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FREE PATTERN
With Burn's Night on the horizon my mind always turns to tartans and plaid. My American friends refer often to Buffalo Plaid, which is a red, burgundy and black version with larger squares and no thin lines of colour, more normally seen in traditional tartans.
These placemats are a great way of practicing your colour work in crochet plus they are completely washable as I make them from 100% cotton, which if you have little ones or are a particularly messy eater makes them really useful too.
As this is a simpler form I'll start these plaid tutorials with a Buffalo style which is also, handily, perfect for beginners. I will be sharing additional ways to create a plaid effect which will build in complexity in the Stitch of the Week collection.
My colours are not the traditional ones, the point being that you can use any colour combos to create plaid, you simply need three tonally complementary colours to begin to dip your toe in the world of tartan and plaid.
I used the Affection aran weight yarn from 3 Bears Yarn.
There is a video demonstrating this technique (most importantly the carrying of the unused colours) at the end of this pattern.
What I Used
5mm hook
Aran Affection from 3 Bears Yarn in Baby Pink, Flamingo and Silver Grey
50g ball 85m, 100% cotton.
Gauge
17 sts x 22 rows over 10 cm/4" square
UK Terms
ch chain
dc double crochet
sk skip
rep repeat
C1 colour 1 (grey)
C2 colour 2 (light pink)
C3 colour 3 (dark pink)
Note you will be working your carrying your unused colours either across your work or along the side as you go with each colour change to minimise ends.
Instructions
Ch 43 sts in C1
Row 1: dc in the second ch from hook, dc across, turn. 42 sts
Row 2: ch 1, sk 1st st, dc 5 in C1, *6dc in C2, 6dc in C1; rep from * to end of row, turn.
Row 3 - 5: Rep Row 2
Row 6: In C2 ch 1 , sk 1st st, dc 5 in C2, *6dc in C3, 6dc in C2; rep from * to end of row, turn.
Row 7 - 9: Rep row 6
Rows 2-9, these eight rows form the basis of the Buffalo Plaid pattern and should be repeated a further 4 times.
Work Rows 2 - 5 one final time, giving a total of 9 x 7 colour blocks in each placemat, ending with a C1 and C2 colour combination.
Final Row: ch1, dc across in C1.
Cut all yarns and weave in the ends.
US Terms
ch chain
sc double crochet
sk skip
rep repeat
C1 color 1 (grey)
C2 color 2 (light pink)
C3 color 3 (dark pink)
Note you will be working your carrying your unused colours either across your work or along the side as you go with each colour change to minimise ends.
Instructions
Ch 43 sts in C1
Row 1: sc in the second ch from hook, sc across, turn. 42 sts
Row 2: ch 1, sk 1st st, sc 5 in C1, *6sc in C2, 6sc in C1; rep from * to end of row, turn.
Row 3 - 5: Rep Row 2
Row 6: In C2 ch 1 , sk 1st st, sc 5 in C2, *6sc in C3, 6sc in C2; rep from * to end of row, turn.
Row 7 - 9: Rep row 6
Rows 2-9, these eight rows form the basis of the Buffalo Plaid pattern and should be repeated a further 4 times.
Work Rows 2 - 5 one final time, giving a total of 9 x 7 colour blocks in each placemat, ending with a C1 and C2 colour combination.
Final Row: ch1, dc across in C1.
Cut all yarns and weave in the ends.
Sharing is Caring and I also enjoy seeing your makes out there in the 'wild'. I'd love to know which colours you'd use for your plaid, drop a comment below, use the tags #babsgetscrafty or #igotcraftywithbabs or share in the Yarn Jugglers FB group.