Oval Crochet Coaster Pattern: Shaping Around a Chain

An oval is a circle that has been cut in half and pulled apart, with two straight sides filling the gap. Once you see it that way, the shaping stops being a mystery: the two rounded ends are increased exactly like a circle, and the straight sides are left alone.

This pattern is worked in half double crochet around a short foundation chain and is written in US crochet terms.

Materials and Finished Size

• Worsted weight (#4) cotton yarn, one color
• US H-8 (5 mm) hook
• One removable stitch marker
• Yarn needle and scissors

Four rounds make an oval of about 3 x 4.75 in (7.5 x 12 cm). That is an estimate, since gauge varies, so measure your own after round 4 and add the optional fifth round if you want it wider. For help choosing dimensions, see the crochet coaster size guide.

How Working Around a Chain Works

Every chain has two edges you can crochet into. In round 1 you work along the top of the foundation chain as usual, put extra stitches into the last chain to swing around the end, and then keep going along the underside of the same chain, into the loops you left unused on the way out. At the far end, more extra stitches bring you back to where you started. The chain ends up as a spine through the middle of the coaster.

Abbreviations

• ch = chain
• hdc = half double crochet
• sc = single crochet
• sl st = slip stitch
• st(s) = stitch(es)

Oval Coaster Pattern

The coaster is worked in a continuous spiral without joining. Place the stitch marker in the first stitch of every round and move it up as you go. The round begins in the middle of one rounded end, so each round starts and finishes with half of that end’s increases.

1. Foundation: Ch 9.
2. Round 1: 2 hdc in the 2nd ch from the hook (the skipped chain does not count as a stitch), hdc in next 6 ch, 4 hdc in the last ch. Rotate the work, without flipping it over, so the underside of the chain is on top. Working into the other side of the chain, hdc in next 6 ch, 2 hdc in the last ch, which already holds the first 2 hdc of the round. (20 hdc)
3. Round 2: 2 hdc in next 2 sts, hdc in next 6 sts, 2 hdc in next 4 sts, hdc in next 6 sts, 2 hdc in next 2 sts. (28 hdc)
4. Round 3: (2 hdc in next st, hdc in next st) 2 times, hdc in next 6 sts, (2 hdc in next st, hdc in next st) 4 times, hdc in next 6 sts, (2 hdc in next st, hdc in next st) 2 times. (36 hdc)
5. Round 4: (Hdc in next st, 2 hdc in next st, hdc in next st) 2 times, hdc in next 6 sts, (hdc in next st, 2 hdc in next st, hdc in next st) 4 times, hdc in next 6 sts, (hdc in next st, 2 hdc in next st, hdc in next st) 2 times. (44 hdc)
6. Round 5 (optional, for a wider oval): (2 hdc in next st, hdc in next 3 sts) 2 times, hdc in next 6 sts, (2 hdc in next st, hdc in next 3 sts) 4 times, hdc in next 6 sts, (2 hdc in next st, hdc in next 3 sts) 2 times. (52 hdc)
7. Finish: Sc in next st, sl st in next st. Fasten off.

The single crochet and slip stitch at the end step the spiral down so the edge does not finish with a visible jump. They are not included in the round count.

Why the Straight Sides Get No Increases

Increases exist to cover a growing curve. Each round of a circle is longer than the one before, so it needs more stitches. A straight edge does not get longer as you add rounds beside it: a row of six stitches needs only six stitches on top. That is why the “hdc in next 6 sts” on each side of this pattern never changes.

The two ends together make one full circle. A flat circle in half double crochet gains eight stitches per round, so each end takes four of them, and the oval grows by eight every round: 20, 28, 36, 44. The table shows where they go:

Round 4 places its increases in the middle of each group of three instead of at the start. Shifting them this way stops the increases from stacking directly on top of each other, which would give the ends a slightly angular look.

How to Lengthen the Oval

The length of the straight section is set entirely by the foundation chain. Every extra chain adds one stitch to each straight side, so two stitches to every round, and makes the coaster longer without making it wider.

• The number of stitches on each straight side is the chain count minus 3. A chain of 9 gives 6.
• Replace every “hdc in next 6 sts” in the pattern with your new number. The instructions for the ends stay exactly the same.
• With a chain of 12, each side has 9 stitches and the rounds come to 26, 34, 42 and 50.

As a rough check on proportions, the finished length is roughly the finished width plus the length of the straight section.

Troubleshooting the Shape

• The ends curl up: you may have missed increases at an end. Count the round; it should be eight more than the last.
• The ends ripple: increases have probably strayed onto a straight side, or your stitches are loose for the hook.

The same diagnosis applies to circles, and how to keep crochet coasters flat covers it in more detail.

Finishing

Weave the starting tail along the foundation chain, where the stitches are thickest, and the ending tail around the last round. An oval benefits from blocking more than a circle does, because pinning lets you set both curves to match. The steps are in how to block crochet coasters.

Shaping does not have to mean curves. The corner-to-corner coaster grows on the diagonal, one small block at a time, and ends up perfectly square.