A striped pink heart at the top and a long candy striped coil beneath it, finished with a small flower and a tassel. It is a Valentine’s piece really, but it works as a nursery hanging or a summer porch decoration just as well, which is why mine has never come down.
The heart is worked in rounds from the middle outwards, changing colour each round, so the stripes follow the heart shape rather than cutting across it. That concentric striping is the whole effect and it is easier than it looks.
What you’ll need
DK cotton in deep pink, mid pink, pale pink and white. About 30 g of each pink and 20 g of white.
A 2.5 mm hook.
You’ll also want a scrap of fibrefill, a few pink and orange beads, about a metre of 0.8 mm florist wire, and a tapestry needle.
Finished length is about 55 cm including the tassel.
Abbreviations are US terms. ch is chain, sl st is slip stitch, sc is single crochet, hdc is half double crochet, dc is double crochet, tr is treble crochet, inc is two stitches in one, MR is magic ring.
Part 1. The heart, make two
Start with a small solid heart at the centre and grow outwards.
In deep pink, work the classic single ring heart. Into a magic ring work 3 dc, 3 tr, 1 tr, ch 2, 1 tr, 3 tr, 3 dc, then ch 2 and sl st into the ring to close. Pull the ring tight. You now have a small heart with two lobes and a point.
Change to white.
Round 2. Work sc evenly all the way around the outline, working 3 sc into the bottom point to turn it and working two stitches together in the dip between the lobes so the cleft stays sharp. Join and fasten off.
Change to pale pink.
Round 3. Work sc around again, adding an extra stitch every third stitch along the two outer curves, keeping 3 sc at the point and the decrease at the cleft.
Change to white.
Round 4. Same again, increasing a little less this time.
Change to mid pink.
Round 5. Same again.
Change to white.
Round 6. Same again.
Change to deep pink.
Round 7. Sc around with no increases except 3 sc at the point, which firms up the outer edge. Fasten off.
The two rules that matter on every round are three stitches into the bottom point and a decrease in the cleft. Get those right and the heart holds its shape however many rounds you add.
Make a second heart the same. Hold them wrong sides together and sc through both layers all the way round, stuffing lightly before you close.
Sew a pink bead near the cleft and an orange one lower down on the front.
Part 2. The spiral
The stripes on the coil repeat the heart, so the whole piece reads as one thing.
The foundation chain is worked in colour blocks. Change on the last pull through of the final chain in each block.
Starting with white, ch 8. Change to deep pink and ch 8. Change to mid pink and ch 8. Change to pale pink and ch 8. Repeat that four colour sequence until you have 128 chains.
Row 1. Ch 2, then work 2 dc into the third chain from the hook and 2 dc into every chain across, matching your yarn to the chain colour underneath as you go.
Row 2. Turn and work sc into every stitch across, keeping the colours matched. Fasten off.
Thread florist wire through the base of the stitches along the inner edge of the coil, fold both ends over and tuck them back inside, then set the coil so the turns sit evenly, about 4 cm apart.
Part 3. The flower
In deep pink. 6 sc in MR (6). Then into each stitch work sl st, ch 2, 3 dc, ch 2, sl st, which gives six small petals. Fasten off.
Sew a pink bead to the centre.
Part 4. The tassel
Cut card 12 cm long and wrap deep pink cotton around it about forty times. Slide it off, tie tightly at one end, cut the loops at the other and trim level.
Make a collar by chaining 16 in deep pink, working sc back along it, then wrapping it around the tassel 2 cm below the tie and stitching it at the back.
Putting it together
Sew the top end of the spiral to the bottom point of the heart, going through the same spot several times.
Below the coil, thread a white bead and a pink bead onto a short length of cotton, then attach the flower, then the tassel underneath it.
Make the hanging cord by chaining 60 in deep pink and slip stitching back along it, then attach it to the top of the heart between the two lobes.
Hang it up and adjust the coil spacing once it is bearing its own weight.
Notes and variations
Blues and white make a boy’s nursery version. Yellows and cream make a summer one.
Make three at different lengths and hang them in a window together.
Skip the heart and use a flower or a star at the top for a non Valentine’s version with the same coil.
For a mobile, make five short ones and hang them from a wooden ring.
Questions I get asked
Why is my heart lumpy? The cleft decrease is the usual culprit. It needs to happen on every single round or the dip fills in and the heart turns into a circle.
Why do my stripes not line up between the heart and the coil? They will not exactly, and they do not need to. What matters is that the same four colours appear in both, in the same order.
Can I use acrylic? Yes. The wire is doing the structural work.