Crochet Parfait: Hiking Sticks with Treasure Keepers and Bear Bells

I pruned my tree and I had these nice long, straight sticks that I thought would make some pretty nice hiking sticks for my cub scout nephews. I was just going to use them as they were, but I asked my son to sand them a little bit. He went above and beyond and took the bark off, sanded them down, stained them and sealed them. So I decided they looked so nice they needed some crochet finishing touches: hand grips, treasure keepers and bear bells.

Materials

Old scarf or worsted weight cotton yarn
Gray worsted weight yarn
Orange worsted weight yarn
H hook
Large Jingle Bells
Leather Lacing
Wooden poles or sticks

Special Stitches

FLO--Front Loop Only--do the crochet stitch only in the front loop of the previous stitch.

Insert hook in front loop only

Finish the stitch, once you have done a few stitches you will see a ridge forming.

The ridge makes it so the side stands up.

Abbreviations

ch(s)--chain(s) sc(s)--single crocht

sc2tog--single crochet two together

FLO--front loop only sk--skip

st(s)--stitch(es)

Hand Grip

I took and old scarf and re-purposed it to use as hand grips for the hiking sticks.

First I cut one thread on the scarf.

Then I loosened the thread so I could unravel the scarf a few rows.

Then I fastened off the piece of scarf.

Then thread the extra thread through a needle and sew it together around the staff.

Make sure you sew back and forth a few times so the grips stay on nicely.

Alternatively you can crochet a hand grip.

With H hook and Cotton Worsted Weight Yarn (my brother pointed out that if he needed to start an emergency fire with the stick, cotton yarn would make a better fire starter than acrylic or wool yarn.)

Ch 20, or as long as you want your hand grip plus one ch.

Row 1: Sc in second ch from hook and in each ch across. (19 scs)

Row 2: Ch 1, turn, sc in first sc and in each ch across. (19 scs)

Continue crocheting rows until the grip is large enough to fit around your stick. Fasten off leaving a long tail to use for sewing grip onto hiking stick.

Bear Bells

I used orange yarn on the bear bells because it is a safety color used by hunters so they don't shoot each other. I thought it might be a good idea if you are in bear country to not only be able to let hunters and bears hear you coming, but also see you coming.

Thread Orange Yarn with two jingle bells. Maka a sl st with about a 6 inch tail. Ch 5 then push one bell up to chs. Ch 10, push second bell next to sts. then ch 5 and fasten off, leaving a 6 inch tail.

Treasure Keeper

I know, I know, leave only tracks, take only pictures. But my little nephews always have to collect something, usually pebbles. So I made these small bags so they can take a few souvenirs home with them.

The treasure keeper is done in a spiral so you may want to use stitch markers to keep track of your rows. Put the marker in the first stitch of each row so you will know when you come back around.

With Gray Yarn and H Hook make a magic circle

Rnd 1: Ch 1, 6 scs in circle (6 scs).

This pattern is done in a spiral, so I recommend that you mark the first stitch of each row to help you keep track of where you are.