The Sage Blossom Heart is a lacy, wheel-style heart. A soft cream flower sits in the middle, sage green spokes radiate out from it, and a solid green frame forms the heart outline. A cream border with small round picot dots and a chain hanging loop finish it. The whole piece looks delicate but is very sturdy.
Sage green and cream go well together all year: on a gift, hung on a tree branch at Christmas, or on a window latch in spring. The style is cottage-romantic and still simple to read stitch by stitch.
This pattern uses US crochet terms. The finished heart is 4.5 in (11.4 cm) wide and 4.25 in (10.8 cm) tall, not counting the hanging loop, which adds about 1.5 in (3.8 cm).
You work the heart in the round from the center out. First you make the cream flower. Next, a green ring is anchored behind the petals. Spokes of different heights give the heart its shape, and two rounds of single crochet make the frame. A cream picot-dot border and the hanging loop finish it.
Finished Size and Construction
- Finished size: 4.5 in (11.4 cm) wide × 4.25 in (10.8 cm) tall
- Hanging loop: about 1.5 in (3.8 cm) above the top dip
- Skill level: Intermediate (tall stitches and clusters)
- Terminology: US crochet terms
- Yarn weight: Sport weight (2), mercerized cotton
- Hook: 3.0 mm (US C/D)
- Number of pieces: 1 (single motif)
- Layout: Single heart, worked in joined rounds
- Piece size before border: 4 in (10.2 cm) wide × 3.75 in (9.5 cm) tall
- Border depth: 0.25 in (0.6 cm) on every edge
Materials
Use a smooth mercerized cotton in sport weight, about 150 m per 50 g. Cotton holds the spokes crisp and blocks to a clean shape. Avoid fuzzy or very stretchy yarns, because they blur the wheel.
- Color A, cream: 6 g (18 m) for the flower, border and hanging loop
- Color B, sage green: 10 g (30 m) for the ring, spokes and frame
These quantities include a safety margin of about 20%.
Tools:
– 3.0 mm (US C/D) crochet hook
– Tapestry needle
– Scissors
– 2 stitch markers
– Blocking mat and rust-proof pins
– Spray bottle with water
– Ruler or tape measure
Abbreviations (US Terms)
- MR – magic ring
- ch – chain
- sl st – slip stitch
- sc – single crochet
- hdc – half double crochet
- dc – double crochet
- tr – treble crochet (yo twice)
- dtr – double treble crochet (yo 3 times)
- trtr – triple treble crochet (yo 4 times)
- sc3tog – single crochet 3 together
- sk – skip
- sp – space
- st(s) – stitch(es)
- rep – repeat
Special stitch: picot dot (pd). Ch 3. *Yo, insert hook in the 3rd ch from hook, yo, pull up a loop, yo, pull through 2 loops. Rep from * once more. Yo and pull through all 3 loops on the hook. This makes a tiny round bead that sits on the edge.
Standing sc: Start with a slip knot on the hook. Insert hook in the stitch, yo, pull up a loop, yo, pull through both loops.
Gauge and Checkpoints
Gauge: 26 sc and 28 rows = 4 in (10.2 cm) in sport cotton with a 3.0 mm hook. That is 6.5 sc per inch.
This is a single small piece, so the heart is its own gauge swatch. Make one, check it against these points, and only then make more for gifts.
- After Rnd 3 (flower): 1.5 in (3.8 cm) across
- After Rnd 5 (green ring): 2 in (5.1 cm) across
- After Rnd 6 (spokes): about 3.5 in (8.9 cm) wide, spokes slightly loose
- After Rnd 8 (frame): 4 in (10.2 cm) wide × 3.75 in (9.5 cm) tall
- After Rnd 9 (border): 4.5 in (11.4 cm) wide × 4.25 in (10.8 cm) tall
If your heart is too big by more than 0.25 in (0.6 cm), go down to a 2.75 mm hook. If it is too small, go up to a 3.25 mm hook. If only the spokes look too long, wrap the yarn more firmly on each yarn over and keep the hook size.
Pattern
Part 1: Center Flower (Color A, cream)
Rnd 1: MR, ch 1, 12 sc in ring. Pull the ring closed. Sl st to first sc. (12 sc)
Rnd 2: Ch 1, sc in next st, ch 3, sk 1 st. Rep from * 6 times in total. Sl st to first sc. (6 sc, 6 ch-3 sps)
Rnd 3: Work (sc, hdc, 3 dc, hdc, sc) in each ch-3 sp around. Sl st to first sc. (6 petals, 42 sts: 6 petals × 7 sts)
Fasten off and weave in the tail. Checkpoint: the flower measures 1.5 in (3.8 cm) across.
