Difficulty: Intermediate ✦✦✦✧✧
Front of a Sunflower for my pincusion!
In this free crochet pattern, I used fingering-weight cotton yarn and a 2mm hook. The finished size is 3.5 inches square. If you use a larger 5.5mm hook and worsted weight yarn, it would be perfect for a small throw pillow!
Here is the front of the pincushion:
This pattern is inspired by Joyce Lewis's Crocodile Flower
Special Stitches:
Even Inc = sc in the first st, sc2tog over the same and next sts, sc in the second st.
Center: In brown.
Row 1: Ch 4, 4 dc in the 4th chain from the hook. Turn. (5 dc) Row 2: Ch, sc in the first st, [(tr, sc) in the next st] repeat 4 times. Turn. (5 sc, 4 tr) Note: Make sure the last repeat is in the 3rd chain, not around the chain.
Row 3: Ch, sc in the first st, [skip the next tr, (sc, tr, sc) in the next st] repeat 3 times, skip the last tr, sc in te last st. Turn. (8 sc, 3 tr) Note: You will have to poke the tr bobbles to the front. It’s easiest to do before you tighten the second sc in the st.
Row 4: Ch, sc in thr first st, (sc, tr, sc) in the next st, [skip the next tr, (sc, tr) in the next st, sc] repeat twice, skip the next tr, (sc, tr, sc) in the next st, sc in the last st. (10 sc, 4 tr) Tie off.
Left: Front of the center brown section. Right: Back of the center brown section.
Petal Foundation: In yellow.
Row 5: Cast on with a sc in the first st, sc in the next st, (ch 5, sl st in the first ch), skip the next tr, [Even Inc, (ch 5, sl st in the first ch), skip next tr] repeat 3 times, sc 2. Turn. (13 sc, 4 petal loops)
Row 6: Ch 10, sl st in the 6th ch from the hook, skip the first sc, tr in the next st, [ch, skip the loop, tr, (tr, ch 6, sl st in the side of the last tr (see below), tr) in the next st, tr] repeat 3 times, ch, skip the loop, (tr, ch 6, sl st in the side of the last tr) in the next st, tr. Turn. (16 tr, 5 petal loops)
Row 7: Ch 6 (counts as first tc and ch-2), [skip the next loop and st, 2 tr in the ch-sp, (ch 6, sl st in the side of the last tr), 2 tr in the same ch-sp, ch 2, skip the next st] repeat 4 times, tr in the 4th ch of the turning chain. (18 tr, 4 petal loops)
Tie off.
Left: Row 6: slip stitch in the side of a treble crochet. Right: Petal Foundation complete.
Background: In blue. Row 8: On the right side, cast on with a sc in the 4th ch, sc 3 times in the ch-sp, sc, ch 2, skip the next (st, loop, st), hdc, (hdc 3, dc) in the next ch-sp, dc, ch 2, skip the next (st, loop, st), tr, (tr 2, ch, dtr, ch, tr2) in the next ch-sp, tr, ch 2, skip the next (st, loop, st), dc, (dc, hdc 3) in hte next ch-sp, hdc, ch 2, skip the next (st, loop, st), sc, sc 3 in the last ch-sp, sc in the last st. Turn.
Row 9: Ch, sc 3, sc2tog, 2 sc in the ch-sp, sc 5, hdc, 2 hdc in the ch-sp, hdc, dc 2, skip the ch, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in the corner dtr, skip the ch, dc 2, hdc, 3 hdc in the ch-sp, hdc, sc 5, 2 sc in the ch sp, sc2tog, sc 3. Turn.
Row 10: Ch 3 (counts as the first dc), skip the first st, dc across, (2 dc, tr, 2 dc) in the corner, dc across. Turn.
Row 11: Ch, sc in each st across, (sc, hdc, sc) in the corner, sc in each st across. Turn. Note: Don’t forget to sc in the 3rd ch of the turning chain (the first st from Row 10)!
Repeat Rows 10 and 11 at least 1 more time (as shown), or until background is the size you want.
Tie off.
Petals: In yellow. Row 12: Sl st into the side of the square at the top of Row 7, [6 tr in the loop, ch, flatten and stretch the petal, sl st into the background, ch, sl st in the top side of the last tr, 6 tr in the same loop, sc in between sts in the ch-3 from Row 7] repeat 4 times with a sl st in the side of the square at Row 8 after the last petal. Tie off.
Row 13: Sl st in the first loop of Row 6, ch 4, sl st into the background at the edge of the square, ch, sl st in the closest ch to the hook, (tr, 5 dc) in the loop, [sc in between sts in the ch-2 from Row 6, (5 dc, tr) in the next loop, ch, flatten and stretch the petal, sl st in the background, ch, sl st in the top side of the last tr, (tr, 5 dc) in the loop] repeat 3 times, sc in between sts in the ch-2 from Row 6, (5 dc, tr) in the next loop, ch, flatten and stretch the petal, sl st in the background at the edge of the square, ch 3, sl st in the loop. Tie off.
Row 14: Sl st in the side of the square at the base of Row 5, [5 dc in the loop, flatten and stretch the petal, sl st in the base of the loop from Row 7, ch, sc in the side of the last hdc, 5 cd in the same loop, sc in the middle of the base of the 4 tr from Row 6 ] repeat 4 times with a sl st in the side of the square at the base of Row 5 after the last petal. Tie off.
Left: Row 12 complete. Middle: Row 13 complete. Right: Row 14 complete.
Blocking:
Block the square by wetting thoroughly with cold water, squeeze (but do not twist or wring!) out excess water. Pin using a ruler and a square to a foam pad or spare mattress and allow to dry!
Continue to the back of the sunflower or to the pincushion assembly.
