New Art Of Crocheted Jewelry Dishes

I love the windows of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, filled with household artifacts from places far and far away. Tightly woven carpets and perfectly handmade sandals, hammered metal and braided leather, antique objects still feel alive with the integrity and vitality of their creators.

What also strikes me sometimes is how little our aesthetic values have changed over the millennia. Beauty is always a human commandment and a neat profession is always a revered skill. We always respond to simple shapes and beautiful materials, fantastic embellishments and practical applications.

I thought about it a lot while crocheting these jewelry bowls. I was wondering if I had the opportunity to put them in a glass lid at the Met, would they be so out of place? Or, if I put them on my dressers and fill them with my rings and bracelets, my pieces of sea glass and other oddities, would it be so different from, say, a centuries-old Pacific Islander who keeps glass beads and shell earrings in her own handmade container? And isn’t this connection with the past really deep down the reason why we tinker?

My trip to antiquity was greatly helped by the purity and simplicity of the extraordinary fibers of Habu. I kept two threads together, copper bamboo and dyed linen. Bamboo and linen add an exquisite rusticity to the finished pieces, while copper flashes its brown luster everywhere and shines like a hot ember.

It’s not difficult to make your own cute little trays and bowls, just a few simple hooks… as it has always been done! – Whitney

P.S. Wouldn’t these gorgeous brass bracelets be at home in a museum cover? Designed by our good friend Kerrilynn Pamer, Maggie’s bracelets are available online here and in her beautiful West Village store, Castor & Pollux!

Material

1 Habu Copper Bamboo Cone, 67% Bamboo, 33% Copper. This color is brown.
1 skein of Habu dyed linen, 100% linen. This color is dark brown.
A hook of size a (2 mm).
5 removable stitch markers or safety pins.
A teaspoon of cornstarch and a spray bottle for homemade starch.
Gauge
9 single hooks = 1 inch

Finished sizes

Square top: 3 3/4 inches x 3 3/4 inches

Rectangular tray: 3 3/4 inches x 5 1/2 inches

Bowl: 3 1/4 inches in diameter

NOTEBOOK

For the three patterns, hold together a strand of copper bamboo and a strand of dyed linen.
Do not despair if your tray or bowl seems a little soft or disfigured at work. The last step of watching and blocking works wonders!
Model

RECTANGLE OF THE PATTERN STATUS BAR

Base row: chain 29 stitches with the two threads. Insert the crochet hook of the crochet hook into the 2nd chain and make 1 sts in each chain stitch. (28 points)

Turn the work.

Row 1: 1 sts in each stitch. (28 points)

Repeat row 1 and turn the work to the end of each row. Work until the piece measures 4 1/2 inches from the beginning.

1st round: 1 sts in the front loop of the next 28 stitches, 1 chain, mark the chain with a removable stitch marker, turn the work 90º clockwise, make 46 sts along the long side of the rectangle (one for each row), 1 chain, mark the chain, turn the work, 1 sts in each air stitch (28 stitches), 1 chain, mark the chain, turn the work, make 46 sts along the last side, mark 1 chain, chain with another colored marker to indicate the beginning of the turn.

2nd round: * 1 st in each stitch to the corner marker, remove the marker, put 1 chain, put the marker on the chain, skip one stitch, repeat from * to the end of the round.

Repeat the second round five more times.

Stitch the stitch into the next stitch. Cut the thread, pull it through and remove all the marks.

STRENGTH AND BLOCK

First, mix your own amount of perfectly effective and safe household starch. Add a teaspoon of cornstarch to 1/4 cup of room temperature water and stir until dissolved. To do this, add about 1 3/4 cups of boiling water. When this has cooled to room temperature, put your starch in a spray bottle.

Saturate your finished workpiece with the starch mixture and place it on a dry towel. Take the time to really shape the dish the way you want it by squaring the sides, smoothing the bottom and smoothing the edges. Let the piece dry, then fill it with your special jewelry!

SQUARE TRAY MODEL

Note: Mark the first stitch of the next round with a removable stitch marker. Be sure to reposition the marker at the beginning of each round to mark the new first point.

1st round: 1 sts in the next stitch, * 3 sts in the next stitch (corner), 1 sts in the next 2 stitches, repeat from * two more times, 3 sts in the next stitch, 1 sts in the last stitch. (20 points)

2nd round: 1 sts in the next 2 stitches, * 3 sts in the next stitch, 1 sts in the next 4 stitches, Starting from * repeat two more times, 3 sts in the next stitch, 1 sts in the next 2 stitches. (28 points)

3rd round: 1 sts in the next 3 stitches, * 3 sts in the next stitch, 1 sts in the next 6 stitches, Starting from * repeat two more times, 3 sts in the next stitch, 1 sts in the next 3 stitches. (36 points)

4th round: 1 sts in the next 4 stitches, * 3 sts in the next stitch, 1 sts in the next 8 STITCHES, Starting from * repeat two more times, 3 sts in the next stitch, 1 sts in the next 4 stitches. (44 points)

Bowl pattern

Basic round: chain 1 in an adjustable loop with the two threads of yarn (see our tutorial on the adjustable loop here). Do 8 sts in the loop. (8 points)

Note: Mark the first stitch of the next round with a removable stitch marker. Be sure to reposition the marker at the beginning of each round to mark the new first point.

Round 1: 2 ms in each point. (16 points)

2nd round: * 1 ms in the next point, 2 ms in the next point, repeat from * to the end of the round. (24 points)

3rd round: * 1 st in the next 2 stitches, 2 st in the next stitch, repeat from * to the end of the round. (32 points)

Round 4: 1 ms in each point.

5th round: * 1 st in the next 3 stitches, 2 st in the next stitch, repeat from * to the end of the round. (40 points)