Autumn Ridges Crochet Lap Warmer

I’m still on request to make at least a dozen lap warmers for Christmas gifts this year. I’m also trying to use a lot of my scrap yarns rather than buying new. This piece combines both of those things. You can see what I started with in the picture below. 

This is a very simple lap warmer that measures 32” X 34”. It’s made up of nothing but double crochets. In order to make the ridges, all I had to do was instead of going in at the top loops when I changed color, I went into the post just below.  

I love finding yarn at the thrift stores, but often it's difficult to use it up. I'm grateful to have
been able that I was able to use these up, along with some leftover yarn in my stash.

Any combination of yarns and sizes will work so easily with this. All you have to do is crochet a foundation chain the length that you want and then add 3 which will be your first chain 3. From there, you will double crochet all the way across and when you’re ready to change colors, simply crochet in that post all the way across rather than the top loop.

Here's how I did the post  crochet stitch. You wrap your yarn around the hook as if you were
doing a double crochet, but then grab the post rather than the top loop.

To finish this piece nicely, I carefully weave the ends in on the reverse side, where the ridges aren’t. This hides them fairly well and doesn’t interfere with the ridge pattern on the front of the piece. Here’s a picture of that:

The only thing I found a little difficult about this is that I had to be very careful that I didn’t increase or decrease without knowing it. My lap warmer is 82 stitches across. So every few rows, I would stop and count just to make sure I didn’t accidentally add or delete a row. I’m getting better at crocheting, and that really didn’t happen this time but I did have to check my work for that. Other than that, this is such an easy piece to crochet.

To finish it off I dug through my antique button jar and came up with a few buttons that I thought would add some texture and dimension and look good too. I love saving all these buttons, but there’s something satisfying about attaching them to a card, a crochet piece, or something that I’ve crocheted. That way, other people get to enjoy them too!

The four used here are so old that the tag didn't even have a UPC code on them, which puts them before 1974. I like the fact that they're genuine leather too.

The border is made by creating a foundation chain around the edges then doing half double crochets all the way around. NOTE: I did 3 half double crochets in each corner for the increase to look good.

I hate to let the antique button go, but I'd rather have them be enjoyed!

I’m looking forward to trying this technique in a few different ways to make a basket weave like piece as well.

One final note, in order for all of the ridges to be on the same side of the work, you must crochet each color in an even number of rose. If you have an odd number, then what will happen is the ridge will be on the other side. That could be a unique look too and certainly if you’re using just one color that would be nice as well. But for this piece I kept all my rose to either two or four.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!