Hexagon How-to

My crochet Hexagons, I am LOVING them right now, can't get enough. For a brief spell I fell out of love, I got fed up with the fiddlesomeness of them, the fact that they are very hard to do whilst simultaneously doing anything else (like drinking cappuccino and nattering). They take concentration folks, but if you are prepared to concentrate then these will reward you handsomely. 

I'm not sure how this post will turn out, maybe a bit of a descriptive pattern/tutorial mixture, but one thing's for certain :: I will do my damndest to help you make these if you are interested. I made my own pattern to suit my own yarn, after not being able to find a pattern anywhere on the web in general. And as my pattern appears to differ slightly from others I've seen, I feel confident in finally sharing it :: ie no plagiarism/copyright issues involved I hope. But I must give absolute credit to Alex of Moonstitches who taught me (via her fabulous tutorial) the method of joining the hex's together. If you look on her blog, in the right hand sidebar, you'll see the tutorial waiting for you there :: it's called Block Meet. You will need to use this when you get to the joining stage.

Another valuable source of information and inspiration is the Hexagon Love pool on Flickr. It is quite simply full of fabulous hexagonal goodness.

And there is more info/blurb to be found in my own archives here and here.

I've had many emails during the past few months asking me for specific yarn info with regards to my various crochet projects. I do intend to put a permanent page in my sidebar where you can reference this info, but that will have to wait a little. For now, lets concentrate on these 'ere Hexagons.

For this blanket, I am using Rowan Handknit DK Cotton. It should cost in the region of £3.50 per 50g ball in the UK. I am using 16 different colours, although the deep yellow I chose for the centres is now discontinued. And as I know you like specifics, these are the other 15 colours I'm using ::

215 (Rosso)

219 (Gooseberry)

239 (Ice Water) 

254 (Bright Orange colour, now discontinued)

287 (Diana)

303 (Sugar)

309 (Celery)

313 (Slick)

314 (Decadent)

316 (Slippery)

318 (Seafarer)

324 (Bermuda)

327 (Aqua)

332 (Rose)

333 (Antique)

I'm crocheting on a 4mm hook, and the size of the finished hexagon as you can see above is roughly  hand-sized. Each straight side measures 6cm, and about 11cm across between the points.

Now I have never attempted to write out a pattern before. But lets just assume that if you're reading this in order to try your hand at crocheting hexagons, then you already know how to make basic stitches right? I'll try and not get too complicated, but as I do SO want you to be able to do it, I'll try to explain things as well as basic pattern-write.

First off chain 4 and join to form a ring. The hole in the centre of the ring will be smallish, but this is where you need to work from for the first round. Tweak it a bit with your fingers to open it out a little.

Chain 3, then work 11 double crochet stitches (US) or treble crochet stitches (UK) into the ring. Join with a slip stitch to the 3rd stitch of the initial chain 3 and fasten off.

You should now have a little whirly wheel circle with 12 stitches/spokes altogether.

 

Join in a new colour for round 2 :: knot the two yarns together, remember like I showed you for the Granny Squares? Remember you can crochet the ends in as you go with the hex's too, to save you darning ends  in at the end.

Pull the new colour yarn through to the front,  through one of the dc/tr stitches :: you are working out of the stitches in this round, not the spaces in between the spokes.

For this round, you're going to be making what I think is known as a Bobble Stitch. It's basically where you work two incomplete dc/tr's into the same stitch, joining them at the end by pulling the yarn through all loops.

I shall describe it to you :: yarn over, insert hook through next stitch, yarn over, hook back through stitch (3 loops on hook), yarn over and pull through 2 loops (2 loops on hook). Then yarn over and insert hook through SAME STITCH, yarn over, hook back through stitch (4 loops on hook), yarn over and pull through 2 loops (3 loops on hook), yarn over and pull through all 3 loops.

I know it sounds complicated, but honestly, it's really not. Try watching the little Bobble Stitch video I've linked to above, it might help if you see the stitch being made.

So this is the pattern for round 2::

Chain 2, then 1 US dc/UK tr in same stitch. Chain 1.

Work a bobble stitch into next stitch as described above, then chain 1 to space.

Repeat 10 more times until you get back to the beginning and have 12 "bobbles" in total. Join round with a slip stitch into the 2nd stitch of the initial chain 2.

