Let’s welcome back our September featured maker Isabelle Fahy of Izzy’s Notes And Knots! She is back to share another one of her music clef patterns: the alto clef! This clef is perfect for all the viola musicians out there.

While this alto clef pattern may be a little bit complicated, it is low-sew and pretty much worked as one piece.

Interested in becoming a Featured Maker? Apply here!

A bit about Isabelle!

Hailing from Sligo, Ireland and now residing in Munich, Germany, Isabelle’s whole life and career has been shaped by music. She qualified with a first class honours degree from the Conservatory of Music and Drama in Dublin and was awarded the Nuala Levins trophy for the highest mark in her major of pedagogy.

After graduating, she pursued a freelancing career in teaching individual violin and cello lessons, conducting orchestras, and teaching classes of music theory and Kindermusik. She was also a director of a primary school’s violin program.

After moving to Germany, she continued her teaching and received the Qualitätszertifikat zum Musikunterricht (quality certificate for music lessons) in 2016. A year after that, she and a colleague founded International Music School, Munich (IMS) and are still running the school to this day!

Isabelle discovered the art of amigurumi in 2018. At first, she gifted her creations to her family, friends, and students as prizes or as a gift for a successful concert.

As she gained more experience and wanted to combine her love of music and crochet, she began designing her own patterns. Her students loved these unique, handmade, and hand-tailored patterns so much.

Wanting to share her delight with others, Isabelle decided to write down her patterns in order to share them with a wider audience. As of right now, she has many patterns including musical notes, clefs, violin keychains, and musical rests.

To quote Isabelle, “My goal is to continue expanding my musical crochet repertoire in the coming years. The process of trying out new ideas, unravelling mistakes, and starting again is both challenging and rewarding. It allows me to stay creative and continually improve my skills. I am excited to see where this creative journey will take me next.”

Alto Clef Pattern

© 2024 Isabelle Fahy – All rights reserved. This pattern and its contents are only for personal use.

Do not copy, edit, redistribute, or sell this pattern. You are welcome to sell finished products with your own photos in small quantities, but if you do so please give pattern credit to Isabelle Fahy. Thank you and enjoy!

If you would like to show your support for Isabelle, you can purchase an ad-free PDF complete with step-by-step photo instructions on her Etsy.

Abbreviations (US)

• Sc: Single crochet
• Hdc: Half double crochet
• Ch: Chain
• Sl st: Slip stitch
• Inc: Increase
• Dec: Decrease
• R: Round
• Sts: Stitches
• (…) x: Repeat stitches within parentheses … times

Tools and Materials

• 2.5 mm crochet hook
• tapestry needle and scissors
• pins
• rainbow cotton 8/4, colour of choice

Final Size: 8cm

Technical Notes

1. To crochet along chain, push crochet hook through one loop of each stitch on the chain.
2. Make sure not to crochet the slip stitches too tight to allow for the ideal shape and transition to single crochet.
3. When skipping stitches to create the corners of the main curved part of the alto clef make sure you pull the stitch tight.
4. You may wish to pin the alto clef to a cushion for a few hours or iron it to shape it.
5. If you wish to use these for music lessons or for keychains, you may want to soak them in laundry starch to stiffen up the wool.

Instructions

Bottom circular part

• Prepare magic ring. Fasten off without crocheting any stitches in the ring

Main curved part

• R1 of top circle: sc 9 in magic ring, join with a sl st (9 sts)
• Ch 55
• Sl st separate prepared magic ring onto end of ch
• R1 of bottom circle: sc 6 in magic ring, pull closed and sc 3 more into the middle of the circle (9 sts)
• Working from 1st stitch on chain from bottom circle:
  • Sl st inc
  • (Sc inc) x 2
  • Sc
  • Hdc
  • (Hdc inc, hdc 2) x 2
  • (Sc inc, Sc) x 2
  • (Sl st inc, Sl st) x 2
• Skip 3 ch and push through 4th and 5th ch from hook for following dec:
  • Sc 2 stitches together (pull tight)
  • Hdc 2 stitches together
• Skip 2 ch, yarn over and push through 3rd and 4th ch from hook for following dec:
  • Hdc 2 stitches together (pull tight)
• Sc 2 stitches together
• Skip 3 ch and push through 4th and 5th ch from hook for following dec:
  • Sl st 2 stitches together (pull tight)
• Sl st inc
• Sl st
• Sl st inc
• (Sc, Sc inc) x 2
• (Hdc 2, hdc inc) x 2
• Hdc
• Sc
• (Sc inc) x 2
• Sl st inc
• Sl st to first stitch beside ch on the top circular part, fasten off and sew in ends

Vertical lines

• Ch 49, turn
• Working from 2nd ch from hook:
  • Sl st 21
  • Sl st 4 in same stitch
  • Sl st
  • Sl st 4 in same stitch
  • Hdc 21
  • Sl st 4 in same stitch
  • Sl st
  • Sl st 4 in same stitch
• Sl st to first stitch of thin vertical line, fasten off, leaving a long tail for sewing

Finishing off

• Using tapestry needle, sew a couple of stitches between thin vertical line and attached corner to ensure a stable join.
• Arrange the alto clef flat on a table and pin the vertical lines to the curved part (thin line touching the curved part).
• Sew a couple of stitches at each section where the main curved part meets the thin vertical line (above and below each circular part and the pointed part in the middle)

The Alto Clef is all done! I hope you enjoyed crocheting it and found the pattern helpful. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out to me via email at isabellefahyviolin@gmail.com. Happy crocheting! ♥