How to crochet kippot (summary -LONG)
Sharon Morrison
Yarn size: Knit-CroSheen (size 10), No. 8 Perle cotton (DMC).
Hook size: steel 10 (11 or 12 for finer, tighter stitch, 8 or 6 for a
more open, lacey look).
TO START ROUND: Chain 5 (or 6), slip stitch chain together.
Row 1: work increases (two stitches) in each chain.
Row 2: Work increases in every other stitch.
Row 3: work increase in very third stitch, (or as needed to keep work
flat).
Keep working rows, increasing to keep work flat - about 6-8 stitches per
round (or see formula below). Once you have worked 4 or 5 rows you may
want to use pieces of another colored yarn to divide the circle into 6 or
8 parts. These temporary divisions will help you to keep your increases
evenly distributed around the circle. (Note: do not increase in the same
spot for each row because you will get lines radiating out like spokes of
a wheel - vary the position of your increases within each section.).
If work begins to cup, you are not increasing enough.
If work begins to get wavy you are increasing too much.
If the cupping or waving is very extreme do not be afraid to rip out the
stitches until the work is flat and rework from that point.
WORKING THE PATTERN ['dugma', (/doog-MA/, pattern)]
The border pattern can be any pattern that you can put onto a grid. You
can design your own patterns, use cross stitch patterns or other needle
work patterns. Start with single color patterns first and work you way up
to two color patterns. (See any crochet book/booklet for how to change
yarn colors)
1) Work kippah flat, work pattern with no increases.
a) Wet kippah and dry over bowl or your head to obtain desired shape
(blocking). Best for patterns 6 rows or less (apparently you can do 10-12
rows if you use a tiny hook).
b) For larger patterns you can add some extra increases into the last
non-pattern row. The edge will be wavy but will straighten out after a
few pattern rows. Block as above.
2) Work kippah flat, work pattern with increases.
a) It is easiest to do this with discrete patterns,
just add increases in between the patterns (i= increase).
The pattern looks distorted on a square grid, but will be fine on a
circular grid.
----x---------x----
-xxxxxxx----xxxxxxx-
--x---x---i---x---x--
-xxxxxxx----xxxxxxx---
----x---i-------x----
-------------------
b) You can also do this for some continuous patterns.
For example, this pattern:
1 X----XX----XX----XX.
2 -X--X--X--X--X--X...
3 --XX----XX----XX....
4 -X--X--X--X--X--X...
5 -X--X--X--X--X--X...
6 --XX----XX----XX....
could be worked as
1 X---XX---XX---XX.
2 -X-iX-X--X-Xi-X...
3 --XX---XX--iXX....
4 -X--Xi-X--X--X--X...
5 -X--X--X--X--X--X...
6 --XX----XX----XX....
where i = increase. (This doesn't look distorted on a circular grid)
Finish kippah with a row of solid color single crochet or reverse single
crochet.
HOW TO COMPUTE NUMBER OF INCREASES PER ROW TO KEEP WORK FLAT:
1) Determine your gauge (number of stiches/inch and number of row/inch) -
be sure to use a large enough sample of your work with the same size
needle and thread you plan to use for your kippah (at least 2" x 2" - use
the center square inch for measuring).
2) Determine stitch height (in inches) and use the following formula:
# of stitches to add per row to keep work flat = [stitch height (in.)] *
[# stitches/row] * 6.28
Note that if your gauge changes the number of increases per row will
change. Keep an eye out for cupping or wavy edges and increase/decrease
as needed.
(formula provided by Vance Morrison)
Compiled by Sharon R. Morrison.
Thanks to the following people and sources for suggestions and hints:
<joe_a...@maca.sarnoff.com>
Miriam Nadel <na...@attatash.aero.org>
jan...@eng.sun.com (Janice Gelb)
t...@ima.isc.com (Andrew Tannenbaum)
"paul andrew braier" <pa...@midway.uchicago.edu>
Rick Turkel rm...@cas.org
"Jewish Catalog" by Strassfeld
Stephanie Schaeffer <st...@cs.ualberta.ca> writes:
There is a place in Van Nuys, California called California Stitchery.
They carry a wide variety of Jewish stitchery things,including books on
kippah making, as well as specific kits for crocheting kippahs.
California Stitchery
6015 Sunnyslope Avenue
Van Nuys, CA 91401-3020
Phone 1-800-345-3332 M-F 9am to 5pm Pacific Time
Fax 1-818-781-2120 7days/wk, 24 hrs/day
Janice Gelb
>HOW TO CROCHET KIPPOT (YARMULKES) - summary
>
>Yarn size: Knit-CroSheen (size 10), No. 8 Perle cotton (DMC).
>Hook size: steel 10 (11 or 12 for finer, tighter stitch, 8 or 6 for a
>more open, lacey look).
>
To do the more complicated patterns and have the cipah look more like
a professional one, I'd recommend the DMC thread - the Knit-CroSheen
is very thick and shiny looking. Also, there's a size 14 needle that
produces an even finer, tighter stitch than the 12.
I have personally created patterns for the Superman or Batman logos,
soccer balls, bicycles, Model-T cars, and a bargello pattern. If anyone
would like copies of any of these, let me know.
********************************************************************************
Janice Gelb | (415) 336-7075
jan...@marvin.eng.sun.com | "A silly message but mine own" (not Sun's!)
********************************************************************************
Seth Ness
where the entire base was a picture, not just a strip along the edge( this
is crocheted, not painted) This one was an indian bonnet, with the face on
one side and the feathers extending across to the other side. i imagine
that this was incredibly hard to design and knit, but it was amazing
looking. does anyone know anything about this type of design?
Seth L. Ness Ness Gadol Hayah Sham
ne...@aecom.yu.edu
Miriam Nadel
>several years ago i saw for the first and only time in my life, a kippah
>where the entire base was a picture, not just a strip along the edge( this
>is crocheted, not painted) This one was an indian bonnet, with the face on
>one side and the feathers extending across to the other side. i imagine
>that this was incredibly hard to design and knit, but it was amazing
>looking. does anyone know anything about this type of design?
Designing it would be tricky but it wouldn't be any harder to crochet than
any other kippah. What I would do is draw the design on polar
graph paper in order to make a circular grid, with extra lines for increases.
Once it was drawn, following the pattern would be trivial for those who know
how to crochet well.
Miriam Nadel
Rick Turkel
watermelon: dark green outside, lighter green inside that, and reddish-pink on
the inside -- complete with black and white seeds!
|>
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(rm...@cas.org) ) | | \ ) |/ \ | | | \_) |
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