The Evergreen Gilded Star is a lacy eight-pointed star in forest green thread with a metallic gold outline. It is a single motif. Gold outlines a petal shape inside each point, a gold picot edge traces every side, and each tip ends in a small triple-picot cluster. A gold hanging loop sits at the top, and a green tassel with a gold bead cap hangs from the bottom.
It is a classic thread-lace ornament. You can hang it from a rearview mirror, a tree branch, a window latch or a gift package. The green and gold pairing looks festive without being loud.
This pattern uses US crochet terms. The finished star measures 4.75 in (12.1 cm) from tip to tip. Including the loop and tassel, the whole ornament hangs about 10.25 in (26.0 cm) long.
The star is worked in the round from a small center ring. Seven rounds shape it, and the colors alternate: gold, green, gold, green, gold. The points get their sharp shape from stitch height, which climbs from sc to tr toward each tip. You add the hanging loop during the final border round, then make and attach the tassel.
Finished Size and Construction
- Finished size: 4.75 in (12.1 cm) tip to tip, including picots
- Skill level: Intermediate (thread crochet, color changes, picots)
- Terminology: US crochet terms
- Yarn weight: Size 10 crochet thread (Lace, weight 0)
- Hook: 1.5 mm steel hook (US steel 8)
- Number of pieces: 1 star motif, plus 1 tassel
- Layout: Single motif. No joining.
- Piece size: 4.75 in (12.1 cm) tip to tip
- Size before border: 4.25 in (10.8 cm) tip to tip after Round 6
- Border depth: About 0.25 in (0.6 cm) at each tip, including the triple picot
- Hanging loop: About 3 in (7.6 cm) hanging length
- Tassel: 2 in (5.1 cm) long below the bead cap
Materials
Use a mercerized cotton thread in size 10. Mercerized cotton holds crisp points after blocking. For the gold, pick a size 10 metallic thread, or a metallic-wrapped cotton of the same thickness. If the gold is thicker than the green, the border will ruffle. Hold the two threads side by side before you buy.
- Color A, forest green: 6 g, about 30 m (33 yd). This includes the tassel.
- Color B, metallic gold: 5 g, about 25 m (27 yd). This includes the hanging loop.
Tools:
- 1.5 mm steel crochet hook
- Fine tapestry needle or beading needle with a large eye
- Small sharp scissors
- 1 gold bead cap, 8 mm, with a hole big enough for doubled thread
- Stiff card, 2.5 in (6.4 cm) wide, for winding the tassel
- Foam blocking board and rustproof pins
- Fabric stiffener, or a starch and water mix
- Plastic wrap to cover the board
These quantities include a margin of about 20 percent for gauge swatches, tails and weaving in.
Abbreviations (US Terms)
- ch: chain
- sl st: slip stitch
- sc: single crochet
- hdc: half double crochet
- dc: double crochet
- tr: treble crochet
- sp: space
- sk: skip
- st(s): stitch(es)
- rep: repeat
Special stitches:
- Picot: Ch 3, then sl st in the 3rd ch from the hook.
- Triple picot: Ch 3, sl st in the 3rd ch from the hook. Ch 4, sl st in the same sl st. Ch 3, sl st in the same sl st. This makes three small loops fanned around one base point.
- Shell: A group of dc with a ch space in the middle, all worked into one space. The exact count is given in each round.
Gauge and Checkpoints
Exact gauge matters less here than for a garment, but the star should end up close to 4.75 in (12.1 cm). If it does, the loop and tassel stay in proportion.
Test piece: Work Rounds 1 to 3 as a swatch. It should measure 1.75 in (4.4 cm) across, measured from the outer edge of one shell to the opposite shell.
Checkpoints (measured flat, before blocking):
- After Round 1: 0.6 in (1.5 cm) across, with a center hole about 0.25 in (0.6 cm) wide
- After Round 3: 1.75 in (4.4 cm)
- After Round 4: 2.25 in (5.7 cm)
- After Round 5: 3.25 in (8.3 cm) tip to tip
- After Round 6: 4.25 in (10.8 cm) tip to tip
- After Round 7: 4.75 in (12.1 cm) tip to tip
If your piece is too big by more than 0.25 in (0.6 cm), switch to a 1.3 mm hook (US steel 10), or tighten the chain spaces.
If your piece is too small, switch to a 1.75 mm hook (US steel 6).
If the center cups and won’t lie flat after Round 3, your chain spaces are too short. Loosen them a little before you change hooks.
Pattern
Round 1: Center Ring (Color B, gold)
Ch 6 and sl st to the first ch to form a ring.
Ch 1, then work 16 sc in the ring. Sl st to the first sc to join. Fasten off gold, leaving a 4 in (10.2 cm) tail.
