How to Crochet a Coaster

Grab your yarn, a crochet hook, scissors, and a yarn needle. Bella uses Stylecraft Special DK with a 4mm hook. Any DK or worsted cotton yarn will work - cotton sits flatter than acrylic and grips the table better, which is what you want for a coaster.

If you're using worsted weight instead of DK, jump up to an H/5mm hook so the fabric stays soft. The coaster needs enough density to handle a hot mug without slumping but not so much that it curls.

Start with a slip knot however you prefer, then slide it onto your hook. Wrap the yarn over the hook and pull it through the loop. That's one chain. Repeat five more times for a total of six chains.

Keep the chains loose enough that your hook can slide back through them in the next step. Tight chains are the most common beginner snag - if you can't fit the hook through, undo and redo with looser tension.

Insert your hook into the very first chain you made (the one closest to the slip knot). Yarn over and pull through both loops on the hook. That's a slip stitch, and it closes your six chains into a small ring.

This is the center your whole coaster grows from. If you prefer the magic ring method instead, you can swap it in here - it leaves a tighter, smaller center hole. The rest of the rounds work identically either way.

Chain 3 to count as your first treble (this is the UK treble, equivalent to a US double crochet). Then work 19 more trebles directly into the center of the ring. The full sequence per stitch: yarn over, insert hook into the ring, yarn over and pull through, yarn over and pull through two loops, yarn over and pull through the last two loops.

Lay the starting yarn tail against the top of the ring as you work and trap it inside each stitch. That hides the tail and saves you weaving it in later. When you've placed all 19 trebles, slip stitch into the top of your starting chain 3 to close the round. You should have 20 posts around the ring.

Chain 3 to start the next round (counts as a treble). Work one more treble into the very next stitch. Now chain 2, skip a stitch, then work 2 trebles into the next stitch. That pair-of-trebles + chain-2 pattern is the whole round.

Repeat all the way around. You should land on your last 2 trebles, chain 2, then slip stitch into the top of your starting chain 3 to close. Those chain 2 spaces are what give the coaster its open, flower-like shape - don't pull them tight.

Chain 3 to start. Skip the first stitch and work directly into the first chain 2 space from round 2. Drop 2 trebles into that space, chain 2, then 2 more trebles into the same space. That cluster of 4 trebles with a chain 2 in the middle is the new shape.

Move to the next chain 2 space and repeat the cluster. Don't chain between clusters - go straight from the end of one cluster into the next space. Slip stitch into the top of your chain 3 to close.

Chain 3, then slip stitch into the next chain 2 space to anchor the chain 3 down. Work 6 trebles into that same space - this is what creates the rounded scallop. Slip stitch into the next chain 2 space, then 6 trebles into that one. Repeat all the way around.

On the last space, work only 5 trebles. Your starting chain 3 counts as the 6th stitch of that final scallop. Slip stitch into the top of that chain 3 to close the round. The whole edge should now have eight visible scallops.

Yarn over one last time and pull through the loop on your hook to lock the final stitch. Snip the yarn about 6 inches from the work, then pull the tail all the way out. That creates a small knot.

Thread the tail onto a yarn needle and weave it back and forth through the back of a few stitches. Snip the tail close to the work. Check the starting tail too - if it didn't get caught inside round 1, weave it in the same way. You're done.