Pan protector, spiral circle pattern

I'm finally graduating from my Ph.D. program! I got a job in North Carolina, and we've already moved. After unpacking all the necessities and a few other boxes, the unpacking frenzy subsided, and I got bored. Technically, I've started my job, but the "real work" doesn't begin until the spring semester starts.

I really wanted to crochet while I caught up on all of my YouTube channel subscriptions. So after much browsing on Pinterest, I found a pan protectors project and a spiral circle pattern. A little bit later, I have one pan protector and will probably make more once our kitchen's organization settles.

Pan protector in action.

What the pan protector looks like in the pan.

Main Info

• Size: 13.5" to 14" in diameter (depends on measurement endpoints)
• Time: 2 hours
• Yarn: Caron One Pound
• Azure
• Soft Sage
• Soft Grey Mix
• Hook size: H/8-5.00MM
• Pattern:
• Pan protectors: Pinterest pin / Direct link to website
• Spiral circles: Pinterest pin / Direct link to website

Thoughts on the process

I made a much bigger spiral than the original pattern, though not quite as big as I needed for the particular pan I was going for. To make it bigger, I continued the original pattern of stitching a 2-dc increase in the second dc of the prior row's 2-dc increase until the circle was the size I wanted.

To figure out where to stop, I counted the number of single dc between the 2-dc increases. I ended each color after I crocheted over all sets of stitches with 8 single dc between the 2-dc increase. To understand what I mean, here is a picture of the end of the grey yarn. I've marked where the 9 stitches between the two 2-dc increases start on the left, and the 8 stitches between the two 2-dc increases end on the right.

Close up of when I ended the grey row

Then I finished the color by following the original pattern's directions of 2 hdc in the next two stitches, 1 sc in the next stitch, and 1 slip stitch in the following stitch.

Careful observers will see I made a mistake with the blue yarn near the center (picture below), where I stitched in both loops rather than only the back loop. I noticed my error after I had worked enough of the circle that fixing it did not seem worth the needed unraveling.

Note the mistake on the second blue row in the photo.

This mistake does give me the opportunity to see the difference between only stitching in the back loop or both. I like the look of using the back loop much more than both because it emphasizes the spiral much more cleanly.