You Will Need

• 50g ball of Elle Crochet No.5 in white shade no. 001
• 2mm crochet hook
• sugar
• saucepan
• cake tin (24cm diameter)
• soup plate (24cm diameter)
• clingwrap
• adhesive tape
• elastic band

To Make
Using 2mm crochet hook, work 6 ch, sl st into 1st ch to form a ring.

1st rnd 5 ch, dtr into ring, 3 ch, (dtr, 1 ch, dtr, 3 ch) 5 times, sl st into 4th ch at beg of rnd.
2nd rnd 5 ch, dtr into sp between(5 ch, dtr) of previous rnd, 3 ch, dtr into lp, 3 ch, * (dtr, 1 ch, dtr) into sp of foll (dtr, 1 ch, dtr) of previous rnd, 3 ch, dtr into lp, 3 ch *; rep from * to * 4 times, sl st into 4th ch at beg of rnd.
3rd rnd 5 ch, dtr into sp between (5 ch, dtr) of previous rnd, 3 ch, dtr into lp, 3 ch, dtr into foll lp, 3 ch * (dtr, 1 ch, dtr) into sp of foll (dtr, 1 ch, dtr) of previous rnd, 3 ch, dtr into lp, 3 ch, dtr into foll lp, 3 ch *; rep from * to * 4 times, sl st into 4th ch at beg of rnd.
Cont inc sts on every rnd in exactly the same way as set until the 13th rnd has been completed.

14th rnd 7 ch, * (dtr into foll lp, 3 ch) 13 times, dtr into sp between (dtr, 1 ch, dtr) of previous rnd, 3 ch *; rep from * to * 5 times, sl st into 4th st at beg of rnd.
15th rnd work 2 sl sts, 7 ch, * dtr into foll lp, 3 ch *; rep from * to * to end of rnd, sl st into 4th st at beg of rnd.
16th – 19th rnds work in exactly the same way as given for 15th rnd.
20th rnd * 5 ch, dtr into foll dtr of previous rnd, 3 dtr into lp, 6 ch, 3 dtr into foll lp, dtr into foll dtr of previous rnd, 5 ch, dc into foll dtr of previous rnd *; rep from * to * to end of rnd, sl st into 1st ch at beg or rnd.
21st rnd work 2 sl sts, 6 ch, (2 dtr drawn tog into lp, 4 ch) 3 times, 2 dtr drawn tog into same lp, 3 ch, tr into foll lp, * tr into foll lp, 3 ch,
(2 dtr drawn tog into lp, 4 ch) 3 times, 2 dtr drawn tog into same lp, 3 ch, tr into foll lp *; rep from * to * to end of rnd, skipping the final tr, ending with 3 ch, sl st into 3rd ch at beg of rnd.
22nd rnd work 2 sl sts, 6 ch, * (tr, 3 ch, tr) into foll lp, 3 ch *; rep from * to * twice, tr into foll lp, tr into foll lp; rep from * to * 3 times, tr into foll lp, rep patt to end of rnd, sl st into 3rd ch at beg of rnd.
23rd rnd 3 dc into each lp, sl st into 1st dc of rnd.

To Complete
1 Use pieces of adhesive tape to stick an inverted soup plate on top of the cake tin and then cover both of the items with clingwrap.

2 Dissolve two parts of sugar in one part of boiling water in a saucepan. Make enough sugar syrup to soak your entire crochet piece. Leave the syrup to cool completely then soak the crochet in the syrup and squeeze out the excess.

3 Pull the crochet piece over the cake tin and place an elastic band around the bottom edge of the dome. Pull the sides of the crochet down until the bottom of the scallops is approximately 8.5cm from the top edge of the tin. Leave the crochet dome to dry in a sunny spot. It may take a few days before the dome is completely dry.

4 Once the stiffened dome is dry, carefully remove it from the tin. If you prefer, glue on a decorative knob to the top of the dome.

Text and image: Ideas magazine