A coaster is a small decorative flat piece of material placed on the table to put your glass or mug on to protect the furniture surface. The material used for the coaster is not limited to fabric but can also be made by crocheting yarns.
Acrylic yarn is not the best for coasters; it will melt as it can not withstand the heat from the mug when used. However, you can use cotton or cotton blended yarn to crochet coasters as it can absorb spills of water or tea and withstand excessive heat from the tea mug.
What Kind Of Yarn Should I Use For Coasters?
The best kind of yarn to use for your coaster is a durable yarn that can resist heat and is soft enough to absorb water and retain shape, as you will have to wash it regularly, especially when using a bright color that can quickly get dirty.
The yarn that falls into that description is Cotton yarn or cotton blended yarn, such as cotton and polyester yarn, cotton and wool yarn, and cotton and viscose yarn.
However, there are some disadvantages to using cotton yarn for your coasters, but it is still the safest to use for your coaster.
How Do I Crochet A Coaster?
Crocheting a coaster is an easy task. However, you must have prior knowledge of some basic crochet stitches to be able to do it, and I will be showing you how to make a 4-inch round pattern with cotton yarn.
Materials Needed.
- Balls of Yarn(s).
- A 5 mm Crochet Hook.
- Yarn Needle
Step One
Make a Magic Circle.
Wrap your yarn around two fingers from the back, cross it over on getting to the front, and insert your hook under the yarn facing right over the yarn facing left.
Grab the left-hand yarn and form a loop, rotating the hook toward you and making three chains.
Step Two
The round coaster pattern has six rounds, and I will show you how to make each round or circle.
Round One: Insert your hook into the 3rd chain made from the magic circle and slip stitch into the 1st chain to create a small circle.
Round Two: Make two chains and ten double crochet into the circle’s center together with ten slip stitches.
Round Three: Make two chains and place two double crochet in all stitches, joining with 20 slip stitches.
Round Four: Make two chains and placeone1 double crochet in the next two stitches and two double crochet in the next stitch; continue until you have 30 stitches and join with 30 slip stitches.
Round Five: Make two chains and place one double crochet in the next two stitches and two double crochet in the next stitch. Repeat this until you have 40 stitches and join with 40 slip stitches.
Round Six: Repeat the round 5 processes, but you will make 50 stitches and join with 50 slip stitches.
However, to make a more significant round crochet, you must increase the stitch and slip stitch by 10.
What Demerit Do I Get From Using Cotton Yarn For My Coasters?
Although the cotton yarn is still the best for a coaster because of its advantage, you need to know the demerit to make yourself ready before working with it. Such demerits include,
- The cotton yarn has a little color compared to acrylic yarn.
- Some people might find the yarn challenging to work with because of its roughness.
- The cotton yarn might get shrinked when washed in a washing machine.
- Cotton yarns are natural and are primarily dull in appearance, except for the blended cotton yarns, which have a bit of wool and polyester, which makes them shine.
Can I Use Wool Yarn For Coasters?
Yes. Plain wool yarn can be used for coasters as it is durable, absorbs water, and comes in different colors, although the wool yarn might need to be more efficient to work with compared to cotton yarn for your coaster, so you might decide to blend it with it.
How Many Patterns Of Coaster Can I Crochet?
All that depends on your crocheting skills, as there are numerous patterns of coasters available for you to do. You can also come up with your design based on your creativity level.
Square Coasters are easy to make as it involves using a simple pattern, just the way you make your blanket.
Fruit Coasters are cute-looking coasters primarily used during summer to place your chilled watermelon or strawberry fruit drink on, incredibly when relaxing on your lawn or at the beach.
Heart Shaped Coasters are always adored on a couples’ table at a dinner party or on valentine’s day as it depicts love, but you need to be careful while crocheting it so as not to miss the perfect shape.
Round Coasters are the first thing that comes to mind when you mention “coasters” because it is easy to do. Some even refer to it as a roller coaster when you add different colors of yarn to make it beautiful. However, you must be good in slip stitch crochet to be able to make the roller coaster.
Using the effortless pattern style, Ombre Coasters can be made with double crochet and slip stitch.
Rainbow Coasters are coasters of different colors placed on the table to make the table colorful and serve its purpose too. It involves the use of basic crochet stitches to make it.
Mug Rug is a rectangular coaster that uses basic stitches for the design, leaving yarn tails on both sides to add to the beauty. The moss stitch rug can be made using simple crochet and chain stitch.
Petal Coasters got its name from the petal shape of the coaster, and it adds to the table’s beauty as it is made of different colors.
Sunflower Crochet uses simple crochet stitches to achieve the sunflower shape even with its yellow and brown color.
Star Coaster is made by halving double crochet and can be used on your dining table or beach during summer.
Sunshine Coaster is a bright color coaster with a sunlike shape and can be made with double crochet stitches during summer.
A coffee Cup Coaster is a coaster that has a cup-like shape and can be made with the use of single, half-double and double crochet stitches.
The above pattern is a few of the numerous available designs, and you can search online to discover more coaster patterns.
How Do I Get My Coaster To Hold Shape?
The shape of the coaster is essential when it comes to beauty and has to be considered highly. However, there are different ways to hold the coaster in form.
The best so far is the glue and water method, as you do not have anything to lose by using it. All you have to do is mix white glue with a bit of water and spray it on it, allow it to air dry, and ensure you do not iron it.
What Can I Use Acrylic Yarn For?
You can use Acrylic yarn for many things, including your coaster, but it might end up melting as it is plastic, which is why many crocheters do not use it for coasters.
You can use it for the following things if you follow the necessary precautions.
- Hats
- Scarves
- Socks
- Flower pots.
- Keychains.
- Kids’ Clothes.
- Pillows.
- Blankets.
- Shawls
- Decorations
- Holiday Projects.
- Other Artworks.
Conclusion.
The best yarn to use for your coaster is cotton yarn, cotton and wool yarn, cotton and polyester yarn and other cotton blended yarn. However, acrylic yarn, too, can be used but cannot stand the test of time as it is a plastic yarn and might melt in contact with a boiling substance.
Making a coaster with cotton or wool yarn does not mean you will not have little challenges but not using g acrylic yarn as it has many disadvantages, although some love to use it because of its numerous colors.