OK, you still with me? Onto round 3 :: Nice and easy now, you're doing dc/tr clusters just like you do for granny squares. You are working out of the SPACES now, the spaces between the bobble stitch clusters of your previous row.

Join a new colour, pull loop through a space between 2 bobble clusters to start.

Chain 3 (counts as 1 dc/tr), work US dc/UK tr twice into same space, then chain 1.

Work US dc/UK tr three times into next space, chain 1.

Repeat 10 more times until you get back to the beginning and have 12 "clusters" in total. Join round with a slip stitch into the 3rd stitch of the initial chain 3 and fasten off.

Round 4 :: the chain-loop round ::

Join in a new colour and pull loop through a space between the dc/tr clusters of the previous row.

Chain 3, then make a slip stitch into the next space between your dc/tr clusters :: this anchors the chain loop.

Continue making little chain-3's, slip stitching them in place in the gap between the dc/tr clusters of the previous round. Join the last chain-3 with  slip stitch into the first chain stitch you made. Do not fasten off as you will use the same colour for round 5.

Round 5 is the final round that forms the hexagon shape. I'm going to tell you how to crochet this as a single hexagon before we talk about the joining-as-you-go method.

You are using the same colour as the last round, and you will be working the stitches under the chain-3 loops you created. So to begin, make a slip stitch under the nearest chain-3 loop.

Chain 3 (counts as one dc/tr), then US dc / UK tr twice. Chain 2 (this is the corner spacing), then in the SAME chain-3 loop,  US dc / UK tr three times. This is your first corner, it should look like a double cluster of 6 dc/tr's with a pointy corner bit in the middle.

Into the next chain-3 loop, work US dc / UK tr three times. This is a single cluster and makes a straight side.

Into the next chain-3 loop, work US dc / UK Tr three times, chain 2, then US dc / UK Tr three times. This is your second corner.

Continue working your way round making your clusters of 3 dc's /tr's, alternating between making a double cluster corner group (with chain 2 spacing) and a straight side single cluster. You should be ending the round on a straight-side group of three dc's/Tr's. Join the round with a slip stitch and fasten off.

See?????? It's not so hard?????? You've made your first hexagon!!!

Now if you're happy to make lots of single hexagons and join them all by stitching, then that's absolutely fine. But joining them as you go is fairly easy, although a little fiddly.

You will be working anti-clockwise, starting with a corner, as shown above.

To begin, you make a single cluster as before (chain 3, then dc/tr twice). Then instead of chaining 2 to make your corner spacing, chain ONE, then replace your second chain space with a slip stitch into the corner space of the ajoining hexagon.
Then working into the SAME chain-3 loop, dc/tr three times to finish your corner cluster.

Now you need to slip stitch into the next space of the ajoining hexagon to secure (see above). Basically, you have to insert hook into the space, hook the yarn from the back and pull it through to the front :: first through the space, then through the loop on the hook. It takes a bit of practice, it can be fiddly. But persevere.

You continue to work your way round, forming the hex shape in the same way as described above, but making sure that after each cluster you slip stitch into the relevant space on the ajoining hexagon which makes the attachment. When you get to a corner where you would normally chain 2, you make 2 slip stitches instead (in picture above, one slip stitch is made into the corner of the bright blue hex, and the next slip stitch into the corner of the sage green hex). This is quite hard to explain in words :: please do look over Alex's tutorial, she has some great photos to illustrate. But keep in mind that her pattern is different to mine, she uses more stitches so try not to get confused.

I so hope that if you are inspired to give this a go, then you will be able to follow my blurb. I've done my very best with this, tried not to be too wordy, and its taken me a very long time to write it all out. But you are worth it, every word! I am happy, SO happy to be spreading the Hexagon Love. And if just one of you manages to make a hexagon out of this post, then I am gonna be MiGhTy HaPpy :)

I'm going to put this post over in my sidebar so you can reference it easily :: look over to the left, down at the bottom, and it will be listed as a Page.

If you find you need further help, please just leave a comment and I will do my best to reply and help out.

HAPPY HOOKING!

Comments

[julie]

Merci beaucoup !

[Gill]

I need more than help!!!! It's all gobbly gook to me, I so wish I could crochet or knit!!

