Dia de los Muertos Crochet Flower Crown By Ruth Hinman Remember your loved ones and celebrate their journey with this beautiful crown. Made with vibrant fluffy roses, marigolds and delicate little blue forget-me-nots that adorn this gorgeous headband and surround two gaily decorated sugar skulls.
Materials Fair Isle Liberty Craft Can - Day of the Dead 5.5mm crochet hook 3mm crochet hook (for skulls only) Black Embroidery Floss or Crochet Thread (for skulls only) Tapestry or Yarn needle Scissors Stitch Marker Gauge 24 rows or16 stitches = 4 Finished Size 18 Headband base with 10 ties on both sides. Recommendations When working in the round a stitch marker is very useful, and this small skull is much easier if you can mark the beginning of each row. Each stitch forms a V Planning your overall look helps to choose which flowers and colors you will use and how many you will need. I sketched my crown, planned ahead, and still had a couple of extra blossoms for my next crown. Abbreviations SC = Single Crochet HDC = Half Double Crochet DC = Double Crochet TC = Treble or Triple Crochet MR = Magic Ring INC = Increase DEC = Decrease BLO = Back Loop Only FLO = Front Loop Only F/O = Finish Off CH = Chain SK = Skip # of Stitches indicated SL ST = Slip Stitch (#) = Number of Stitches in the round FLO or Front Loop Only means leaving the back part of the V behind BLO uses the loops left after the FLO FAIRISLEYARN.COM Page 2
Notes: Back Loop and Front Loop Only stitches are used to build bulk that stacks or bunches up for a fuller marigold. See samples on previous page. You can use more or less of any of the flowers and arrange them how you like. I made the flowers and then arranged them like a floral arrangement. Dia de los Muertos Crown Make the headband and all the flowers and skulls and decorate your skulls before you begin assembly. Headband Base Fair Isle Liberty - Black Row 1: CH 60 and SL ST into the first CH. CH 60 and use stitch marker to mark the place. CH 60 and SL ST into the CH with your stitch marker. CH 1 (this counts as your first SC) and 4 SC, 5 HDC, 10 DC, 20 TC, 10 DC, 5 HDC, 5 SC (60) CH 1 and turn. Row 2: CH 1 counts as first stitch of this row. 59 SC. (60) CH 1 and turn. Row 3: CH 1 counts as first stitch of this row. 4 SC, 5 HDC, 10 DC, 20 TC, 10 DC, 5 HDC, 5 SC and F/O and sew in your ends. The right side of the headband is the side you ended on. Skull Use 3mm crochet hook for the skulls only. You are working in the round; a stitch marker will be highly useful. Fair Isle Liberty - Cloud Round 1: 6 SC in MR (6) - draw tight and sew in ends after Round 2 Round 2: INC in each around (12) Round 3: SC then INC and repeat around (18) Round 4: 2 SC then INC and repeat around (24) Rounds 5-9: SC around (24) Round 10: 6 SC then DEC and repeat around (21) Round 11: 5 SC then DEC and repeat around (18) Round 12: SC then DEC and repeat around (12) Stuff into the skull until it is firm without stretching the stitches. Rounds 13-15: SC around (12) Stuff a little more into the jaw of the skull. FAIRISLEYARN.COM Page 3
Dia de los Muertos Flower Crown Round 16: BLO DEC in all around (6) F/O by sewing into the front loops of the last stitches and pulling tight. Sew in your end. I embroidered the skull sockets using black yarn and then decorated with dash stitches in different colors. By stitching into the same holes and carefully holding the yarn so it lays side by side you can form the eye sockets, leaves or flowers as you see below. I put my straight line of teeth in Round 14 and stitched the up and downs between Rounds 13 and 15, sometimes piercing through a stitch and not going into the space above it to make the teeth uneven. Thread some yarn onto your darning or yarn needle and knot the other end fairly largely, cut the end of the yarn so that a small amount is left. By sewing in from the wrong side of the skull and out to where you want your first stitch to begin you can pull the yarn end until the knot and tail pop into the skull and the stuffing will hold it well and hide that end of your yarn. Marigold Fair Isle Liberty - Turmeric FAIRISLEYARN.COM Page 4
Round 1: 6 SC in MR (6) - draw tight and sew in ends once you have completed the flower Round 2a: FLO SC CH 3 SC in each stitch around (12 with a loop between them) Round 2b: BLO SC, CH 4, SL ST, CH 4, SC in each stitch around (12 with 2 loops between them) F/O and sew in your ends by hiding them into the back of the flower. Rose - Big and Small Fair Isle Liberty - Lipstick and Pink Shock You can choose the odd number of your CH foundation row and change the size of your roses to suit your needs. I am providing you with my counts. Big = 41 CH foundation row Small = 25 CH foundation row Row 1: CH 41 or 25, work your way back along the CH starting from the 2nd CH from hook. SC and CH 1 in 2nd stitch from hook. Then work 2 SC and CH 1 the rest of the way across, ending on 2 SC. CH 1 and turn. Row 2: 4 DC in the CH 1 from the previous row, SC and SK the next stitch and repeat this pattern across to the last stitch where you will SL ST and F/O leaving a long tail to assemble the rose. To form the rose: With right side facing up begin to coil your rose from the center and stitch through the bottom back (foundation chain) of the flower as you go. Work on one side until you have coiled the whole length then go around once to secure the whole rose in place. Knot at the end and leave remaining tail to attach to crown. Forget-Me-Not Fair Isle Liberty - Atomic Turq Round 1: Work all in MR - CH 2, 2 DC, CH 2, SL ST and repeat 4 more times. Draw tight and sew in one of your ends, keep the other for attaching to the headband. Assembly Lay your headband in front of you with the right side up. Your original CH is the front of the headband and should be towards you so that the curve of your taller stitches is at the top as you look at the headband. Lay your flowers out on your table or crafting surface just above the headband to get a feel for your layout. You can see from the photos that I used the roses as my primary flower, embellishing with the traditional marigolds and pretty little forget-me-nots as filler around the sugar skulls that are the stars of this gorgeous crown. I left the last 2 of the headband blank because they will be hidden under my hair. You can decorate all the way to the ties if you like. Make the flowers and skulls touch all the way around to prevent the headband from showing through your crown. Large and medium roses should be secured in the middle SC row and into a couple of the stitches on either side for stability. I did this by starting in the middle and then stitching through the loops of the stitches AND the backs of the loops of the rose as shown below. Sew in your ends securely and trim the yarn. FAIRISLEYARN.COM Page 5
Small roses should be secured in the middle SC row, or the edge of the headband top or bottom and then into the loops of the stitches of the headband. Sew in your ends securely and trim the yarn. Marigolds should be secured in the middle SC row or the edge of the headband top or bottom and then into the loops of the stitches of the headband. Sew in your ends securely and trim the yarn. Forget-me-nots can be secured through the stitch they are attaching to only, they re small enough that they want to lay flat. Sew in your ends securely and trim the yarn. Here is a second example of a crown that I made using three sugar skulls and a different assortment and arrangement of flowers. Remember to #FairIsleYarn on Instagram and share your finished projects with us! FAIRISLEYARN.COM Page 6