This little keychain is a bold capital “I” in bright turquoise single crochet, trimmed with three tiny cream flowers and soft sage-green leaves. It is a quick, personal gift: clip it to a tote bag, backpack, or set of keys, and the initial says whose it is.
The look is clean and cheerful. The letter has a classic serif shape, with wide bars at the top and bottom and a narrower stem in the middle. A single round of border stitches gives it a smooth, rounded outline. The yellow-centered flowers and leaves add a fresh, cottage-garden touch without hiding the letter.
This pattern uses US crochet terms. The finished letter is about 2.6 in (6.6 cm) wide and 3.2 in (8.1 cm) tall, plus a hanging loop of about 0.5 in (1.3 cm).
Construction is simple. You crochet the letter flat, in one piece, from the bottom bar up through the stem to the top bar. Then you add one border round and a hanging loop, sew on three flowers and five leaves, and attach the key ring hardware.
Finished Size and Construction
- Finished size: 2.6 in (6.6 cm) wide × 3.2 in (8.1 cm) tall, excluding the loop
- Skill level: Easy
- Terminology: US crochet terms
- Yarn weight: DK (light worsted) cotton for the letter; fingering/sport cotton for the flowers and leaves
- Hook: 3.5 mm (E-4) for the letter; 2.5 mm (C-2) for the appliqués
- Number of pieces: 1 letter, plus 3 flowers and 5 leaves as appliqués
- Layout: a single motif, no joining
- Bar width: 12 sts = 2.4 in (6.1 cm)
- Stem width: 6 sts = 1.2 in (3.0 cm)
- Size before border: 2.4 in (6.1 cm) × 3.0 in (7.6 cm)
- Border depth: 1 round of sc, adding about 0.1 in (0.3 cm) on every edge
Materials
Choose a smooth, mercerized or combed cotton. Cotton holds the crisp letter shape, resists fuzzing on a bag that gets handled a lot, and shows the stitch texture clearly. Avoid fluffy or very stretchy yarns, because the serifs will lose their sharp edges.
Yarn:
– Turquoise (Main Color, MC), DK cotton: 10 g / 22 m (24 yd)
– Cream, fingering or sport cotton: 3 g / 12 m (13 yd)
– Sage green, fingering or sport cotton: 2 g / 8 m (9 yd)
– Soft yellow, fingering or sport cotton: 1 g / 3 m (3 yd)
These quantities include a generous margin for your gauge swatch and for leaving long tails for sewing.
Tools:
– 3.5 mm (E-4) crochet hook
– 2.5 mm (C-2) crochet hook
– Tapestry needle
– Scissors
– 1 in (2.5 cm) gold split key ring, with a short chain and jump ring attached
– Small pliers for opening the jump ring
– Stitch marker
– Blocking mat and rust-proof pins
– Spray bottle with water
Abbreviations (US Terms)
- ch – chain
- sl st – slip stitch
- sc – single crochet
- hdc – half double crochet
- dc – double crochet
- st(s) – stitch(es)
- MR – magic ring
- rep – repeat
Special stitch – Chainless extension sc (ext-sc): Insert your hook into the base of the last st made, yarn over and pull up a loop (2 loops on hook). Yarn over and pull through 1 loop; this forms the “chain” at the base. Yarn over and pull through both loops. Each ext-sc adds one stitch to the end of a row without a separate chain.
Gauge and Checkpoints
Gauge: 20 sc × 24 rows = 4 in (10.2 cm) with DK cotton and a 3.5 mm hook. That works out to 5 sts and 6 rows per inch.
The letter is small, so the letter itself is your gauge test. Work Rows 1–4, then measure before you go on.
Checkpoints:
– After Row 4 (bottom bar): 2.4 in (6.1 cm) wide and about 0.7 in (1.8 cm) tall.
– After Row 14 (stem done): the stem is 1.2 in (3.0 cm) wide, and the total height is about 2.3 in (5.8 cm).
– After Row 18 (top bar): 2.4 in (6.1 cm) × 3.0 in (7.6 cm).
– After the border: 2.6 in (6.6 cm) × 3.2 in (8.1 cm).
If your piece is too big, go down to a 3.25 mm (D-3) hook. If it is too small, go up to a 3.75 mm (F-5) hook. Firm, tight single crochet is the goal here. Loose stitches make a floppy keychain and let the stuffing-free fabric stretch out of shape.
Letter I Pattern
Use MC and the 3.5 mm hook. The turning ch-1 never counts as a stitch.
