Useful gifts easy to make for Christmas

Press, 1 December 1982, Page 11

Useful gifts easy to make for Christmas

For those who know how to crochet, here is a way of creating an attractive and practical Christmas gift that has the personal touch of something made by the giver, but does not take long to make.

Hand towels with crochet tops that button over a rail are ideal for the kitchen, where they are particularly handy when hung on the rail of the oven door. Start with a terry tea towel that has a pattern which can be cut in half horizontally and still look complete.

For the crochet work, a ball of No. 8 or No. 10 cotton yarn is needed, and the finished article is most effective if the colour of the cotton accents that of the tea towel pattern. Besides the towelling and the cotton, al) that is needed is a crochet hook to suit the cotton and a button of a colour to match it.

Start by cutting the tea towel in half and turning about 5 mm of the cut edge

to the wrong side. Secure this turn with tacking. ROW ONE - on the right side, work double crochet ail along the turned edge, keeping the stitches 5 mm to 7 mm apart. ROW TWO - turn with three chain, then treble into the top of each double crochet in the previous row.

ROW THREE — turn with three chain, one treble into the first treble of the previous row, and miss one stitch. The pattern is one treble into each of the next two stitches and miss one stitch, and this pattern is repeated to the end of the row. ROWS FOUR, SIX. EIGHT. TEN — same as for ROW TWO (turn with three chain, then treble into the top of every stitch). ROWS FIVE. SEVEN. NINE. ELEVEN — same as for ROW THREE (three chain to turn, one treble into the first treble of the previous row and miss a stitch before beginning the repeated pattern: one treble into each of the next two

stitches, then miss a stitch). This will reduce the stitches to six or eight. Continue with trebles into each stitch for eight rows, then the next row needs a button hole. To create a button hole: two treble, three chain, miss two stitches, two treble. In the final row. double crochet over the chain of the button hole.

The narrow part of the crochet top is turned down to the front to make a loop which will button easily over a towel rail. On the bottom selvedge of the tea towel, crochet a small fancy edge, to provide a “balanced" finish. For those used to crochet work, it is easy to finish one of these hand towels in about two hours or less.