I was commissioned this past Thursday to create a crocheted piece for the launch of free WiFi at Our Kaka’ako, a project of the Kamehameha Schools encompassing nine city blocks in the Honolulu neighborhood known as Kaka’ako.

Our Kaka’ako is “rooted in Hawaiian culture and values” and committed to “empowering creativity, cultivating innovation, and building a truly unique, local community.”

My crocheted piece is a functioning QR code which has been installed as a yarn bomb. Scan the code with a smartphone, and you’re taken to the Our Kaka’ako website page announcing the establishment of free wifi in the area.

Working from a Graph – A First for Me

While I’ve done lots of Crochet By Numbers and my own crochet photo patterns, I’ve never worked from a graph. On the other hand, I didn’t think it would be too difficult because the piece is relatively small (62 stitches x 25 rows), and I only had to use two colors.

To create the graph, I inserted the image of the QR code into a Word document, then enlarged it so my poor eyes could see the cells. After printing a copy of the enlarged image, I added horizontal and vertical lines to create a graph.

The code is surrounded by a border (not included in the graph) of three rows on the top and bottom and six stitches on each side.

Double Crochet Works Better than Single Crochet

I was asked to use the double crochet stitch instead of single crochet because the stitches needed to stack on top of one another, and that’s hard to achieve with single crochet.

And because the double crochet stitch is not as wide as it is tall, I was directed to crochet two stitches for each cell. The cells in the finished piece are slightly wider than they are tall, but that’s okay because the QR code actually works!

Finally, there couldn’t be any gaps between the stitches or the code might not work. So I dropped down to an E/3.5 mm hook and crocheted tightly to create stitches that were as close together as possible.

Fair Isle Crochet, Another First

As for changing colors, instead of using the “cut and tie” method I typically use, I was asked to use the Fair Isle method which creates “floats” in the back of the piece.

I thought about using intarsia crochet, but there were just too many color changes in the rows, and I didn’t want to have to work with a gazillion little balls of yarn, not to mention having to weave in multiple ends.  My time to complete this project was short, so carrying the yarn not in use behind the color being worked made the most sense.

Fortunately, I found an excellent video that showed me how to create a flat crocheted piece worked in Fair Isle, which is typically crocheted in the round.

Our Kaka’ako – The Place to Be

Thanks to The Fuzz yarn bombing crew for asking me to work on this project. You can view the rest of the yarn bombs associated with this project at their blog, The Fuzz Hawaii.

And to find out more about what’s in store for Kaka’ako, visit the Our Kaka’ako website . Of course, if you’re local or visiting, be sure to check out the community in person.