Count: 16 sc.
This gold ring frames the open center.
Round 2: Spoke Round (Color A, green)
Join green in any sc. Ch 3 (counts as dc), then dc in the next sc, ch 2.
Dc in each of the next 2 sc, ch 2. Rep from * 6 more times. Sl st to the top of the beginning ch-3 to join.
Count: 16 dc in 8 pairs, plus 8 ch-2 sps.
This is a conversion round: 16 dc worked 1 per existing sc, plus 8 ch-2 spaces added.
Round 3: Base Shells (Color A)
Sl st in the next dc and in the next ch-2 sp. Ch 3 (counts as dc), then work (dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in the same sp. Ch 3, skipping the next 2-dc pair.
(2 dc, ch 2, 2 dc) in the next ch-2 sp, ch 3. Rep from * 6 more times. Sl st to the top of the beginning ch-3 to join. Fasten off green.
Count: 8 shells (32 dc), 8 ch-2 tip sps, 8 ch-3 sps.
Round 4: Gold Petal Outlines (Color B)
Join gold in any ch-2 tip sp. Ch 3 (counts as dc), then work (2 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) in the same sp. Ch 2, sc in the next ch-3 sp, ch 2.
(3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc) in the next ch-2 tip sp, ch 2, sc in the next ch-3 sp, ch 2. Rep from * 6 more times. Sl st to the top of the beginning ch-3 to join. Fasten off gold.
Count: 48 dc and 8 sc (56 sts), 8 ch-3 tip sps, 16 ch-2 sps.
Each 6-dc shell arches over the green shell below it. Together they form the gold petal outline you see in the inner half of each point. Each sc becomes a valley between two points.
Round 5: Point Base (Color A)
Join green with a sc in any sc of Round 4. This is the first valley sc.
Sk the ch-2 sp. Dc in each of the next 3 dc. Work (2 dc, ch 5, 2 dc) in the ch-3 tip sp. Dc in each of the next 3 dc. Sk the ch-2 sp, then sc in the next sc.
Rep from * 7 more times. On the last repeat, skip the final sc and sl st to the first sc instead.
Count: 80 dc and 8 sc (88 sts), plus 8 ch-5 tip sps.
This is a conversion round: 56 sts worked 1 per existing st (48 dc and 8 sc), plus 32 dc added in the tip spaces (4 per tip), for 88 in total. Each point now has 5 dc on each side of its ch-5 tip.
Round 6: Shaped Points and Eyelets (Color A)
Ch 1, then sc in the same valley sc.
Sc in the next dc, hdc in the next dc, dc in the next dc, ch 1, sk the next dc, dc in the next dc. Work (2 tr, ch 3, 2 tr) in the ch-5 tip sp. Dc in the next dc, ch 1, sk the next dc, dc in the next dc, hdc in the next dc, sc in the next dc, sc in the next valley sc.
Rep from * 7 more times. On the last repeat, skip the final valley sc and sl st to the first sc instead. Fasten off green.
Count per point: 1 valley sc, plus 2 sides of (sc, hdc, dc, dc), plus 4 tr. That makes 13 sts per point, along with 2 ch-1 sps and 1 ch-3 tip sp.
Count for the round: 104 sts, 16 ch-1 sps, 8 ch-3 tip sps.
This is a conversion round: 72 sts worked 1 per existing st (88 minus the 16 skipped dc), plus 32 tr added in the tips, for 104 in total.
The stitches climb from sc to tr, which pulls each point into a sharp spike. The ch-3 between the trebles opens into the small oval eyelet near each tip.
Checkpoint: 4.25 in (10.8 cm) tip to tip.
Round 7: Gold Picot Border and Hanging Loop (Color B)
Choose one point to be the top. Count 4 points around and mark the opposite point as the bottom.
Join gold with a sc in the valley sc just after the top point. This is the first valley sc.
Each standard point, side 1: Sc in the sc, sc in the hdc, picot. Sc in the dc, sc in the ch-1 sp, sc in the dc, picot. Sc in each of the 2 tr. That makes 7 sc.
Tip: Work (2 sc, triple picot, 2 sc) in the ch-3 tip sp. That makes 4 sc.
Side 2: Sc in each of the 2 tr, picot. Sc in the dc, sc in the ch-1 sp, sc in the dc, picot. Sc in the hdc, sc in the sc. That makes 7 sc.
Valley: Sc in the next valley sc.
Work 7 points in this standard way. On the last point, which is the top point, work this tip instead:
Top tip (hanging loop): Work 2 sc in the ch-3 tip sp. Ch 50, then sl st back into the same ch-3 tip sp. Turn the loop so it lies flat. Sl st in each of the 50 ch back toward the tip. This firms up the cord and gives it a twisted look. Work 2 more sc in the same tip sp, then finish side 2 as usual.
