Difficulty: Beginner ✦✧✧✧✧
My 2.5 year old son has recently been very into stars (and space and astronauts, but really the shape of a star). So, I decided to whip up a star pillow to decorate his bed.
This pillow measures 11 inches (28cm) from point to point and is two sided. One side uses a strand of worsted weight yarn held together with a strand of sparkly eyelash yarn to make the pillow shimmer and sparkle. The other side is made with one strand of worsted weight yarn alone so that there is still a smooth side to lie against.
For this free crochet pillow pattern, you will need less than 200m of 1-3 colors of worsted weight yarn (I used Knit Picks Mighty Stitch in mint, wisteria, and white) and 1/4 skein of Red Heart Scrubby Sparkle in marshmallow or another eyelash yarn.
I recommend using a hook 1 size smaller than suggested for your yarn (or on the smallest of suggested sizes) to minimize holes in the pillow. I used a 3.75mm (F) hook.
Additionally, the pillow would look great with a button on the smooth side but I chose not to add one so that my son could use it as a pillow for naps, which he has done many times since I gave it to him.
Gauge:
Gauge is not very important for this pattern.
10 stitches sc in 12 rows makes a 2 inch (5 cm square) using 1 strand of worsted weight yarn.
Notes:
The center of the star is stitched in a continuous spiral. I recommend using a stitch marker that you move to the beginning of each row to help keep your place.
The wrong side of the Sparkly Star will have most of the eyelash yarn, too much in my opinion. Make sure that this side goes on the inside when joining the stars together.
If you do not want to use the sparkly yarn, then skip the "Sparkly Side" and make two of the "Other Side".
Pattern:
Sparkly Side:
Begin with 1 strand of your worsted weight yarn.
Round 1: 5 sc in a magic ring.
Round 2: 2 sc in each st around. (10 sts)
Join with Scrubby Sparkle yarn and hold the 2 strands together with the same hook for the remainder of this side:
Round 3: (sc, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (15 sts)
Round 4: (sc 2, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (20 sts)
Round 5: (sc 3, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (25 sts)
Round 6: (sc 4, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (30 sts)
Round 7: (sc 5, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (35 sts)
Round 8: (sc 6, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (40 sts)
Round 9: (sc 7, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (45 sts)
Round 10: (sc 8, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (50 sts)
Round 11: (sc 9, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (55 sts)
Round 12: (sc 10, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (60 sts)
Round 13: (sc 11, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (65 sts)
Round 14: (sc 12, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (70 sts)
Continue with the first ray:
Row 1: sc 14. Turn.
Row 2: ch, skip the first st, sc 14. Turn.
Row 3: ch, skip the first st, sc 13. Turn.
Row 4: ch, skip the first st, sc 12. Turn.
Row 5: ch, skip the first st, sc 11. Turn.
Row 6: ch, skip the first st, sc 10. Turn.
Row 7: ch, skip the first st, sc 9. Turn.
Row 8: ch, skip the first st, sc 8. Turn.
Row 9: ch, skip the first st, sc 7. Turn.
Row 10: ch, skip the first st, sc 6. Turn.
Row 11: ch, skip the first st, sc 5. Turn.
Row 12: ch, skip the first st, sc 4. Turn.
Row 13: ch, skip the first st, sc 3. Turn.
Row 14: ch, skip the first st, sc 2. Turn.
Row 15: ch, skip the first st, sc 1. Turn.
Row 16: ch, sc 1.
Tie off.
For each additional ray:
Join in the same stitch where the previous ray left off.
Row 1: sc 15. Turn.
Row 2: ch, skip the first st, sc 14. Turn.
Row 3: ch, skip the first st, sc 13. Turn.
Row 4: ch, skip the first st, sc 12. Turn.
Row 5: ch, skip the first st, sc 11. Turn.
Row 6: ch, skip the first st, sc 10. Turn.
Row 7: ch, skip the first st, sc 9. Turn.
Row 8: ch, skip the first st, sc 8. Turn.
Row 9: ch, skip the first st, sc 7. Turn.
Row 10: ch, skip the first st, sc 6. Turn.
Row 11: ch, skip the first st, sc 5. Turn.
Row 12: ch, skip the first st, sc 4. Turn.
Row 13: ch, skip the first st, sc 3. Turn.
Row 14: ch, skip the first st, sc 2. Turn.
Row 15: ch, skip the first st, sc 1. Turn.
Row 16: ch, sc 1.
Tie off.
Continue with a border, making the "walls" of the pillow:
Join with white yarn at the stitch between two rays (like the picture to the right).
Working in the ends of the rows around the star:
Round 1: sc, [(2 sc in the next st, sc 2) 4 times, 2 sc in the next st, sc, 3 sc in the next st (this turns the corner at the point so you begin working down the ray), sc, (2 sc in the next st, sc 2) 4 times, 2 sc in the next st*, sc in the st between 2 rays] 5 times (for each ray) ending at the last st (marked with an asterisk * above) in the last ray. (210 sts)
**Make sure that all yarn ends are on the inside (the super fuzzy side) of the pillow so you don't have to weave them in.
