...I was hoping to get the pattern to crochet these hearts out a little sooner, not so close to Valentine's day, but I've been too busy with orders and other ongoing projects this last week... Oh well, hearts never go out of fashion and you can certainly make these all year round, right?!... As I mentioned in my last post, the pattern is based on a heart pattern from the book, Crochet - Créations pour toute l'année by Géraldine Goddat. I've used a similar method to make my heart motif as is used in this book, but I've tweaked it here and there, mostly to change the final shape and size of the heart and also to make it, what I think, a little more expeditious.
To make these hearts, I use a 4mm crochet hook and yarn from a basket of remnant cotton balls ranging in weight from Dk to worsted (I used yarns such as Blue Sky Fiber's Skinny Cotton and Rowan's Handknit Cotton.) As you will notice if you quickly glance through the pattern, the heart shape is formed by making the two "lobes" first, joining them, and then directly crocheting the "body" of the heart onto the joined lobes. The pattern is written in US crochet terms. (Please note that I am referring to each line of the crocheted heart as a "row" even though they are all curved in appearance.)
Heart pattern
ch = chain stitch; sc = single crochet stitch; sc3tog = single crochet 3 stitches together.
1.First lobe
Foundation chain: Ch 2, making your slip knot and first ch a little loose as you will be crocheting into this first ch.
Row 1: Into the first ch you made, 5 sc.
Row 2: Turn your work as shown below (you're working on the backside), ch 1, * 1 sc into next sc, 2 sc into next sc; repeat from * to * once more and 1 sc in last sc. You should now have a row of 7 sc's.
Row 3: Turn your work again, ch 1, * 1 sc into next sc, 2 sc into next sc; repeat from * to * 2 more times and 1 sc in last sc. You should now have a row of 10 sc's.
Row 4: Turn your work again, ch 1, * 1 sc into next sc, 2 sc into next sc; repeat from * to * 4 more times. You should now have a row of 15 sc's.
Row 5: Turn your work again, ch 1, * 1 sc into next sc, 2 sc into next sc; repeat from * to * 6 more times and 1 sc in last sc. You should now have a row of 22 sc's. Cut and fasten off, leaving an end long enough to eventually weave into the work.
2. Second lobe
Follow the same instructions as for the first lobe but do not cut and fasten off as you did at the end of Row 5.
3. Joining the two lobes and making the body
Row 6: Still working on the second lobe, ch 1 and, as shown in the photos below, 12 sc into the the flat side of the lobe; as much as possible, insert hook into the top of the flat side of the lobe in spots which will not create big "holes" in the finished work. (I usually insert 2 of the 12 sc's (6th and 7th sc) into the center of the lobe; by pulling the yarn end at this center point, you can reduce the size of the hole made by the insertion of these two sc's.) Ch1 and 12 sc into the flat side of the next lobe in the same way as you did for the previous lobe. The two lobes are now joined.
Row 7: Turn your work, ch 1, 1 sc into next 11 sc's (right lobe)...
Row 7 (cont'd): Next, decrease the row by 2 stitches by making 1 sc3tog or, in other words, single crocheting the next 3 stitches together to eliminate 2 of them. While a sc3tog is usually worked as shown in this link here, I chose to make my sc3tog a little differently in this pattern; the reason for this is best described in the photo below...
I prefer the look of the heart on the left made with "my version" of a sc3tog because the "V" between the two lobes seems sharper, crisper and more symmetrical. However, this difference is rather subtle and if you prefer making a more "standard" sc3tog as described in the link above, that's perfectly fine; as you will see below, unlike a "standard" sc3tog, my version of a sc3tog involves inserting the hook through three stitches at once which may feel like a bit of a "tight fit" at times. The next series of photos describes how to make my sc3tog, and I leave it up to you to decide which version you would rather use when making this pattern; if you are not sure which to use, try them out both and see which you prefer. For the purpose of this pattern, I will use the term "sc3tog" in a general way, independent of the method used to make it.