Sl st to the first sc to join, and fasten off.
Count per point: 7 + 4 + 7 + 1 = 19 sc, plus 4 picots.
Count for the round: 152 sc, 32 picots, 7 triple picots and 1 hanging loop.
Why the math works: This is a conversion round.
- 120 sc are worked 1 per existing stitch or space: 104 sts plus 16 ch-1 sps.
- 32 sc are added in the tips, 4 in each of the 8 tip spaces.
- That gives 120 + 32 = 152 sc.
Each side has the same 7 sc, so all eight points match. The 4 sc at each tip spread around the turn, so the point stays sharp instead of folding over.
Checkpoint: 4.75 in (12.1 cm) tip to tip. The loop hangs about 3 in (7.6 cm) above the top tip.
Tassel (Color A)
- Wind green thread 30 times around the 2.5 in (6.4 cm) card.
- Slide a 10 in (25.4 cm) gold tie under the wraps at the top edge and knot it tightly. Leave both ends long.
- Cut through the wraps along the bottom edge.
- Wrap a separate green strand tightly around the bundle 0.25 in (0.6 cm) below the top, 6 times. Knot it and bury the ends inside the tassel.
- Trim the tassel to 2 in (5.1 cm) below the bead cap.
Attach: Thread both gold tie ends up through the bead cap so the cap sits snugly over the tassel head.
With the hook, pull both ends through the base of the triple picot on the bottom point. Ch 6 with the doubled thread to make a short gold stem, about 0.5 in (1.3 cm). Then knot the ends securely around the base of the triple picot. Weave the ends back down through the chain and trim.
Final Blocking
- Weave in all tails along matching-color stitches. Weave gold tails into gold rounds only, so no gold shows on the green.
- Mix the fabric stiffener as the label directs. For a starch mix, use 1 part starch to 1 part water.
- Dip only the star in the mix and squeeze out the excess gently. Keep the tassel dry so it stays soft and full.
- Cover the foam board with plastic wrap and lay the star face up.
- Pin the center hole round with one pin in the middle.
- Pin each tip’s triple picot outward until the star measures 4.75 in (12.1 cm) from tip to tip. Check all four tip-to-tip lines.
- Pin each valley inward a little so all valleys sit at an equal distance from the center.
- Open each oval eyelet near the tips with a pin tip.
- Pin out the single picots along the edges. One pin per picot gives the crispest result.
- Let it dry completely, usually 12 to 24 hours. Remove the pins, then finger-press the hanging loop straight.
Final Quality-Control Checklist
- The star has exactly 8 points, and each one is the same length within 1/8 in (0.3 cm).
- The center hole is open and round, framed by the gold ring.
- Each point shows a gold petal outline in its inner half.
- Each point has one open oval eyelet near the tip.
- Each side of each point has 2 picots.
- Each tip has a triple picot, except the top tip, which has the hanging loop.
- The star measures 4.75 in (12.1 cm) tip to tip after blocking.
- The loop hangs about 3 in (7.6 cm) and is firmly anchored.
- The tassel is 2 in (5.1 cm) long, and the bead cap sits snugly.
- No tails show on the front or back.
Troubleshooting
- The points curl or twist: The trebles in Round 6 are too tight. Block with more stiffener, or rework the round with looser tr.
- The border ruffles: The gold thread is thicker than the green, or your border tension is loose. Go down one hook size for Round 7 only.
- The border pulls the points inward: Your sc are too tight. Go up one hook size for Round 7.
- The center bulges: The Round 1 ring is too loose. Pull the starting tail to close it slightly before weaving it in.
- The points are uneven: Recount the 7 sc on each side in Round 7, and check that you skipped exactly 2 dc per point in Round 6.
- The hanging loop stretches: Make sure you worked the sl st return along all 50 ch.
- The tassel looks thin: Add 10 more wraps when winding.
Care
Hand wash in cool water with mild soap, then press out the water in a towel. Re-block and re-stiffen as needed. Keep it out of strong, direct sun inside the car so the green doesn’t fade.
Final Notes
Here is how the measurements build:
- The 0.6 in (1.5 cm) gold ring grows to 1.75 in (4.4 cm) by Round 3.
- The gold petal outlines bring it to 2.25 in (5.7 cm).
- The shaped green points reach 4.25 in (10.8 cm).
- The picot border finishes the star at 4.75 in (12.1 cm).
- The stitch counts run 16, 16, 32, 56, 88, 104 and 152, and every jump is explained by the stitches added in the tips.
- With the 3 in (7.6 cm) loop and the tassel, the ornament hangs about 10.25 in (26.0 cm).
Check each checkpoint as you go, and the star will come out even and crisp.
Happy crocheting!