Gill in Canada

[Barbara]

Oh GOSH Lucy this is wonderful. No sooner had I seen that this was a tutorial than I had my bag of end balls of wool from the ripple blanket to hand and I was away following your instructions. First hexagon made before breakfast. Thank you so much
You are a great motivator.
Barbara

[Crafting with Cat Hair]

Thanks for the wonderful tutorial. I found you via One Pretty Thing.

I am planning on starting a hexagon comforter in January, so your tutorial will come in very handy. I love the colors too!

[patonslake]

Thank you so much for your directions and great pictures. I had asked you for the colors for this project and yes, I ordered them for my project! I just love your color style. I saw the how-to for the bag and will be trying that as well. I think there are many of us who yearn for more crochet projects such as yours; there are kazillion knit sites. As a friend said, crochet is the step-child of knitting. I disagree but there are not the calibur of sites such as yours for crochet projects. Please keep on with the crochet!
Barbara

[Jackie]

I just made a shades of purple and white one as a test hexagon and it turned out fabulous thank you for such a great tutorial.

[susan]

your blanket is gorgeous. how did you settle on your colors? did you map out how you wanted them to go or are you just doing it by the seat of your pants as you go along? that's where i tend to get bogged down.

[betz]

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I ma new to crochet and have been wanting to try the hex!
Betz

[amy]

I really love your hexagons! I'm kind of bored with regular granny squares. I love the way you join them! That is so awesome. Thanks for sharing!

[Tammy]

I just wanted to say thanks for sharing this hexagon pattern. I love it! I just completed my first one following your instructions. I love your blog and I'm so happy I came across it!
Thanks again.

[Lara]

Love!

[anna maria]

I cannot wait to try this! I have been dreaming of crocheting as I am busy with sewing (as I am sure I will dream of sewing while busy crocheting) and this will be the first thing I do! Your kinda pattern/ kinda talking it worked perfectly for me :)

xoAnna Maria

[Estee]

Wow, thats beautiful. Thank you for the tutorial.

[Hen]

Thanks so much for doing these instructions, Lucy, I know they must have taken you ages. Hope you had a well earned glass of wine afterwards! I understood them even after champagne and wine on the Orient Express the other night so they are definitely clear and I'm going to give it a go. But am torn now between grannys and hexs!
Happy weekend.
Hen x

[TheKidsAreAlight]

For some reason I just have not been able to master the granny square and I really want to.. you've totally inspired me now to get on with it! Thanks so much!
(also - great blog, i think I'll be coming back!)

[Debbie]

What a pretty blanket. It looks super warm which is great in the winter. I love the colors too.

[Sonnja]

Thanks for the photos!
Kind regards,

Beertje Zonn

[gardenymph]

Oh Yay!
Thanks for sharing, Lucy! I can't wait to get started on some hexes. Is there a reason why you use cotton vs. wool? I am using wool for my ripple blanket, and I could start making some hexes, but I wonder if I should switch to cotton. I should probably just make it easy on myself and use what I have, but I would love to know your thoughts.
Your colors are delicious!

[Liz]

Thank you for this. I have wanted to make the hex blanket for ages and am now able to make one!!!! Hooray!
Your projects are beautiful.

[Liz]

PS I love your crochet flower scarf....any chance of a tutorial on how to make them? x

[Liz]

Thanks Lucy.

Immediately printed out your instructions, emailed them to two friends, and crocheted five in different weights. Have not yet found my perfect yarn but so appreciate your sharing the instructions.

Liz

[Marisa]

Thank you, this is a great tutorial! Your pictures are so nice and clear. I now have more inspiration for holiday gifts!

[Zona]

Thanks so much for posting this. I am a knitter and just dabbling in crochet. I only know how to single and double crochet but i followed your pattern here line for line and came up with a fantastic bag made from hexagons. http://www.ravelry.com/projects/TwirlGirlFibers/cool-granny-bag
Just wanted to say thanks!

[keri]

What a great tutorial! Thank you so much for sharing - I've been having fun curled up in my chair all weekend learning how and playing with colors. It's addictive - I can't make just one! =)

[Bethany]

Very cool blanket. I posted a link to this post on my blog so all my readers could share in the genius!