Bottom Bar
Row 1: Ch 13. Sc in the 2nd ch from the hook and in each ch across. (12 sc)
Rows 2–4: Ch 1, turn. Sc in each st across. (12 sc)
Checkpoint: 2.4 in (6.1 cm) wide, about 0.7 in (1.8 cm) tall.
Stem
Row 5: Ch 1, turn. Sl st in each of the first 3 sts. Ch 1, then sc in each of the next 6 sts. Leave the remaining 3 sts unworked. (6 sc; the sl sts are not counted)
The 3 sl sts and the 3 unworked sts are the tops of the two bottom serifs. They stay in place and become part of the border base later.
Rows 6–14: Ch 1, turn. Sc in each st across. (6 sc)
That makes 10 stem rows (Rows 5–14). Check the stem now: it should be 1.2 in (3.0 cm) wide, and the piece should be about 2.3 in (5.8 cm) tall in total.
Top Bar
Row 15 (widening row): Ch 4, turn. Sc in the 2nd ch from the hook and in the next 2 ch, giving 3 sc. Sc in each of the 6 stem sts, giving 6 sc. Then work 3 ext-sc off the end of the row, giving 3 sts. (3 + 6 + 3 = 12 sts)
The chains add the serif on one side, and the ext-sc stitches add the matching serif on the other. Both serifs are exactly 3 sts wide, so the top bar sits centered over the stem.
Rows 16–18: Ch 1, turn. Sc in each st across. (12 sc)
Checkpoint: 2.4 in (6.1 cm) × 3.0 in (7.6 cm). Do not fasten off; the border starts right here.
Border
Border gauge: Work the border at the same 5 sts per inch, with 1 sc in each stitch or row-end. The only increases are at the outer corners.
The letter has 8 outer corners: 4 at the ends of the bars, and 4 at the outer tips of the serifs where they turn toward the stem. It also has 4 inner corners, where each serif meets the stem. Work 3 sc into each outer corner stitch. Work the inner corners with a plain sc and no increase, keeping your tension snug.
Border Round: Ch 1. Do not turn. Rotate so you are ready to work down the side.
- Top-right corner: 3 sc in the last st of Row 18. (3)
- Top bar side: 1 sc in each row-end of Rows 17 and 16. (2)
- Top serif underside: 3 sc in the outermost st of Row 15 (the corner), then 1 sc into the base of each of the next 2 sts. (5)
- Stem side: 1 sc in each row-end of Rows 14 through 5. (10)
- Bottom serif top: 1 sc in each of the next 2 sts of Row 4, then 3 sc in the outermost st (the corner). (5)
- Bottom bar side: 1 sc in each row-end of Rows 3 and 2. (2)
- Bottom edge: 3 sc in the first foundation ch, 1 sc in each of the next 10 ch, 3 sc in the last ch. (16)
- Bottom bar side: 1 sc in each row-end of Rows 2 and 3. (2)
- Bottom serif top: 3 sc in the outermost st of Row 4, then 1 sc in each of the next 2 sts. Work these over the slip stitches if this is the slip-stitched side. (5)
- Stem side: 1 sc in each row-end of Rows 5 through 14. (10)
- Top serif underside: 1 sc into the base of each of the next 2 sts, then 3 sc in the outermost st (the corner). (5)
- Top bar side: 1 sc in each row-end of Rows 16 and 17. (2)
- Top edge: 3 sc in the first st of Row 18 (the top-left corner), then 1 sc in each of the next 10 sts. (13)
Join with a sl st to the first sc. (80 sc)
Count per side:
– Top edge: 3 + 10 + 3 = 16
– Right side (between the top and bottom corner groups): 2 + 5 + 10 + 5 + 2 = 24
– Bottom edge: 3 + 10 + 3 = 16
– Left side: 2 + 5 + 10 + 5 + 2 = 24
– Total: 16 + 24 + 16 + 24 = 80 sc
Why the math works: The base edge has 64 positions in total:
– 12 along the top edge
– 12 along the bottom edge
– 2 × 2 row-ends on the top bar sides
– 2 × 3 under the top serifs
– 2 × 10 row-ends on the stem
– 2 × 3 on top of the bottom serifs
– 2 × 2 row-ends on the bottom bar sides
Each of the 8 outer corners gets 2 extra sc: 64 + (8 × 2) = 80. Each corner group’s 3 sc are counted only once, inside its own segment. At 5 sts per inch on a 2.4 in (6.1 cm) bar, one sc of border adds about 0.1 in (0.3 cm) per edge. That brings the letter to 2.6 in (6.6 cm) × 3.2 in (8.1 cm).
