Mystery Crochet Ta-Dah....with Pattern

Hello Loveies, 

I've finally got round to finishing my mystery crochet object I first shared with you here

This week I've come down with a cold and my legs are letting me know they would like a bit of a rest after last weekends adventure so I've been sitting crocheting and pottering about taking pictures. I do love a crochet ta-dah post best of all and I'm really pleased with how this fun make turned out. 

I think it's colourful stripes look great with my spotty,thrifted  plate ........

As you can see it's got a cord to hang it up .

 Oooooh , more spots and stripes lovely. This pom pom garland was a Christmas decoration I could not bear to take down. It always makes me smile and now I have a big stripy pom pom to go with it.........

Some of you may remember I mentioned this was not just a decorative object and many of you guessed what it was going to be. But no one guessed correctly. 

Can you tell what it is yet ? .......

There is a strange "tail" hanging out of the bottom. 

A tail that belongs to this ..........

Yes........... it's a crochet string dispenser :0) I said you would laugh

I first made a version of this in pre blog days, 2009 I think. It's been so handy . I always know where the string is when I need it and it's easy to dispense the correct amount. 

I can't remember if I saw something that gave me the idea or it just came out of my head. I've googled crochet string dispenser and got nothing so maybe it is a  new idea. Who knows .

 it does work and only collapses when there is very little string left ,as long as you get the correct sort of ball of string. it needs to be made like this.........

with a hollow centre . You need to find the end of the string in the middle of the ball and thread this through the hole in the bottom of your crochet..........

then the string can glide easily out without the ball of string needing to move.

It's such a simple idea but often they are the best, don't you think? 

 I've written out the pattern as a thank you to all you lovelies for your wonderful comments .It's something you never knew you needed but will come in useful as well as looking great  :0)

As usual it's written in U.S terms.

The stitches are double crochet  ......dc........ ( U.K. treble )

and half double crochet.......hdc...... ( U.K. half treble )

The yarn I've used is Patons Smoothie which is acrylic but cotton yarn would be ideal too. It's double knitting weight and I've used a 4.00 mm hook.

You may need to adjust the pattern it fit your particular ball of string. Mine had a circumference of roughly 31cm.

Round 1. Chain 4 and slip stitch to form a ring

chain 3 ( counts as first dc) make 11 dc into ring. Slip stitch into 3rd chain of initial 3 chain and fasten off ( 12 stitches)

Round 2.Attach a new colour in any stitch and chain 2 ( counts as 1st hdc ) make 1 hdc in same stitch.Make make 2 hdc into each remaining stitch around (24 stitches).slip stitch into second chain of initial 2 chain.Fasten off.

Round 3. Attach a new colour and chain 2. make 1 hdc in next stitch and in the following stitch make 2 hdc. 1 hdc in each of the next 2 stitches and 2 hdc in the following stitch. Repeat around . slip stitch into initial 2 chain, fasten off.

Round 4. Attach new colour ,chain 2 .Make 1 hdc in each of next 2 stitches and 2 hdc in following stitch. 1 hdcin next 3 stitches and 2 hdc in next stitch . Repeat around and slip stitch into initial chain then fasten off.

Round 5 .On this round inrease every 5th stitch i.e. 1 hdc in four stitches then 2 hdc in fifth.

Rounds 6 to 14 are simply 1 hdc in each stitch around

I would keep checking with you particular ball of string to make sure the cover is a good fit. It needs to be fairly snug to look good . Remember crochet will stretch .

Round 15 ( or when you are near the top of your ball ) Attach a new colour and chain 3. make 1 dc in each of the next 2 stitches. In the 4th and 5th make a dc decrease stitch. repeat around ( 1 dc in next 3 stitches , 1 dc decrease in following two stitches. When you get to the end don't slip stitch , just finish off .This will make it easier to get the ball of yarn in and change balls when it runs out.

Round 16 attach a new colour to the first stitch of row 15 and repeat patten of round 15.

At end of round again do not slip stitch , just fasten off.

Last round . Now make chain 4 in first stitch of round 16( counts as 1 dc ,chain1) skip next stitch . 1 dc in following stitch and chain1 . skip every alternate stitch and put a chain between all dc's . This creates holes to thread your cord...

turn inside out and weave in ends.

Make a twisted cord using 2 strands of yarn and  this method.......

Put your ball  of string into it's colourful jacket, putting the central end of the string through the hole in the bottom ,and weave the cord in and out ,through the holes made by the final round. Then simply pull tight and knot.

If the ball hangs unevenly then thread the cord back through  a few holes to help in hang correctly.

I'd love to know what you think of this project and of course it would be great to see your version if you give it a go.

It really is a handy little thing , both in the home and in the garden . I just love it's gorgeous round shape and colourful stripes..........

 Any problems with the pattern ,please let me know.

Have fun 

Jacquie x