A Christmas granny star brings a small flower center and familiar three-stitch groups into a five-point ornament. Cream, forest green and deep red give the openwork a traditional holiday palette, while a final cream border makes the outline easy to see.
This photo-inspired version starts with five cream clusters, adds green corner groups, then uses red fans to establish the points. A single crochet edging finishes the tips and draws the valleys inward. The star is worked flat in four joined rounds.
Hang it from a simple cord, tie it onto a wrapped present or make several for a small garland. For a different star shape in the same colors, the eight point crochet star offers another seasonal motif to pair with this one.
Choose yarn that lets the colors show
- DK-weight cotton in cream, forest green and red.
- A 3 mm crochet hook as a starting point, adjusted to your yarn.
- A blunt yarn needle, scissors and a removable stitch marker.
- A short length of strong cord or yarn for the hanging loop.
- A flat blocking surface and rustproof pins, if your yarn can be damp-blocked.
Use similar yarn thicknesses for all three colors. A fine cream thread beside a heavier red yarn can pull the edging tight, while a bulky green yarn may crowd the center. Smooth cotton helps the open spaces keep a clear shape.
This Christmas granny star pattern suits a confident beginner who knows how to work into chain spaces and close a cluster. The instructions use US terms. Finished size and yarn use depend on your materials; no measured sample gauge is supplied for this interpretation. Make one motif before starting a matching set.
The stitches used in the flower and points
ch = chain; sc = single crochet; dc = double crochet; sl st = slip stitch; sp = space; st/sts = stitch/stitches; MR = magic ring; 3-dc cl = three-double-crochet cluster. The Craft Yarn Council crochet abbreviation guide is useful when checking standard stitch names.
Three-double-crochet cluster
Yarn over, insert into the indicated space, yarn over and pull up a loop, then yarn over and pull through two loops. Leave the final two loops on the hook. Repeat that unfinished dc twice more into the same space. Four loops remain; yarn over and pull through all four to close the cluster.
The three legs share one closed top. Count a cluster as one unit, rather than three separate top stitches. In Round 1, all the cluster legs go into the magic ring.
Beginning cluster
Ch 2 to replace the first leg. Make two unfinished dc in the ring, leaving the last loop of each on the hook. Three loops remain. Yarn over and pull through all three. This beginning cluster counts as one of the five cream petals.
Point group
A red point group is (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc), all worked into one green ch-2 space. The ch-3 opening becomes the tip. The cream border later works (2 sc, ch 2, 2 sc) into that same tip space.
Christmas granny star: four-round pattern
Work in joined rounds without turning. Fasten off after each color round and join the next color where stated. Joining slip stitches do not count as working stitches. Keep the chain spaces relaxed enough to receive the next group.
Round 1: the cream flower center
With cream, make a magic ring. Work the beginning cluster described above, then ch 3. Repeat (3-dc cl in the ring, ch 3) four more times. Join with a sl st to the closed top of the beginning cluster. Fasten off cream.
Count: 5 clusters and 5 ch-3 spaces. Gently tighten the ring while keeping the cluster tops visible. The final ch 3 is the fifth space; do not add another chain space after joining. Weave the ring tail securely through the back of the stitches later.
Round 2: green granny groups
Join green with a sl st in any cream ch-3 space. Ch 3 to count as the first dc, work 2 dc into the same space, ch 2, then work 3 dc into that space. Ch 1.
In each remaining cream ch-3 space, work (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc), then ch 1. Join with a sl st to the third chain of the starting ch 3. Fasten off green.
Count: 30 dc, 5 ch-2 corner spaces and 5 ch-1 spaces between groups. Each cream space receives two groups of three dc separated by ch 2. The smaller ch-1 spaces sit between these paired groups and will become the valleys.
Round 3: five red points
Join red with a sl st in any green ch-2 corner space. Ch 3 to count as the first dc, work 2 dc into that same space, ch 3, then work 3 dc into the same space. Ch 1, sc in the next green ch-1 space, then ch 1.
Repeat [(3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) in the next green ch-2 space, ch 1, sc in the next green ch-1 space, ch 1] four more times. Join with a sl st to the third chain of the starting ch 3. Fasten off red.
