Catherine Wheel , Harlequin, and Starburst Stitch.

There are so many different types of crochet stitches.

It can get really confusing for beginners or even more experienced hookologists, when stitches are given different names.

Today I wanted to share a tutorial on three such stitches.

Catherine Wheel , Harlequin, and Starburst.

Though they do look very similar they are in fact three quite different stitches.

They are all stitches that involve fans and clusters.

Normally they are all done using double crochet and single crochet with chains to carry you from one fan or cluster to the next.

However Starburst stitch is also often done with treble crochet, which gives a larger circular stitch pattern.

All three of these stitches are worked in rows of a repeat of four, normally starting with the first row as a “wrong side” row.

However they can be worked “in the round”, which means you always have the right side of your work facing you.

The ends of the rows, with the addition of a ch-2 space, form corners as you can see in this photo.

The first row gives the foundation which the circular shape is then worked upon.

Rows two and three form the circles and row four again defines the shape of the circle, or becomes the bottom half of the next circle.

Though all of these stitches can be worked in just one colour, using two or more colours will give much more impact.

As you can see in the photo Catherine Wheel has three single crochet between circles.

Starburst has only one single crochet between circles.

And Harlequin has a single crochet that drops down one row and also a chain one between groups of double crochet, giving the “circle” a diamond shape.

So they are very different and here is how each of them are done…….

Catherine Wheel

Worked in multiples of 10 sts, plus 1 for first chain.

Row 1.
Sc in 2nd ch from hook or sc in 1st st, *skip 3 ch/sts, 7 dc in next st, skip 3 ch/st, sc in next 3 ch/st.*
Repeat to end, ending with a sc, join new colour, turn.

Row 2.

Dc3tog [with starting ch 3, over sc and 1st 2 dc], *ch 3, sc in next 3 dc, ch 3, dc7tog [over last 2 dc, 3 sc, 1st 2 dc].*

Repeat to end, ending with dc3tog [over last 2 dc and sc].

Turn.

Row 3.

Ch 3 and 2 dc in top of dc3tog, *skip ch-3, sc in next 3 sc, 7 dc in top of dc7tog.*

Repeat to end, ending with 3 dc in top of dc3tog.

Join new colour, turn.

Row 4.

Sc in 1st dc, *ch 3, dc7tog [over last 2 dc, 3 sc, 1st 2 dc], ch 3, sc in next 3 dc.*

Repeat to end, ending with a sc in top of ch-3.

Subsequent rows are worked as a repeat of rows 1 to 4.

If you are using more than two colours, and you may use as many as you like, just remember to change colour at the end of the row, once you have completed both “halves” of the wheels.

Harlequin Stitch

Worked in multiples of 8 sts plus 1.

Row 1. Using colour 1, *(3 dc, ch 1, 3 dc) in 5th ch from hook [or 5th st from hook],
skip next 3 ch/sts, sc in next ch/st, skip next 3 ch/sts.*

Repeat to end.

Join colour 2 and turn.

Row 2.

Ch 3, skip 1st sc, dc3tog over next 3 dc,

*ch 7, skip ch-1 space, dc6tog over next 6 dc [leaving the sc between groups unworked]. *

Repeat to last 3 dc and work 3dctog, dc in ch-1 and turn.

Row 3.

Ch 3, skip 1st dc, 3 dc in top of 3dctog,

*sc in ch-1 space between dc’s 1 row below [enclosing centre of ch-7],(3dc, ch 1, 3dc) in top of dc6tog.*

Repeat to last dc3tog and make 3 dc in top of dc3tog, dc in top of ch-3, join colour 1, and turn.

Row 4.

Ch 4, skip 1st dc,

*dc6tog over next 6 dc [leaving the sc between groups unworked], ch 7, skip ch-1 space.*

Repeat to end, ch 3, dc in top of ch-3, turn.

Subsequent rows are worked as a repeat of rows 1 to 4.

If you are using more than two colours, and you may use as many as you like, just remember to change colour at the end of the row, once you have completed both “halves” of the diamonds.

Starburst Stitch

This can be done with groups of either 7 or 9 dc or tr.

My example uses groups of 7 tr and ch-3 between.

For 9 tr use ch-4 between groups.

Row 1.

Using colour 1, 7 tr into 5th ch from hook, or ch 4 and 3tr in 1st st, skip next 3 ch/sts, sc in next ch/st,

*skip 3 sts, 7 tr in next ch/st, skip next 3 ch/sts, sc in next ch/st.*

Repeat to end, ending with 4 tr in last st. Join colour 2, turn.

Row 2.

Ch 1 and sc in 1st tr, ch 3, tr3tog over next 3 dc,

*ch 3, sc in centre [4th] tr, ch 3, tr7tog over next 7 sts, [these 7 sts are 3 tr, sc, 3 tr].*

Repeat to end, ending with tr3tog over last 3 tr, sc in last tr.

Ch-1, turn.

Row 3.

Ch 4, 3 tr in top of 4trtog,

*sc in sc, 7 tr in top of tr7tog. *

Repeat to end making 4 tr in top of tr4tog, turn.

Row 4.

Ch 3, skip 1st tr,

* 7trtog over next 7 sts, [these 7 sts are 3 tr, sc, 3 tr], ch 3, sc in centre [4th] tr, ch 3.*

Repeat to end, ending with 4trtog tr4tog over last 3 tr and ch-1.

Subsequent rows are worked as a repeat of rows 1 to 4.

If you are using more than two colours, and you may use as many as you like, just remember to change colour at the end of the row, once you have completed both “halves” of the stars.

♥ All of my tutorials are free and are written or recorded using US terminology.

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