Tow Truck Pattern

This is one of a series of vehicles I made for my children’s road mat blanket. For my original version I used a cotton reel for my tow rope to wind onto. However, this pattern also has an alternative crochet version for this part. I had originally intended to add an actual hook to the end of the tow cable but realised that this works much better if you add a loop at the end of your tow cable to hook properly onto the button on the vehicle that you want to tow. While the mini car pattern pictured is not included with this tow truck pattern, you can find my mini race car patterns (there are two different race car patterns) on my blog for free as part of my Cars and Trucks CAL. The mini race car pictured is the final pattern of the CAL and instead of adding the last row of the pattern (which would have given the race car a “spoiler”), I finished off and added a shank button in the centre back to act as a tow bar.

This pattern also works with my multifunctional tractor pattern.

Both of my original sample tow trucks (which were made as birthday presents) used a 3.5 mm hook but were made using different weight yarn. 

For the DK weight yarn version I used:
4 Seasons Marvel 8 ply yarn in the following quantities"
Main colour: cadium (colourway 1020) 23 g (65 m, 71 yds)
Grey (colourway 1022) 15 g (42 m, 46 yds) {+ 3g (8 m, 9yds) for winch barrel)
Black (colourway 1002) 10 g (28 m, 31 yds)
White (colourway 1001) 4 g (11 m, 12 yds)
In addition, I used 2 shank buttons (11 mm)

The finished tow truck was: 

Length: 16.5 cm (6.5”), height” 10 cm (4”), width (to outer edges of wheels): 10 cm (4”)

For the aran weight yarn version I used:
4 Seasons Marvel 12 ply yarn (all colours except black which was made with "4 Seasons spot saver USA style) in the following quantities:
Main colour:
Grey (colourway 1022)
Black (colourway 1002)
White (colourway 1001)
In addition I used 2 shank buttons (15 mm)

The finished tow truck was: 

Length: 18.5 cm (7.5”), height” 11.5 cm (4.5”), width (to outer edges of wheels): 10 cm (4”)

You can purchase the pattern here