I designed this simple hexagonal coaster to reflect the look and feel of the Ubuntu CAL 2018. It is perfect for using small scraps of yarn, and I think it would make a wonderful motif for a blanket (if you don’t mind all the ends)!  I have decided to call it ‘Six Degrees of Separation’, based on the scientific theory that we are all separated by six or fewer degrees (or ‘friend-of-friend’s).

“It’s no secret that the crochet community is incredibly important to me.  In common with so many people, it’s where I’ve found my tribe.  Part of the allure is being able to immerse myself in the creativity of the crochet world and witnessing the encouragement and kindness people show to one another, often leading to very real friendships.” – August 2018.

Six Degrees of Separation Coaster Pattern

© Dedri Uys 2018.  All Rights Reserved.

First Published in Inside Crochet Issue 105, August 2018.

Resources

• Add the Pattern to your Ravelry Queue or buy the ad-free abbreviated PDF of this pattern in my Ravelry Store (both US and UK Terminology). If you do not wish to purchase the formatted PDF, you can use the Print-friendly button at the bottom of this post to save/print the pattern.
• More Patterns from Inside Crochet Issue 105

Translations

• Dutch Translation by Esther Dijkstra from It’s All in a Nutshell

Materials

• Scheepjes Stonewashed* (78% cotton/22% acrylic), 10g/26m/28.5yds
  • Yarn A: Moonstone 801 x 1 ball
  • Yarn B: Canada Jade 806 x 1 ball
  • Yarn C: Lilac Quartz 818 x 1 ball
  • Yarn D: Corundum Ruby 808 x 1 ball
  • Yarn E: Lemon Quartz 812 x 1 ball
  • Yarn F: Deep Amethyst 811 x 1 ball
  • Yarn G: Smokey Quartz 802 x 1 ball
• 3.25mm hook
• Yarn needle

*To give you a rough idea of yarn usage, I used less than 1g of each of Yarns A, B, C, D, and F, 2g of Yarn E, and 5g of Yarn G for a total of 11g per coaster.

Abbreviations

US Terminology

• Beg – Beginning
• Ch – Chain
• Dc – Double crochet
• Hdc – Half double crochet
• Sc – Single crochet
• SM – Stitch marker
• Sp/sps – Space/spaces
• St/sts – Stitch/stitches
• Tr – Treble crochet

Punctuation

*  An asterisk indicates pattern repeats. You will need to repeat all the instructions between asterisks the number of times specified. This is a hard-core repeat and will consist of multiple instructions.

Parentheses () are used to indicate multiple stitches made into the same stitch/space.

Special Stitches

(BP) Back Post – Identify the post of the stitch you want to work around. Insert your hook from the back to the front and then from the front to the back around the post of the stitch so that the post lies behind your hook.  Complete your stitch as normal. You might find it easier to twist your work forward so that you can see what you are doing.

Dc2tog – Yarn over and insert your hook into the indicated st/sp.  Yarn over and draw up a loop (3 loops).  Yarn over and pull through 2 loops (2 loops).  Yarn over and insert your hook into the next st/sp.  Yarn over and draw up a loop (4 loops).  Yarn over and pull through 2 loops (3 loops).  Yarn over and pull through all 3 loops.

Gauge

Each diamond measures 3cm/1.2” long and 2cm/0.8” wide.

Size

Coaster measures 10cm/4” from edge to edge.

Instructions

Diamonds

Make one in each of Yarn A to F.

Make an adjustable ring.

Round 1

Into the ring, 3ch (counts as hdc + ch-1), 1hdc, *2dc, 1tr, 2ch, 1tr, 2dc*, 1hdc, 1ch, place SM, 1hdc.  Repeat from * to * once, join to the second ch of the beg ch-3 with a sl st, fasten off, leaving a 15cm/6” end.

Stitch Count:  4 hdc, 8 dc, 4 tr, 2 ch-1 sps, 2 ch-2 sps.

Attaching Diamonds to Each Other

Work away initial yarn ends on all the diamonds and pull the final yarn ends through the ch-1 sp to the back of your work.

Place Diamond A down with final yarn end facing away from you.  Place Diamond B so that the ch-1 sp containing the SM abuts the ch-1 sp from Diamond A containing the final yarn end.  Using Yarn A end, whip stitch diamonds together, starting in the ch-1 sp and ending in the first ch of the pointy corner.

Place Diamond C so that the ch-1 sp containing the SM abuts the ch-1 sp from Diamond B containing the final yarn end.  Using Yarn B end, whip stitch diamonds B and C together, starting in the ch-1 sp and ending in the first ch of the pointy corner.  Continue sewing diamonds to each other in this fashion until all 6 are joined.  The centre will be closed later.

Coaster

See Chart below.

Round 1

Join Yarn G by making a sl st in any ch-2 corner sp, 1ch (doesn’t count as st throughout), (2sc, 2ch, 2sc) in the ch-2 sp, 4BPsc, 4BPsc in next diamond. *(2sc, 2ch, 2sc) in the next ch-2 sp, 4BPsc, 4BPsc in next diamond.*  Repeat from * to * 4 times, join to the first sc with a sl st.

Stitch Count:  24 sc, 48 BPsc, 6 ch-2 sps.

Round 2

Sl st in the next st and in the ch-2 sp, 1ch, *1sc in the ch-2 sp, 2sc, 1hdc, 1dc, dc2tog twice, 1dc, 1hdc, 2sc*.  Repeat from * to * 5 times, join to the first sc with a sl st.

Stitch Count:  30 sc, 12 hdc, 24 dc.

Round 3

3ch (counts as dc), (1dc, 1ch, 2dc) in same st, 10dc.  *(2dc, 1ch, 2dc) in next st, 10dc.*  Repeat from * to * 4 times, join to top of the beg ch-3 with a sl st, fasten off and work away ends.

Stitch Count:  84 dc, 6 ch-1 sps.

Round 4

Join Yarn E by making a sl st in any ch-1 sp, 1ch, (1sc, 1ch, 1sc) in the same ch-1 sp, 14BPhdc.  *(1sc, 1ch, 1sc) in next ch-1 sp, 14 BPhdc.*  Repeat from * to * 4 times, join to the first sc with a sl st, fasten off and work away ends.

Stitch Count:  12 sc, 84 BPhdc, 6 ch-1 sps.

To Close the Centre

With Yarn G and RS facing, sl st in the central ch-2 sp of any diamond, 1ch, 1hdc in the same ch-2 sp.  1hdc in each of the remaining 5 ch-2 sps, join to the first hdc with a sl st, fasten off and work away ends.

See the centre of the chart below if you need some help.

Stitch Count:  6 hdc.

Chart

Thank you for choosing to make this coaster.  I hope that you have enjoyed it as much as I did.

If you share photos online, please consider using #sixdegreesofseparationcoaster so that we can all Ooh and Aah!

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