Star Decoration

I designed these little hanging decorations to add some colourful, homespun Hooky Goodness to my Christmas Tree this season, but there's no reason why they can't be used all year round and in all sorts of ways. I've had suggestions for using them as baby rattles, baby mobiles, as tags on wrapped gifts, or simply just as little decorative gifts to pass on to friends and family.

These are quick and satisfying little things to work up, ideal to use up those little itty bits of stash yarn that you might have lurking somewhere. I personally prefer to use cotton yarn for making decorations (here I've used Rico Creative Cotton), but any yarn would be fine. I also tend to switch down a hook size for making decorations which keeps the stitches quite tight and prevents the polyester stuffing showing through the gaps. So for example where the Rico cotton suggests a 5mm hook size, I switch down to a 4mm hook.

Before we begin, a little summary of the basic stitches. I'm writing using UK crochet terms ::

sl st [slip stitch] :: insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch, then through the loop on your hook.

dc [double crochet] :: insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch (two loops on hook), yarn over and pull through both loops on hook (note :: this is equivalent to the US sc stitch)

htr [half treble]:: yarn over, insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch (three loops on hook), yarn over and pull through all three loops on hook (note :: this is equivalent to the US hdc stitch)

tr [treble] :: yarn over, insert hook, yarn over, pull the loop back through the stitch (three loops on hook), yarn over and pull through two loops on hook (two loops left on hook), yarn over and pull through remaining two loops (note :: this is equivalent to the US dc stitch)

First of all you will need to make two flat circles, as described in this tutorial for Bauble Decorations.

Round 5 [the pointy triangle bits] ::

*WORK THROUGH THE BACK LOOP ONLY for this round*

Join in a new colour by tying a knot close to the stitches. Insert your hook into the stitch directly to the left of your knot, and pull a loop through to the front.

Slip Stitch in the next stitch.

Dc in the next stitch (picture above)

You will be working a total of FOUR stitches all out of the next stitch, as follows ::

Htr, Tr (that's two stitches worked)

Now chain 2 (as above)

To make the Pointy Bit :: insert hook into the second chain from hook, going through both loops as pictured above. Now yarn over and make a slip stitch by pulling the yarn through all loops on hook. Please note that this can be quite a tricksy manoeuvre and takes a bit of practice...you will need to hold onto your work very close to the hook and twist the hook down and away from you to ease the yarn through.

Now still in the same stitch as before, work the following ::

Tr, Htr.

In the picture above, you can see that there are 4 stitches in total coming out of that one stitch (htr, tr, tr, htr), with the little picot-point sitting in the middle of the two tr's).

Dc in next stitch.

Work a Sl St into each of the next FOUR stitches (as above).

Dc in the next stitch.

In the next stitch work the following, same as before ::

Htr, Tr, chain 2, insert hook in 2nd chain from hook and sl st, Tr, Htr.

Dc in the next stitch.

Sl St into each of next FOUR stitches. (Second triangle made)

Dc in the next stitch.

In the next stitch work the following, same as before ::

Htr, Tr, chain 2, insert hook in 2nd chain from hook and sl st, Tr, Htr.

Dc in the next stitch.

Sl St into each of next THREE stitches. (Third triangle made)

Dc in the next stitch.

In the next stitch work the following, same as before ::

Htr, Tr, chain 2, insert hook in 2nd chain from hook and sl st, Tr, Htr.

Dc in the next stitch.

Sl St into each of next FOUR stitches. (Fourth triangle made)

Dc in the next stitch.

In the next stitch work the following, same as before ::

Htr, Tr, chain 2, insert hook in 2nd chain from hook and sl st, Tr, Htr.

Dc in the next stitch.

Sl St into each of next FOUR stitches. (Fifth triangle made)

You should now be almost back round to where you started, can you count FOUR remaining stitches (picture above)?? Good...OK, last bit as follows ::

Dc in the next stitch.

In the next stitch work the following, same as before ::

Htr, Tr, chain 2, insert hook in 2nd chain from hook and sl st, Tr, Htr.

Dc in the next stitch.

Sl St in the last stitch. (Sixth triangle made)

Slip Stitch into the first chain and fasten off. Looking good?? Six points? very Star-like and pretty?? Yippee!!

Ok, moving on, Assembly time....make two identical stars and stitch a button onto the centre of each one.

You'll be stitching the two stars together, so hold them with right sides to the outside, and thread a darning needle with a long length of yarn. Start in the space between two triangles and begin over sewing the two stars together, stitching through the inner loops only (picture above)

When you reach the first point of the star you can thread on a small bead or bell.