Round 2: sc2tog, (sc 39, sc3tog) 5 times. (210 sts)
Round 3: sc in each stitch around, sl st to join.
Tie off.
The Other Side:
Begin with your worsted weight yarn.
Round 1: 5 sc in a magic ring.
Round 2: 2 sc in each st around. (10 sts)
Round 3: (sc, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (15 sts)
Round 4: (sc 2, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (20 sts)
Round 5: (sc 3, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (25 sts)
Round 6: (sc 4, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (30 sts)
Round 7: (sc 5, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (35 sts)
Round 8: (sc 6, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (40 sts)
Round 9: (sc 7, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (45 sts)
Round 10: (sc 8, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (50 sts)
Round 11: (sc 9, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (55 sts)
Round 12: (sc 10, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (60 sts)
Round 13: (sc 11, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (65 sts)
Round 14: (sc 12, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (70 sts)
Round 15: (sc 13, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (70 sts)
Round 16: (sc 14, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (70 sts)
Round 17: (sc 15, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (70 sts)
Round 18: (sc 16, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (70 sts)
Round 19: (sc 17, 2 sc in the next st) 5 times. (70 sts)
Continue with the first ray:
Row 1: sc 19. Turn.
Row 2: ch, skip the first st, sc 19. Turn.
Row 3: ch, skip the first st, sc 18. Turn.
Row 4: ch, skip the first st, sc 17. Turn.
Row 5: ch, skip the first st, sc 16. Turn.
Row 6: ch, skip the first st, sc 15. Turn.
Row 7: ch, skip the first st, sc 14. Turn.
Row 8: ch, skip the first st, sc 13. Turn.
Row 9: ch, skip the first st, sc 12. Turn.
Row 10: ch, skip the first st, sc 11. Turn.
Row 11: ch, skip the first st, sc 10. Turn.
Row 12: ch, skip the first st, sc 9. Turn.
Row 13: ch, skip the first st, sc 8. Turn.
Row 14: ch, skip the first st, sc 7. Turn.
Row 15: ch, skip the first st, sc 6. Turn.
Row 16: ch, skip the first st, sc 5. Turn.
Row 17: ch, skip the first st, sc 4. Turn.
Row 18: ch, skip the first st, sc 3. Turn.
Row 19: ch, skip the first st, sc 2. Turn.
Row 20: ch, skip the first st, sc 1.
Tie off.
For each additional ray:
Join in the same stitch where the previous ray left off.
Row 1: sc 20. Turn.
Row 2: ch, skip the first st, sc 19. Turn.
Row 3: ch, skip the first st, sc 18. Turn.
Row 4: ch, skip the first st, sc 17. Turn.
Row 5: ch, skip the first st, sc 16. Turn.
Row 6: ch, skip the first st, sc 15. Turn.
Row 7: ch, skip the first st, sc 14. Turn.
Row 8: ch, skip the first st, sc 13. Turn.
Row 9: ch, skip the first st, sc 12. Turn.
Row 10: ch, skip the first st, sc 11. Turn.
Row 11: ch, skip the first st, sc 10. Turn.
Row 12: ch, skip the first st, sc 9. Turn.
Row 13: ch, skip the first st, sc 8. Turn.
Row 14: ch, skip the first st, sc 7. Turn.
Row 15: ch, skip the first st, sc 6. Turn.
Row 16: ch, skip the first st, sc 5. Turn.
Row 17: ch, skip the first st, sc 4. Turn.
Row 18: ch, skip the first st, sc 3. Turn.
Row 19: ch, skip the first st, sc 2. Turn.
Row 20: ch, skip the first st, sc 1.
Tie off.
Continue with a border, making the "walls" of the pillow:
Join with white yarn in the stitch between rays.
Working in the ends of the rows around the star:
Round 1: [sc in the stitch between rays, sc 19, 3 sc in the next st (turning the corner at the point of the star), sc 19] 5 times. (210 sts)
Round 2: sc, (sc 39, sc3tog*) 5 times, sl st to join. (200 sts)
Tie off.
*The last sc3tog will overlap with the first 2 stitches of this round.
Building the star:
Secure the magic circle of each star by sewing the end through the bottom of the stitches at least 1.5x around the magic circle using an embroidery needle.
Then tie the starting ends of each star together so that the centers of the stars are about 1 inch apart. This creates a button effect on the single-strand star. If you want a less dramatic indent, then tie the stars together with a little more space between them.
If you wish to add a button, sew it on before stitching the two sides of the star together.
Use the mattress stitch or whip stitch to join the two halves of the star together. Stuff as you go, filling more than you think you need if you want a semi-firm poofy pillow.
This is a nice pattern. However, it needs a little more editing. The sparkly side ends up with 70 stitches when the next requires 74 to make the rays fit. On the non-sparkly side, the last several rows indicate "70" as the ending stitch count. Each row has increases that make a stitch count of 70 impossible. Hope this is fixed.