Yoyos

All addictions have to start somewhere and mine started on a dreary Saturday afternoon. Too late to go shopping, too early for settling down in front of the television and too old to go clubbing, I picked up "Crocheted Throws and Wraps" by Melody Griffiths and decided to try her Suffolk puffs, otherwise known as yoyos.


Easy to do and quick to make I used the colours I'd been using in my previous project. Soon I had a little collection of them.

By Sunday afternoon I had even more.

By Tuesday I had the 168 needed to complete a baby blanket. That's when the easy finished for me. I find it best to join squares together with double crochet while joining hexagons still baffles me. I decided not to follow the instructions given for joining and chose to back stitch them instead. I've since found an easier way but (in the words of Magnus Magnusson) as I'd already started I had to finish.

I think it worked out well sewing them up in a random fashion.

There is a good tutorial here

I've since played around with sizes and have adapted the instructions for the organic cotton I've been using. I use a 4mm hook and a double knit cotton. Forgive the British terms but this is how I do it not a How To Do IT. It's also the first time I've written down instructions.

How I make yoyos
No place here for a closed centre. It needs to look like a Polo mint not a Trebor.

1) Chain 6 and join with a slip stitch to make a ring.

2) Chain 6 (this acts as your first quadruple treble), 21 quadtr into the ring, ss into the 6th chain.

3) Chain 2, 1 tr into the next stitch, 2trtog 10 times, ss into the 2nd chain to join and gather up the puff.

This is the part where I say leave a long tail. I didn't leave enough the first time so ended up have to join them in a way I wasn't happy with. A long tail means about 20cm, leaving you enough to catch the puff down on the wrong side. Still with the needle threaded run it up through the middle of a stitch to the edge. You can now use this to join the next yoyo.

To finish, run the needle back down through the middle and fasten off near the centre opening.

Do play around with it. Different threads and hook sizes will give your yoyos individuality. Experiment with longer or shorter stitches. Remember to have an even amount of stitches for the last round gathering and you can't go wrong.

The top green has 22 quadtr and the purple 24.

The bottom row has 20 trtr

Let me know if you have any problems. Show me what you wonderfully creative people do with them but most of all - have fun!