Project introduction
This article is a pattern overview, not a full tutorial, so it introduces the Koala Coasters design by Ling Ryan of Hooked On Patterns and explains what the project involves before you begin. Follow the Original designer’s pattern and instructions for the complete directions. Each finished coaster measures approximately 8.5cm/3.25″ in diameter excluding the ears, or 11.5cm/4.5″ in diameter including the ears, and the little faces can also serve as appliqués or bunting.
How To Crochet A Koala Coaster
Hooked On Patterns describes these little koalas as super quick and easy to make, which makes a small batch practical when time is short. They are suggested as last minute gifts and as craft stall fillers, and they would suit kids’ birthday parties, where a finished coaster could double up as a party favour. Beyond the table, the same motifs can decorate blankets, scarves or sweaters as appliqués, or be strung together as bunting for a nursery or a child’s bedroom.
Cute Crochet Koala Coasters for Kids
The complete pattern is free to view on the Hooked On Patterns page, so you can read through the instructions online before committing yarn to the project. If you prefer paper in hand, a printable PDF edition is available to buy separately. Keep the distinction in mind: the free access covers the web version, while the printable download is the paid format.
Main menu
The designer’s page includes a handy jump to menu so you can quickly return to the part of the pattern you need. Its entries run through what you will need, the crochet stitches used, the pattern notes, crocheting the main coaster and embroidering the koala’s eyes. The menu also lists the option to buy the printable Koala Coasters PDF download, which is the paid format mentioned above.
What You’ll Need to Make A Koala Coaster
For the sample coasters, the designer used 100% cotton Aran/Worsted weight yarn worked with a 4.5mm crochet hook. Any Aran/Worsted weight yarn can be used, but cotton is the recommended choice because it absorbs moisture well and resists heat, which matters when a coaster sits under a hot drink. Three colors shape the koala’s face, used in the approximate amounts listed in this checklist.
- Black yarn for the nose and eyes: approx. 2yds
- Grey yarn for the main color: approx. 13yds
- Cream yarn for the chin and ears: approx. 5yds
- Sample yarn: Rico Creative Cotton in Black (90), Mouse Grey (28) and Nature (60)
- 4.5mm crochet hook
- Stitch marker (optional)
- Yarn needle
- Scissors
Gauge
Exact gauge is not important for these coasters, which takes the pressure off matching a stated tension precisely. The one guideline is to keep your stitches compact as you work. A tighter fabric leaves fewer gaps in the surface and helps maximize absorbency when the coaster is in use under a cup or glass.
Changing Colours
Color changes in this pattern are worked at the very end of a stitch. Switch to the new yarn on the last pull through of the previous stitch, so the fresh color is already in place for the stitch that follows and the change sits neatly at the top of the work.
Carrying The Yarn
When a color is resting, carry the dropped yarn forward by crocheting over it as you work. Keep that carried yarn aligned behind the tops of the stitches. Positioning it carefully in this way helps stop the unused color from showing through on the front of the koala’s face.
Joining Colours
New colors are joined with a slip knot rather than a knot tied around the work. Make a slip knot in the new color and pull that slip knot up through the last stitch of the previous color, which anchors the join and sets up the next section of colorwork.
Hidden Round Joins
The rounds use a special technique designed to help hide where each round joins. Begin with a ch1, then work the round as instructed. At the end, work into the first stitch again while crocheting over that starting ch1, and only then join the round by slip stitching into the first stitch. This sequence keeps the join less visible as the circular face grows.
Beginning A Round
Each round begins with a ch1, worked to step up before the half double crochet stitches of that round begin. These starting chains are part of the setup only: the pattern states clearly that the ch1 at the beginning of a round does not count as a stitch.
Crochet Stitches & Terms Used For Koala Coasters
The pattern is written using US crochet terms, and the designer points readers to a Crochet Terms Conversion Chart for help translating into UK terms. The stitches are mostly familiar basics, with a picot added for texture. Numbers shown in ( ) at the end of each row or round tell you how many stitches you should have at that point, giving a simple checkpoint as the face grows.
- (mr) Magic Ring
- (ch) Chain
- (sl st) Slip Stitch
- (sc) Single Crochet
- (hdc) Half Double Crochet
- (trc) Treble Crochet
- (p) Picot, covered in the special stitches note below
A few notation habits are worth learning before you start. Commas separate each stitch, or mark the number of stitches after x, and a number in front of a stitch tells you how many stitches are worked into the same place. Instructions inside [ ] are all worked into the same stitch, while instructions inside { } form a sequence to be repeated the number of times shown after x.
Special Stitches (Picot Stitch)
Picot stitches appear in the final round, where they edge the ears and create the effect of furry fur. A picot is made by chaining 3 and then working a slip stitch into the back bump of the 3rd chain from hook, which is the 1st of the 3 chains made. In this design, each picot sits between sc stitches, forming [sc, p, sc] into the same trc stitch of the ears, four times on each ear.
Crocheting the Main Koala Coaster
Construction starts at the center of the face. Using Black yarn, the coaster begins with a magic ring and is built outward in hdc rounds. Black forms the dark center, Grey is joined during the early rounds to become the main color, and Cream is introduced partway through to shape the lighter chin area. The color changes, carried yarn and hidden joins covered in the notes all come into play as the circle grows.
After R3, the Black yarn is cut, leaving a long tail of approx. 12″ that is kept aside for embroidering the eyes later. By the end of R5, the Cream yarn is cut with a short tail to weave in, and the other ends are tidied while the Grey loop is held with a stitch marker or pulled long. The Cream inner ears are added next, each one formed from a fan of 9 treble crochet stitches worked into a single stitch.
A final round in Grey finishes the shape. Loose slip stitches travel along the edge and around the bases of the ears so the fabric sits flat along the curve, while sc and picot groups trace the tops of the ears. The designer closes with an invisible join, and the Cream ends from the ears are woven in as well to secure everything neatly.
Embroidering the Koala’s Eyes
The eyes are embroidered last, using the long Black tail saved earlier in the project. The tail is threaded through the back of the Grey stitches along R3, keeping it hidden from the front, then brought out in between R3. and R4. to form each eye as a short vertical line 2 stitches long. Extra passes over the same line thicken each eye, and the placement is mirrored on the other side of the face for the second eye.
Once both eyes are in place, the tail is fed back toward the middle on the reverse side and woven in to secure it at the back of the nose area, and the Koala Coaster is complete. If cute animal coasters appeal to you, you may also enjoy Crochet Owl Coasters: Pattern Overview and Crochet Turkey Coasters: Pattern Overview.
