You love to crochet, but you’re tired of the granny square and other predictable projects. Let celebrated crochet teacher Sara Delaney help you expand your skills while showing you how to create custom-fit wearable accessories. Delaney’s unique, flexible formulas let crocheters of all levels easily design scarves, cowls, fingerless mitts, mittens, gloves, hats, and socks. With fill-in-the-blank templates and a stitch dictionary, you can use your favorite yarn and stitch pattern, and make accessories that fit perfectly. Delaney offers a starter course in the technique with 18 of her own original patterns, along with the formulas she used to create them. The companion online calculator helps create your customized patterns even more quickly! “Whether you are newly tip-toeing into design or are experienced in the try-and-try-again design method, Delaney’s formulaic approach will save you time and tears while ensuring great predictable results every time.” — Edie Eckman, best-selling knit and crochet author and designer   “Perfectly pair yarn and pattern to create custom-fit accessories with Delaney’s simple fill-in-the-blank formulas. If you just want to crochet, 18 classic designs show the formulas in action.” — Linda Permann, crochet designer Expert Guidance + Customizable Templates = Perfectly Fitting Accessories Creating customized crochet wearables is easier than you think. Designer Sara Delaney walks you through the entire process, from choosing the most appropriate yarns to developing your own unique patterns. Flexible formulas and fill-in-the-blank templates show you exactly what you need to make one-of-a-kind scarves, cowls, fingerless mitts, mittens, gloves, hats, and socks. If you're new to designing, build your confidence with 18 practice patterns for head-to-toe garments that use Delaney's customizable formulas. This first-of-its-kind crochet book – complete with a stitch dictionary featuring 31 classic stitches – gives you everything you need to make flawless and singular crocheted accessories. Sara Delaney is the author of Design Your Own Crochet Projects and  How to Crochet. She has been designing and writing her own patterns for more than 10 years. She teaches crochet classes online at Craftsy, and she lives in western Massachusetts.  Design Your Own Crochet Projects Magic Formulas for Creating Custom Scarves, Cowls, Hats, Socks, Mittens, and Gloves By Sara Delaney, Ilona Sherratt, Gwen Steege Storey Publishing Copyright © 2017 Sara H. Delaney All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-61212-658-6 Contents Introduction, 1. SCARVES, 2. COWLS, 3. HATS, 4. FINGERLESS MITTS, 5. MITTENS, 6. GLOVES, 7. SOCKS, APPENDIX, Index, Copyright, Other Storey Books You Will Enjoy, CHAPTER 1 Scarves While crocheting a scarf may seem too predictable and even slightly boring to the experienced crafter, the simple rectangle is the perfect starting point for creating your first designs. No need to worry about shaping or working in rows: you have the gloriously simple task of working rows of stitches in a shape with four 90-degree-angle corners. Your only decision will be choosing whether to work widthwise or lengthwise. Creating a Scarf Design Begin by determining the size scarf you'd like to make. With that in mind, jot down your plan: the design you've chosen, the size scarf you want to make, and any style details. SCARF WIDTH. Will your scarf be skinny or wide? Some scarves become so wide they can be considered stoles or shawls, but most are between 6 and 10 inches wide. If you want to be sure your scarf will keep out cold drafts, make it at least as wide as the measurement at the back of your neck from your hairline to the spinous process of your seventh vertebra (that bony bump at the bottom of your neck). SCARF LENGTH. Will this be a scarf that hangs around your neck as decoration, or will it wrap several times around your neck for warmth? Most scarves are between 40 and 60 inches long — long enough to wrap once around your neck and still have enough to tuck the tails inside your coat, but not so lengthy that they seem overlong if your coat is left open, unless you're designing a replica of Doctor Who's scarf (the Fourth Doctor, that is). Determine the ideal length by looping a tape measure around the back of your neck, or wrapping it around your neck as many times as you'd like. If your tape measure is too short for the length you want, you can use a scrap length of yarn and then measure that piece flat afterward. Keep in mind that you usually want a scarf length that is close to a person's height. This is a particularly useful rule of thumb if you're making a scarf for a child. What's Your Favorite ...? You can use a scarf you already love as a template for width or length. The Magic of the Swatch With your design in mind, it's time to find a stitch/yarn/hook combination that you like. Working with the yarn you intend to use for your scarf, begin by