Cait Ireen's Crochet
Not your grandmother's crochet

CIC Blog

Crocheted Black Lives Matter Banner

These past few days I have felt useless and hopeless. How can I be an advocate for change when the hurdles seem so high and I’m not sure of the right thing to say or do?

As an advocate for #BlackLivesMatter and to demonstrate that I am anti-racist (instead of just ‘not racist’), I have been working on educating myself on how to support the Black community and looking for ways to spread truth. Saying that Black Lives Matter is not political - it’s basic human decency.

I’m proudly hanging this banner in my window and hope that others will join me in creating and hanging one in their window too! And don’t stop there! Sign petitions for justice, read up on what it means to be anti-racist, donate to fund and support initiatives you care about if you have the means, follow Black Lives Matter on social media (plus other social justice organizations) and, going forward, VOTE!

I am by no means perfect nor the perfect advocate during these times, but I am continuing to learn, grow and be an advocate for change.

❤️✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼✊🏻❤️

IMG_0576.png

Materials Needed:

  • G Hook

  • Yarn in 6 different, skin-toned colors

  • Black yarn (for the border and hand detail)

  • Yellow yarn (or color of your choice; for the banner)

  • Stitch markers (I use large lobster clasps [commonly used for jewelry]… they’re inexpensive and work great!)

  • Scissors

  • Larger embroidery / tapestry needle (for weaving in your ends)

Abbreviated Terms:

  • sc - single crochet

  • hdc - half double crochet

  • dc - double crochet

  • tr - triple crochet

  • sc2tog - single crochet next two stitches together, decreasing by 1

  • hdc2tog - half double crochet next two stitches together, decreasing by 1

  • sl st - slip stitch

  • ch - chain

    *** IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT PATTERN:

    • 2 hdc means 2 hdc in the same stitch, aka increase by 1

    • hdc 2 means 1 hdc over two stitches, aka no increase

Pattern:

Fist

Crochet side to side, chaining 1 and turning at the end of each row (unless otherwise noted)

ch 12, starting on second ch from hook

1: hdc in each across (11)

2: hdc2tog, hdc 9 (10)

3: hdc across (10)

4: hdc 8, hdc2tog (9)

switch to second yarn color

5-6: hdc across (9)

7: 3 hdc in first, hdc 8 (11)

8: 3 hdc, hdc 9, 3 hdc (15)

switch to third yarn color

9: 2 hdc, hdc 13, 3 hdc (18)

10: 2 hdc, hdc 17 (19)

11: hdc 18, 2 hdc (20)

12: 2 hdc, hdc 19 (21)

switch to fourth yarn color

13: hdc 19, hdc2tog (20)

14: hdc2tog, hdc 18 (19)

15: 2 hdc, hdc 16, hdc2tog (19)

16: hdc2tog, hdc 13, dc, (dc, tr, dc in same st), dc2tog; fasten off (19)

count 16 stitches in from right, turn; switch to fifth yarn color

17: 2 dc, dc 2, hdc 11, hdc2tog (16)

18: hdc2tog, hdc 10, 2 dc, dc, hdc, sl st in last st; fasten off (15)

count 11 stitches in from right, turn

19: hdc, dc 2, hdc 4, hdc2tog (7)

20: hdc2tog, hdc 3, 2 dc, hdc, sl st in last st; fasten off (7)

count 4 stitches in from right, turn; switch to sixth yarn color

21: hdc, dc 2, 2 dc (5)

22: hdc 4, sl st in last st (4)

fasten off, weave in all ends

Border

If you’re more visual, I have drawn out the stitches below as well as including the written instructions.

With the right side facing you and upside down (thumb on the left), begin 6 stitches in on the bottom

sc 5, 3 sc in the corner, sc 8, sc2tog in corner, sc 4, (2 sc x2), sc 6, 2 sc, sc 2, sc2tog, sc 3, 3 sc in corner, sc 4, sl st in corner, sc, (2 sc x2), sc 2, sl st in corner, sc, (2 sc x2), sc 3, sl st, sc 2, (2 sc x2), sc 2, sc2tog, 2 sc, sc 2, 2 sc, sc 6, sc2tog, sc 5, 3 sc, sc 4, sl st in 1st sc

At this point, you’ll also do the outline of the fingers on your hand. I utilized my embroidery needle and one strand of the black yarn I used for the border. There is no real ‘pattern’ for this, but in general follow the 4 half-circles at the top as knuckles and the right side bump as your thumb knuckle. It took me a few tries - do not feel discouraged! It also helped to use a picture of a fist as a guide!

Banner

I chose to do yellow for the banner, since this is the color predominantly displaced on the Black Lives Matter website. Feel free to use whatever color you like!

Crochet in the round, joined:

1: hdc 10 in MC (10)

2: 2 hdc in each (20)

3: (2 hdc, hdc) x10 (30)

4: (2 hdc, hdc 2) x10 (40)

5: (2 hdc, hdc 3) x10 (50)

6: (2 hdc, hdc 4) x10 (60)

7: (2 hdc, hdc 5) x10 (70)

8: (2 hdc, hdc 6) x10 (80)

9: (2 hdc, hdc 7) x10 (90)

10: (2 hdc, hdc 8) x10 (100)

11: (2 hdc, hdc 9) x10 (110)

12: (2 hdc, hdc 10) x10 (120)

After joining 12th row, ch 60 and join 24 stitches from 12th row join. Connect with sl st. Cut and weave in ends.

IMG_5183.jpeg

Hang it in the window, proudly, for all to see!

Best,


Cait Gallagher