’ve reached your first stitch. Cut your yarn leaving a 10cm tail and use the magic fastening just like you did with the tail of Round 4.

Repeat the surface crochet for the next 3 rounds, slip stitching your way around the circle.

Don’t worry if your piece is a little bit concave (like mine), this will be fixed once you block your finished piece.

Extra tip: Spray some starching spray on your coasters to make them extra stiff (most drug stores carry one brand or another). It just feels a little bit sturdier which I like for the coasters. The instructions on my can say to spray and then iron the piece, but check what yours says.

You can also play around with other colours. Put your imagination to work!