by Kathryn Vercillo

Broomstick lace is such a beautiful unique type of crochet. It looks complicated but it’s actually really simple. If you can do the basic crochet stitches, you can crochet broomstick lace.

The main difference is that you pull loops up onto the handle of a large knitting needle or the base of a large crochet hook. (Historically it was a broomstick that was used; that’s how the name of this great technique was born.) It can take a few rows to get the hang of that but once you do it goes really quickly.

You will need:

• Yarn
• A crochet hook that’s compatible with your yarn
• A large, smooth dowel, broomstick, or knitting needle. The larger the needle you use, the larger the loops and the lacier your piece will be.

Let’s begin!

Step One:

Make your starting chain. The length of the chain will depend on what you are making as well as on how many loops you would like to group together. It is common to group together 4-6 loops for most broomstick lace projects.

Note: This tutorial shows a starting chain of 20 stitches that will be grouped in sets of four loops.

Step Two:

Insert your knitting needle into the final chain in your starting chain. (You may need to pull the chain open wider to make it fit.) Now you’ll work backwards across your starting row so you do not turn your work as you typically do in your crochet projects. Insert your crochet hook into the next stitch (on the left assuming you are a right-handed crocheter), yarn over and pull another loop up on to your knitting needle.

Step Three:

Repeat across the row so that there is one loop on the knitting needle for each loop that was in your starting chain. In this example, there will be twenty loops on the knitting needle. Remove your hook from the work gently, leaving the loops on the knitting needle.

Step Four:

Now you are going to group the stitches together. In this example, we will do five sets of four stitches each. For the first grouping, you insert your hook through the top of the first four loops on the end of the knitting needle. Yarn over and pull the yarn through to close the set.

Step Five:

Next you will crochet as many single crochets as you have number of loops in the group. So in my example, there were four loops in the group so I’ll crochet four single crochets.


Step Six:

Repeat steps 4 and 5 across the row. Finish with a single crochet to close the final set of four loops.

Continuing the pattern:

To create the next row, you will insert your hook into each single crochet and pull a loop up on to the knitting needle. When you’re done with that, the row will look like the row did in strep three. Repeat steps 4-6 to continue the broomstick lace crochet pattern.

About the Author
Kathryn Vercillo is the author of Crochet Saved My Life. Kathryn blogs about crochet art, fashion, designers, books and more at Crochet Concupiscence.

Article © Kathryn Vercillo. All rights reserved.