For this challenge Elle of Elle’s New England Kitchen asked us to make something to use at a picnic. Between just getting back from Ireland and getting the house ready to show I wasn’t sure I was going to have a project for this challenge. Then an inspiration hit me. Matt and I had a picnic lunch alongside a river one day on our trip and really had to fit with the breeze to keep our tablecloth down. I decided I needed to make tablecloth weights.

I had seen some people around the internet crochet around rocks and and thought that would be a cute way to make these weights. The rock provides the weight and the crochet gives it a lacy dressed up look. A small alligator clip attaches the whole thing to the corners of your tablecloth and keeps it from flying up.

Crocheted Stone Tablecloth Weights

This pattern was sized to fit my particular rock. You may need to adapt it for your rocks. Just play with the amount of stitches around and how many rows you hook.
Supplies:

• rock, you don’t want too big a rock, Mine is about 2″ tall, 1 3/4″ wide and 1/2″ thick

• worsted weight yarn
• small butterfly clip

Tools:

• Size USH8/5mm crochet hook
• scissors
• tapestry needle

Abbrieviations:

• ch – chain
• dc – double crochet
• sl st – slip stitch

Round 1: 4 ch, sl st into the first ch to create a circle

Round 2: 3 ch (this will count as your first dc), make 5 more dc into the center of the circle, sl st into the last stitch of the ch3

Round 3: 4 ch (this counts as your first dc and ch), dc into the next dc, 1 ch. Repeat in each dc around. Sl st into the last stitch of the 4 ch.

Repeat round 3 until about 3/4″ from the top of your rock. I needed to do it two more times (rounds 4 and 5)

Round 6: Put your rock in the crocheted “pocket” you have made. You will now crochet right around the rock. You have to do this because you will be closing up the pocket. (Make sure to weave in the tail from the beginning if you haven’t already.)

3 ch (this will count as your first dc), dc into each of the remaining dcs. Sl st into the last stitch of the 3 ch.

Cut the yarn leaving about a 12″ tail. Put the tail on a tapestry needle and weave through each of the dcs on the last row. Pull tight and knot off. Wrap the tail around one end of the alligator clip and tie off.

You can have it hang as long as you want. I let mine hang about an 1 1/2″

No more flying tablecloth!