Before moving on to the remaining stitches in Row 7, I just want to draw your attention to the photo below which shows two nearly identical hearts except for the center areas which extend from the "V's" between the two lobes to the points at the bottom; as you may notice, the one to the left is bumpier and has more of a ridge than the one to the right which is flatter and more level with the rest of the heart's surface. The reason for this difference is that the hook was inserted in both the front and back loops of each of the three stitches when making the 1 sctog3 for the left heart (just as was done on the photos above), while it was only inserted in the front loops of the three stitches for the right heart, thus making the resulting 1 sctog3 less bumpy and visible. For some reason, I'm into the look of the "ridged" heart right now so I made all the hearts in my pile in this way, but if you prefer hearts with a flatter surface, only work with the front loops when making the 1 sctog3. (If you wish to find more information about all this online, search "invisible crochet decrease".)
Row 7 (cont'd.): Now, getting back to the remaining stitches of Row 7, after making 1 sctog3, 1 sc into the remaining 11 sc's of the left lobe. You should now have a row of 23 sc's.
Row 8: Turn your work, ch 1, 1 sc into next 10 sc's, 1 sc3tog, 1 sc into the last 10 sc's . You should now have a row of 21 sc's.
Row 9: Turn your work, ch 1, 1 sc into next 9 sc's, 1 sc3tog, 1 sc into the last 9 sc's . You should now have a row of 19 sc's.
Row 10: Turn your work, ch 1, 1 sc into next 8 sc's, 1 sc3tog, 1 sc into the last 8 sc's . You should now have a row of 17 sc's.
Row 11: Turn your work, ch 1, 1 sc into next 7 sc's, 1 sc3tog, 1 sc into the last 7 sc's . You should now have a row of 15 sc's.
Row 12: Turn your work, ch 1, 1 sc into next 6 sc's, 1 sc3tog, 1 sc into the last 6 sc's . You should now have a row of 13 sc's.
Row 13: Turn your work, ch 1, 1 sc into next 5 sc's, 1 sc3tog, 1 sc into the last 5 sc's . You should now have a row of 11 sc's.
Row 14: Turn your work, ch 1, 1 sc into next 4 sc's, 1 sc3tog, 1 sc into the last 4 sc's . You should now have a row of 9 sc's.
Row 15: Turn your work, ch 1, 1 sc into next 3 sc's, 1 sc3tog, 1 sc into the last 3 sc's . You should now have a row of 7 sc's.
Row 16: Turn your work, ch 1, 1 sc into next 2 sc's, 1 sc3tog, 1 sc into the last 2 sc's . You should now have a row of 5 sc's.
Row 17: Turn your work, ch 1, 1 sc into next sc, 1 sc3tog, 1 sc into the last sc . You should now have a row of 3 sc's.
Row 18: Turn your work, ch 1, insert hook through 3 remaining sc's, yarn over hook and draw yarn through all that is on the hook (you should now have only1 loop left on the hook), cut yarn and pull yarn all the way through; you have fastened off and your heart is nearly done...
Now, all that is left to do is to weave in the 4 yarn ends with a large-eyed sewing needle; before weaving in the ends at each lobe, tug at the yarn ends at each lobe if you haven't done so already to reduce the size of the holes at these points and make your finished work look neater...
...Et voilà, one heart all made up...
OMG, that took me much longer to write out than I thought it would!... I do hope you try it out even though time is running out to make a batch before Valentine's Day! Hearts are always "in" though, and I plan on making a garland out of my little pile to hang over my desk which I will show you as soon it's done; I'm also thinking of making some to use as coasters and appliqués. If you'd like me to show you how I trimmed some of them like the ones in my last post, I can certainly put together a post with some quick instructions. If you have any questions that come up when you try out the pattern, please don't hesitate to send me a note... 'Wishing you a very ❤warming Valentine's Day!...
Thank you... and this is one of the prettiest tutorials!
Posted by: mrs robinson | February 14, 2017 at 08:30 AM