Crochet Skirt Guards

I love bike riding :) It gives this wonderful sense of freedom, and it's so nice to take bike rides in the area I live. I live by Mjøsa, a large lake in Norway, and the entire area for miles and miles is wonderfully picturesque. I have a granny bike and I like to ride in style, which in my book is wearing nice tweed plus sixes or skirts, with matching jacket, coat or a jumper depending on the season, and knitted accessories. I would not be caught dead in the condom suits with padded bums so popular with many of my fellow cyclists.

Because of my preference for skirts I need skirt guards on my bike, and I prefer making them myself. I can get plastic ones that clip onto the bike, but why use them when I can have crochet or fabric skirt guards. There are a few crochet skirt guard patterns out there, unfortunately most of them are in Dutch, and the ones that are available in English all have rosettes in them, which can be nice but this time around I decided I didn't want rosettes. I spent a good few hours at the computer searching for the perfect skirt guard pattern, and when I found what I suspected might work it was of course in Dutch.

After sulking about it for a while I decided to try to translate it. As I don't speak Dutch this took some time and I made quite a few changes to the original pattern to make it fit the bike.

Behold the skirt guards :) The cotton yarn I used was 170 meters to 50 grammes. If I were to make them again I'd go for a fine crochet thread and instead add more rows of clusters, but all in all I think I did rather well :)

Here's the pattern, it's based on the free Landleven skirt guard pattern.

Apart from the foundation fan, the bottom treble groups and the solid part in the middle all rows start with a new colour, from the right to the left.

UK terms

2.5mm hook
Tension: 20 trebles to 10 cm
Made with Garnstudio Loves You 7 (170 meters to 50 grammes)

Foundation fan:

Chain 10 stitches, close ring with a slip stitch

Chain 4, do 8 double treble

*Chain 5, do a dc in next stitch* continue to the end of the row. You should have 8 loops.

Chain 15, do a dc in first loop, *chain10, dc in next loop*, continue to the end of the row

Chain 20, dc in first loop, *chain 15, dc in next loop*, continue to the end of the row. Chain16, dc in next loop, *chain 9, dc in next loop*, Continue to the end of the row.

If you don't want the foundation fan follow the below instructions:

Chain 81 sts

Start groups of treble spaced by chains

1st row: 1 treble in 4th chain, 1 treble in each of the 2 following ch. *chain 2, skip 2 sts, 1 treble in each of the next 3 ch. Repeat from * until there are 2 sts left. Finish with 1 treble in last ch(gives a total of 16 clusters of 3 trebles+1 single treble).

2nd row: chain 3 (makes the 1st treble) , 2 tr in the first space between the clusters of the previous row. * ch 2, skip cluster, 3 tr in the next space. Repeat from * until the last space is filled. 1 tr in the 3rd sts from previous row (the first 3 chains that made the first tr)

3rd row: ch 5 ( the first 3 ch makes the 1st tr), 3 tr in the first space. Ch 2, skip cluster, 3 tr in the next space. Repeat from * until there are 2 sts left. 1 tr in the 3rd st from previous row (the first 3 chains that made the first tr)

4th row: Same as 3rd row, but end with ch 2, 3 tr in final space (17 clusters of 3 trebles).

Start clusters:

5th row: Ch 3, then 1 tr in same treble, * ch 2, 2 tr, 1 ch and 2 tr in the next space. Repeat from *. (18 clusters)

6th row: Attach thread in 1^st space, chain 4, 2 trebles in same space, chain 2, *2 tr, ch 1, 2 tr in the middle of the cluster from last row, ch 2. Repeat from *.

7th row: Attach thread in 1^st space, chain 4, 2 trebles in same space, * Ch 2, crochet the two gaps between clusters from the previous 2 rows together by passing the hook under the second chain from the top, catch the thread and do a dc. Ch 2, 2 tr, ch 1, 2 tr in the cluster from the previous row. Repeat from *. Finish the row with 1 dc in the 2nd chain from last row, then ch 2, 2 tr, ch 1, 1 tr in the last cluster.

8th row: as row 5

9th row: as 6th row

10th row: as 7th row

11th row: as row 5

12th row: as 6th row.

13th row: as 7th row

End of clusters, start treble groups again

14th row: ch 3 * 1 tr in the following tr, ,1 tr in the following tr,1 tr in the following space, ch 2, 1 tr in the same space, 1 treble in each of the following trebles

15th row: 1 treble in 4th chain, 1 treble in each of the 2 following ch. *chain 2, skip 2 sts, 1 treble in each of the next 3 ch. Repeat from * until there are 2 sts left. Finish with 1 treble in last ch
16th row: ch 3 * 1 tr in the following tr, ,1 tr in the following tr,1 tr in the following space, ch 2, 1 tr in the same space, 1 treble in each of the following trebles

Start solid part

17h row: ch 3, 1 tr in each following tr and 1 treble in each space except for 6 spaces evenly distributed. In these 6 spaces make 2 trebles. Every 5 and 6 worked for me.

18th row: ch 2, dc in each following tr.

19th row: ch 3, inc 1 treble, * 1 tr in each of the following dc. Repeat from *. Inc one treble at end. If you choose to make an opening for the lock in this row stop after 33 trebles (including the chain at the beginning of the row), chain 2 and follow instructions in row 20, then follow instructions in row 21 until you finished the 33^rd treble. Do not break thread.

The opening for the lock will be 6 sts wide. Count 6 sts from the part you just finished and continue from stitch 7. Follow instructions from row 19 and 20. When you finish row 20 and reach the edge of the lock opening break the thread. Use the thread from the first part, chain 6 and continue after the lock opening. This will fit the right hand side of the wheel. For the left remember to make the opening at the other end of the skirt guard.

20th row: as 18th row

21st row: ch 3, 1 tr in each following dc.

Start groups of trebles again

22nd row: ch3, 1 tr in each of the following 2 tr. * ch 3, skip 1 tr, 1 tr in each of the following 3 tr. Repeat from *.

23rd row: ch 6, 3 tr in he first space * ch 3, 3 tr in the following space. Repeat from *. End with 1 tr in the last treble from previous row.

24th row: as 22nd row.
 

Clusters again

25th row: like 5^th row, but chain 4 between clusters and 2 in cluster

26th row: like 6^th row, but chain 4 between clusters and 2 in cluster

27th row: like 7^th row, but chain 4 before crocheting the 2 chains from the 2 previous rows together, and another 4 after. 2 chains in cluster.

• Repeat the last 3 rounds if necessesary to add height to the dress guards.
• Optional – crochet a row of dc along the sides

If you want to crochet loops for fastening at the top follow the below instructions:

Fasten the yarn in the top right ch, do 1 tr in this ch. * ch 8, skip 2 clusters of 3 trebles, 1 dc in the following ch. Repeat from *. Do 1 dc in the last tr.