Continue stitching round, attaching your beads/bells to the points as you go. After the fifth one, pause and put in the stuffing, then continue to sew up the remainder of the star.

Lastly you will need to make and attach a hanging loop.....I'm so sorry I completely forgot to photograph this for you, but it's easy enough.

Crochet a chain of 30, leaving tails at each end which are long enough to sew with. Bring the two ends of the chain together and tie them in a firm knot, then thread both tail ends onto a darning needle and stitch the chain loop securely to the star, as pictured above.

I really hope you'll be inspired to give this a go, they are so much fun to make. You can see and read more about my Decorations in this Ta-dah post.....have fun with it!!

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All my tutorials are created for you to use and enjoy for free. However, if you would like to make a donation you can do so using the button below (all donations are gratefully received and will be used to fund future projects).

 

xx Thank you xx

Comments

[Inge]

Wow I really love these happy stars and definately going to make a bunch to make some friends happy!! Thanks so much!

[silvina]

Es maravilloso todo lo que hacés!!
Saludos desde Argentina.

[wahiba djaafar]

From Algiers, Algeria: Magnifiques étoiles, à faire absolument et sans perdre de temps !!!

[Lorna]

Thanks for your wonderful tutorials! I'm making my first star dec tonight and I'm missing something. Round 4 ends up with 40 stitches (2 long and 2 short dc x 10) and it seems like round 5 needs 42 stitches (7 stitches x 6). What am I missing?

I'm in the US and using Sugar & Cream cotton but it is missing some of the great colors you have. Can anyone recommend a different cotton yarn available in US or a place to get the Rico cotton? Many thanks.

[Halldóra]

These are so cute!
I have made a few and posted the photos in the Inspired by Attic24 Flickr group.
Thank you for sharing :-).

Halldóra/ Sweden-Iceland.

[moving company]

You make it seem so easy to make. I know it's far from the truth. Thanks for sharing with us such a detailed tutorial.

[Kasi]

I must say that you have the most beautiful blog. The colors you use speak to me and your creations are simply beautiful without being fussy. I am so glad I managed to stumble over here.

[Marianne McCament]

Lucy - The first time I found your blog, I needed the teeny weeny flowers pattern, then I just had to start a Summer Garden Granny Square afghan since I have always loved grannies... Then my friend, Ali, and I discovered your crochet bag pattern and when we met this summer in France, we each had one of those working... I have used your perfect instructions SOOO many times, and I am amazed at your patience and natural teaching ability! I love the new decorations, and I am going straight to your paypal donate button, because I am thrilled to support your efforts (and, of course, so you can buy more yarn....teehee!)Thank you again, from Texas with love :o)
Marianne

[Kune]

Lucy you are right! they are sooo addictive! I wasn't sure about it half way through, but once they are stuffed ... FABULOUS!
Thanks for the tutorial1

[Dani]

Muy bellas!!!!! saludos desde Chile..

[Rachel]

you are just the bees knees! LOVE when you post patterns THANK YOU!!!

[Gina]

Lucy these are fab. I will try to have a go, my crochet is very rusty but I can try!!!
Oh and for the record, I am happy to donate, you have put a heck of a lot of work into these!

[Hazel]

Oh I made it! I made it! Check my blog. jingle jingle ;-) xx

[Lolly]

Oh my goodness. I have to make one of these. Thank you Lucy for the tute.

[emily curnow]

thank you. they are lovely and i have one in progress as i type.

[marian]

Hey Lucy! I just had a look at the pictures, will read it when I find the time and try to make them then too when I find the time. I just wanted to say I love the little coloured bells on the startips, never seen those before! So colourful and cheery!
Once more, thank you for sharing!
Bye,
Marian

[Hazel]

I love these! I phoned Lisa from F4Y on Friday - major delays with the Rico!! So I might try with some scrap Stylecraft first. I will def make a little donation to you. Thank you for all your hard work. xxx

[Puddytatpurr]

I love these!

Can I ask where you get the bells from?

[maggie]

Hi Lucy these are just gorgeous, I can't wait to have a go.
Thanks for sharing your lovely ideas and for all your hardwork.

[Elizabeth Bastick]

Hi, the little Christmas decorations are great.Thanks for putting your patterns on your blog. I discovered your blog about a year ago when I was travelling Australia in a caravan and I crochet most evenings. I originally found the pattern for the circular bag and made 3 of those. I have always made granny rugs and I love looking at that site on flickr.I live in Tasmania, the little island south of mainland Australia.I love all crafts, at the moment it is anything to do with buttons. Retro is so big in Australia.

Well as we say
Seeya mate
Beth