Designing Pineapple Crochet Cuffs

While brainstorming new crochet cuff/bracelet ideas, I thought, why not use the classic pineapple pattern?  I love crochet pineapples, but I never had a good use for them other than doilies, and, let’s face it, you can have too many doilies.  This is probably not a brilliant idea, but I thought it was pretty cool, and wanted to share with the rest of you crafters.

I’ve posted two patterns on my blog so far – the purple bracelet is Pineapple Cuff #1, and the teal one is Pineapple Cuff #2.  You can use these patterns as a start, or easily come up with your own.  Here are a few tips that I discovered in the process of making those two cuffs:

• Patterns with more open space might be more flattering on the wrist.  For example, I prefer the purple cuff, but before I made them, I thought I would like the other one more.
• You can either do one repeat of your pineapple pattern and add extra stitches to either side (like my purple one), or you can do 2 repeats if they are narrow enough (like the teal one). 
• To make the work wide enough to fit your wrist, you can add stitches before and after the pineapple pattern like the purple cuff, or you can work only the pineapple pattern, then turn the work sideways and keep adding rows to each side until it is wide enough.
• No matter which pattern you use – make sure you lightly steam the work before adding buttons to lightly block it.  These lacey patterns can get really wobbly – don’t be lazy, steam your work and it will look 100% better!

For closures, I’m a big fan of pearl buttons.  These patterns are generally long (making a wide cuff), so I would use at least 3 buttons per cuff.  If you have other ideas on closures, please share!

I would love to see where you crafty people take this idea – please share your photos and ideas.