When I started designing Vita, I thought of something pretty and stylish that you could put on your bathroom floor to step on when coming out of the shower. But as I progressed, I fell in love with its look and Vita ended up right next to my bed.
The rug is entirely made of cotton, and it is mostly made using single crochets, except for the shaping of the petals in the centre motif.
Vita has been designed for Aran (AKA 4 Medium) weight yarn. It would not work so well with thicker yarn, but it would be fine to use DK or thinner yarn. One thing to bear in mind when deciding to use a lighter weight yarn than the recommended one for this pattern, is that the whole size of the rug will be reduced. Even if you add more rounds to make it bigger, the central motif will still look smaller.
To make Vita, you will be working in the round, joining the last stitch to the first stitch, every time you finish a round.
To keep it looking neat and professional, I did not join to the beginning of the round with a slip stitch as usual. Instead, I used a type of invisible join.
For applying the invisible join, you need to leave a generous tail when you work your magic loop at the start of the project, and also every time you attach a new colour. The trick basically consists of finishing the last single crochet with this tail and then using it to “mimic” the first stitch of the round. It is easier than it sounds, please check the video below to see how it is done.
Of course, you can join with a slip stitch as usual, or use any other type of joining technique. On the printable pattern, instructions are given for both ways of joining the rounds, so you can choose. The pdf version also includes a diagram for the petals section.
Materials
Aran Cotton yarn
Colours: Light Grey approx 225m; Off White approx 150m
5mm hook
Glass head pins for blocking
Gauge and size
With 5mm hook, 7 rounds of single crochet = approx. 10cm diameter
The size of the central flower is approx. 20cm across from the end of one petal to the opposite one. The diameter of the finished rug is 50 cm, although you can add or remove rows to reach the size you want.
Stitches
Chain
Slip stitch (sl st)
Single crochet (sc)
Half double crochet (hdc)
Double crochet (dc)
Extended double crochet (ext dc): Yarn over (yo), insert the hook in the indicated stitch, pull a loop (3 loops on hook), yo pull through first loop (3 loops on hook), yo pull through first two loops (2 loops on hook), yo pull though last two loops (1 loop on hook).
Treble (tr)
Long slip stitch (long sl st): insert the hook in the same stitch you worked the sl st in the previous round. Pull the loop a bit bigger and work a sl st (see pictures below).
Pattern
If using the invisible join, replace the first sc with 1 chain, unless otherwise indicated.
With Off White
Round 1: In magic loop, 6 sc. Join to the beginning of the round with a sl st.
Round 2: (2 sc) in each stitch around. Join to the beginning of the round. Fasten off. (12 sc)
With Light Grey
Round 3: Attach new colour to any sc. *(2 sc), 1 sc* six times. Join to the beginning of the round. (18 sc)
Round 4: *2 sc, (2 sc)* six times. Join to the beginning of the round. (24 sc)
Round 5: *(2 sc), 3 sc* six times. Join to the beginning of the round. (30 sc)
Round 6: *4 sc, (2 sc)* six times. Join to the beginning of the round. (36 sc)
Round 7: *(2 sc), 5 sc* six times. Join to the beginning of the round. Fasten off. (42 sc)
With Off White
Round 8: Attach new colour to any sc. *6 sc, (2 sc)* six times. Join to the beginning of round. (48 sc)
Round 9: *(2 sc), 7 sc* six times. Join to the beginning of the round. Fasten off. (42 sc)
With Light Grey
Round 10: Attach new colour to any sc. *8 sc, (2 sc)* six times. Join to the beginning of the round. (60 sc)
Round 11: See diagram for rounds 11 to 13 on the last page. 4 Chains (counts as a treble), tr in the same stitch, (2 ext dc), dc, hdc, sc, sl st – half of first petal done – *sc, hdc, dc, (2 ext dc), (3 tr), (2 ext dc), dc, hdc, sc, sl st* 5 times, sc, hdc, dc, (2 ext dc), tr in the same st as first two tr – first petal completed. Join to the beginning of the round. Fasten off. (6 petals)
With Off White
Round 12: Attach new colour to any second tr in the middle of a petal, 1 sc, sl st in the next 6 stitches, *long sl st, sl st in the next 6 stitches, (sc, 1 ch, sc) on top of the next stitch, sl st on the next 6 stitches* five times. Long sl st, sl st in the next 6 stitches, 1 sc, in the same st you worked the first sc, hdc on top of the first sc – this counts as a ch-1 space between the two sc. Join to the beginning of the round with a sl st.
Round 13: 1 ch (counts as first sc), 14 ch, [sc in the next chain-1 space, 14 sc] 5 times. Join to the first chain with a slip stitch.
Round 14: 1 chain (it doesn’t count as a stitch) (2 sc) in the same chain where you joined the previous round. *1 sc in each of the next 14 chains, (2 sc) in the next sc* five times, 1 sc in each of the next 14 chains. Join to the beginning of the round.
With Light Grey
Round 15 onwards:
Work 1 sc on top of each sc from the previous round; in each round, add 1 increase (2 sc in the same stitch) six times, evenly distributed. To keep the circular shape, avoid working the increases on top of the increases from the previous round.
To avoid ruffling, once you reach approximately 30cm in diameter, you can make 1 round every three rounds without increases.
From round 15 onwards, I alternated 5 rounds with Light Grey and 2 rounds with Off White, finishing the rug with two rounds of Off White.
Blocking is important for this piece; below you can see how it looked before and after blocking. You can use any blocking technique, such as soaking the piece in water, pinning it in place and letting it dry. You can find more information about how I blocked Vita Rug in the printable instructions.
Once you are done blocking, you can enjoy Vita Rug, or maybe give it to someone special as a prsent. If you upload a photo of your rug to Instagram, please tag secret_crochet_corner on your public post, as I would love to see it and share it. I hope you have enjoyed the pattern and thank you for visiting my website.
