new FREE pattern alert!

Brighten up your table on St. Patrick’s Day with this quick and colorful Shamrock Hot Pad. My latest pattern is available below for FREE or you can purchase a nicely formatted PDF copy over at Ravelry.

St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock Hot Pad

Materials

Worsted Weight yarn:
One 3 oz. skein (approximately 250 yds.) in WHITE;
Approximately 100 yds KELLY GREEN
Small amounts of PURPLE, BLUE, MEDIUM GREEN, YELLOW (or GOLD), and PINK (for the rainbow)
Size H (5.0mm) crochet hook
Yarn Needle

Stitches Used; Abbreviations

Magic Ring/Magic Circle, Chain (ch), Slip stitch (sl st), Single Crochet (sc), Half Double Crochet (hdc), Double Crochet (dc), Triple Crochet (tr)

Special Stitches

Surface Crochet: The general idea behind this stitch is that your hook stays on top of the crochet fabric but the working yarn is carried underneath.

To begin, make a slip knot, but do not put it on the hook yet. Hold your hook above the fabric and hold the yarn beneath. Insert your hook through the fabric, at the point you want to start, and pick up the slip knot and pull through.

Then insert your hook into the next spot on the fabric where you want to make a stitch, pick up the working yarn from underneath, pull through, and pull through the loop on your hook like a sl st. Be careful not to pull your stitch too tight. It may take some practice to get the tension right.

This video from Naztazia on YouTube may help if this technique is new to you.

Crochet Instructions

Front and Back Pieces

NOTE: Ch 2 at the start of every rnd does NOT count as a stitch. Ignore it every rnd.

Rnd 1: With WHITE, create a magic ring and ch 2, make 12 dc in the ring, join with sl st in top of the first dc. Pull yarn tail to tighten center. (12)

Rnd 2: Ch 2, 2 dc in same st as the join, (2 dc in each st) around. Join with a sl st in the top of the first dc. (24)

Rnd 3: Ch 2, dc in same st as the join, 2 dc in next st, (dc in next st, 2 dc in next st) around. Join with a sl st in the top of the first dc. (36)

Rnd 4: Ch 2, dc in same st as the join, dc in next st, 2 dc in the next st, (dc in next 2 st, 2 dc in next st) around. Join with a sl st in the top of the first dc. (48)

Rnd 5: Ch 2, dc in same st as the join, dc in next 2 st, 2 dc in the next st, (dc in next 3 st, 2 dc in next st) around. Join with a sl st in the top of the first dc. (60)

Rnd 6: Ch 2, dc in same st as the join, dc in next 3 st, 2 dc in the next st, (dc in next 4 st, 2 dc in next st) around. Join with a sl st in the top of the first dc. (72)

Rnd 7: Ch 2, dc in same st as the join, dc in next 4 st, 2 dc in the next st, (dc in next 5 st, 2 dc in next st) around. Join with a sl st in the top of the first dc. (84)

Rnd 8: Ch 2, dc in same st as the join, dc in next 5 st, 2 dc in the next st, (dc in next 6 st, 2 dc in next st) around. Join with a sl st in the top of the first dc. (96)

Rnd 9: Ch 2, dc in same st as the join, dc in next 6 st, 2 dc in the next st, (dc in next 7 st, 2 dc in next st) around. Join with a sl st in the top of the first dc. (108) Fasten Off.

Repeat Rnds 1-9 for Back piece.

Shamrock Pieces

Make 3 for a traditional shamrock; make 4 if you prefer a four-leaf clover on your hot pad.

With KELLY GREEN, create a magic ring and ch 4. In the ring work: 1 tr, 3 dc, 2 tr, 1 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sl st, 1 hdc, 1 dc, 2 tr, 3 dc, join with a sl st into the top of the starting ch-4. Pull tail to tighten center.

Fasten off, leaving a 6-8” tail for sewing.

Repeat for each shamrock piece you need (3 or 4).

Assembly

Position the shamrock pieces in the center of the Front piece so they touch at the fasten off spot (the point at the bottom) and sew them in place with a few stitches from the tail end of the yarn. (I found it easiest to align the pieces by pulling the tails through the center of the magic ring, then sewing.)

Shamrock Stem

With KELLY GREEN, surface crochet from the center of the shamrock or clover group across 4 rnds, inserting the hook between the dc stitches or into the tops of them. To create a curve, insert your hook one stitch to the left or right of the line you followed from the center and make a surface crochet stitch there. The stem in the picture above left is 4 sl st long, but yours may vary.

The Rainbow

The rainbow is created using Surface Crochet (slip stitches) across the tops of several rounds. The holes between the stitches are where you’ll insert your hook to pick up the yarn from below.

Turn the front piece so the shamrock is at the angle you consider “upright”.

Start the rainbow from the right of the shamrock and work toward the left. I made exact half circles, but you can make your rainbow a shorter arc if you wish, or even a complete circle.

Beginning at the top of Rnd 4, start with PURPLE and surface crochet an arc using the spaces between the tops of the dc stitches. (see picture below)

The subsequent arcs of the rainbow will be surface crocheted across the tops of the subsequent rnds.

These are the stitch counts for the sample pictured above:

Rnd 4 (Purple) 27 slip stitches
Rnd 5 (Blue) 34 slip stitches
Rnd 6 (Med. Green) 41 slip stitches
Rnd 7 (Golden Yellow) 48 slip stitches
Rnd 8 (Pink) 55 slip stitches

When you are done with the surface crochet embroidery, weave in all ends. It doesn’t need to be perfect because the back piece will hide all your loose ends.

Joining and the Border

Hold front and back pieces together, wrong sides facing each other, and line up the stitches on the last round of each.

Working through both thicknesses at all times, join KELLY GREEN with a sc anywhere on the edge.

Rnd 1: (ch 3, skip the next st, sc in the next st) around. Join with sl st in starting sc. Fasten off. Weave in remaining ends.

🍀 Happy St. Patrick’s Day! 🍀