Hanging Loop
Count to the center of the top edge. Of the 16 border sts there, the 8th and 9th are the middle pair.
Loop: Sl st into the 8th top-edge st. Ch 8, then sl st into the 9th top-edge st. Turn. Work 12 sc into the ch-8 space, then sl st into the 8th top-edge st. Fasten off and weave in the ends.
The loop stands about 0.5 in (1.3 cm) above the letter. It is solid enough to hold the metal jump ring without stretching.
Flowers (Make 3)
Use cream yarn and the 2.5 mm hook.
Round 1: Make an MR. Ch 1, then 5 sc into the ring. Pull the ring tight and join with a sl st to the first sc. (5 sc)
Round 2: In each sc around: (sl st, ch 2, 2 dc, ch 2, sl st). (5 petals)
Fasten off and leave an 8 in (20.3 cm) tail. Each flower measures about 0.6 in (1.5 cm) across.
Center: With yellow yarn, make a French knot in the middle, wrapping the yarn twice. Secure it on the back.
Leaves (Make 5)
Use sage green yarn and the 2.5 mm hook.
Leaf: Ch 5. Starting in the 2nd ch from the hook, work sl st, sc in the next ch, hdc in the next ch, and sc in the last ch. Ch 1, then rotate to work along the other side of the foundation chain. In the same ch, work sc; then hdc in the next ch, sc in the next ch, and sl st in the last ch (the tip). (8 sts plus ch-1 at the base)
Fasten off with a sewing tail. Each leaf is about 0.5 in (1.3 cm) long.
Assembly
Pin each appliqué in place on the right side of the letter before you sew anything.
- Top flower: Place it on the right half of the top bar, with 1 leaf tucked to its left, angled downward.
- Middle flower: Center it on the stem, with 1 leaf just above and 1 leaf just below, both lying along the stem.
- Bottom flower: Place it on the left half of the bottom bar, with 1 leaf to its right.
That uses all 5 leaves. Tack each flower down with small stitches between the petals, so the petals stay slightly raised. Sew each leaf through its center line. Keep your stitches from showing through to the back.
Open the jump ring with pliers, slide it through the hanging loop, and close it firmly.
Final Blocking
- Lightly mist the letter with water until it is damp but not soaked. Block before sewing the appliqués if you can.
- Lay it face down on the blocking mat.
- Pin the 8 outer corners first, measuring 2.6 in (6.6 cm) across each bar and 3.2 in (8.1 cm) from top to bottom.
- Pin each inner corner so the serifs sit at a crisp right angle to the stem.
- Check that the stem is straight and centered, about 1.4 in (3.6 cm) wide including the border.
- Leave it to dry completely, at least a few hours.
- Unpin it, then sew on the appliqués if you haven’t already.
Final Quality-Control Checklist
- Bars measure 2.6 in (6.6 cm) wide, and the full letter is 3.2 in (8.1 cm) tall.
- The top and bottom bars are both 12 sts before the border.
- The stem is 6 sts wide and exactly 10 rows tall.
- The border has 80 sc, with 3 sc at each of the 8 outer corners.
- The hanging loop is centered on the top edge.
- The three flowers are secure, and their petals lie open.
- All five leaves are sewn flat, with their tips pointing outward.
- The jump ring is fully closed, with no gap.
- All ends are woven in on the back.
Troubleshooting
The stem is off-center. Check Row 5: you should have exactly 3 sl sts before the 6 sc, and 3 sts left unworked after them.
The top bar leans to one side. Count Row 15. The 3 ch-based sc and the 3 ext-sc must match.
The corners curl or ruffle. Use exactly 3 sc per outer corner. If they still ruffle, your border is looser than your body, so tighten up.
The inner corners pucker. This is normal for a tight concave turn, and blocking with pins relaxes it.
The letter feels floppy. Your gauge is too loose. Go down a hook size, or lightly spray it with fabric stiffener.
The flowers look flat. Pull the magic ring tighter, and stitch only at the base of each petal.
Care
Spot-clean with mild soap and cool water, then reshape and dry flat. Remove the metal hardware first if you ever hand-wash it fully.
Final Notes
The measurement chain is short and easy to check:
– The 12-st bars measure 2.4 in (6.1 cm).
– The 6-st stem measures 1.2 in (3.0 cm).
– 18 rows bring the body to 3.0 in (7.6 cm) tall.
– One 80-st border round finishes the letter at 2.6 in (6.6 cm) × 3.2 in (8.1 cm).
Hit gauge on the first four rows, and every count after that falls into place.
Happy crocheting!