>> Brittanie Hoofard is a writer and crafter currently living in Korea. In September, she’ll get her black belt in taekwondo.

Crocheted
Cocktail Rings

Inever met my Great-Grandma Ogilvie. She died when my mom was young, and the only relics I had of hers were a black-and-white photograph of her in cat-eye glasses, a stack of handmade doilies, and two crocheted cocktail rings.

My mother gave me the rings when I was a teenager, saying, “Grandma Ogilvie used to make these all the time. They became very popular in the 70s.” I wore those rings almost every day, tying knots in the elastic, which had years ago lost its give. None of the women in my family knew how to crochet, so when the rings became too fragile to wear, I was unable to find replacements for them.

In the years since, I have scoured thrift stores and antique malls, hoping to find another ring like the ones I wore, or at least a pattern. I eventually taught myself to crochet in hopes of replicating the rings I had as a teen. Recently, I stumbled across a similar pattern on a now-defunct website. The following is my modification of the pattern. ×

» 1. String 25 beads, sized 4mm–6mm, on metallic elastic thread. You can dab clear nail polish on the end of the thread to make it stiff. Keep a little bit of tension on the thread — not completely loose, but not stretched to capacity. There is no gauge for this ring because it’s mostly trial and error. My ring was worked with a size 5 hook.

5. *Slip bead down, sc in each sc, repeat from * around ( 10 sc).

6. Sc in each sc ( 10 times) without beads.

7. Repeat round 5.

8. Repeat round 6.

2. Chain 4, and join with slip stitch to form ring.

Photograph by Brittanie Hoofard

3. *Slip a bead down, single crochet into ring, repeat from 4 times, for a total of 5 sc. Make sure the beads are not too loose or tight. They should be flexible, but they also need to stay in place on their own.

9. Chain 20 stitches (more or less, depending on the size of your finger) and join with slip stitch to the previous round to form a ring. Turn, slip stitch into each chain stitch, fasten off, leaving a 6" tail.

4. Make 2 sc, without beads, in each sc of the previous round ( 10 sc).

10. Pull tail through the center of the 5 beads crocheted in round 3. String an extra bead onto tail, pull back through center hole, tie off securely inside bead cluster.