Part 2: Green Ring (Color B, sage)
In this part the green yarn is worked behind the petals, so the flower stays raised in front.
Rnd 4: Fold one petal forward. From the back, join Color B with a sl st into any Rnd 2 sc. Ch 5, keep the chain behind the next petal, sc in the next Rnd 2 sc from the back. Rep from * 6 times in total. Work the last sc into the joining st. (6 ch-5 loops)
Rnd 5: Sl st into the first ch-5 loop. Ch 1, then work 6 sc in each ch-5 loop around. Sl st to first sc. (36 sc)
Checkpoint: the ring measures 2 in (5.1 cm) across and lies flat behind the flower.
Part 3: Spokes (Color B)
Rnd 6 makes 18 spokes, one in every other stitch. Each spoke is a different height, and that is what shapes the heart. Spoke 1 is at top center. The others are numbered clockwise, which puts Spoke 10 at the bottom point. Turn the work so the stitch where you start sits at the top.
Heights by spoke:
– Spoke 1 (top dip): dc
– Spokes 2 and 18: tr
– Spokes 3, 4, 5 and 15, 16, 17 (lobes and widest sides): dtr
– Spokes 6, 7, 8 and 12, 13, 14 (lower sides): tr
– Spokes 9 and 11: dtr
– Spoke 10 (bottom point): trtr
Rnd 6: Ch 3 (counts as dc, Spoke 1), ch 3, sk 1 st. Work the next spoke in the next st, ch 3, sk 1 st. Rep from * through Spoke 18, using the height listed for each spoke. Sl st to the top of the beginning ch-3. (18 spokes, 18 ch-3 sps)
Place a marker in the top of Spoke 10. Checkpoint: the piece looks like a heart-shaped star about 3.5 in (8.9 cm) wide.
Part 4: Heart Frame (Color B)
“Space 1” is the ch-3 space between Spoke 1 and Spoke 2, and so on around.
Rnd 7: Ch 1, sc in the top of the beginning ch-3 (Spoke 1). Then work:
Right half:
– 3 sc in Space 1, sc in Spoke 2
– 4 sc in Space 2, sc in Spoke 3
– 5 sc in Space 3, sc in Spoke 4
– 5 sc in Space 4, sc in Spoke 5
– 4 sc in Space 5, sc in Spoke 6
– 4 sc in Space 6, sc in Spoke 7
– 4 sc in Space 7, sc in Spoke 8
– 4 sc in Space 8, sc in Spoke 9
– 3 sc in Space 9
Point: Work (sc, ch 2, sc) in the top of Spoke 10.
Left half:
– 3 sc in Space 10, sc in Spoke 11
– 4 sc in Space 11, sc in Spoke 12
– 4 sc in Space 12, sc in Spoke 13
– 4 sc in Space 13, sc in Spoke 14
– 4 sc in Space 14, sc in Spoke 15
– 5 sc in Space 15, sc in Spoke 16
– 5 sc in Space 16, sc in Spoke 17
– 4 sc in Space 17, sc in Spoke 18
– 3 sc in Space 18
Sl st to first sc.
Count check for Rnd 7:
– Each half has 36 sc in the spaces plus 8 sc in the spokes = 44 sc.
– Total: 1 (Spoke 1) + 44 + 2 (point) + 44 = 91 sc, plus 1 ch-2 sp.
Rnd 8: Ch 1. Insert the hook in the last sc of Rnd 7 and pull up a loop. Pull up a loop in the first sc (Spoke 1), then in the next sc. Yo and pull through all 4 loops. This sc3tog shapes the top dip and counts as the first st.
Then sc in the next 43 sts, sc in the first point sc, (sc, ch 2, sc) in the ch-2 sp, sc in the second point sc, and sc in the next 43 sts. Sl st to the sc3tog.
Count for Rnd 8:
– 1 sc3tog + 43 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 43 = 91 sts, plus 1 ch-2 sp.
– That is 45 sts per side from the dip to the point, not counting the sc3tog. It includes 1 of the 2 sc worked in the point space.
Fasten off Color B. Checkpoint: the heart measures 4 in (10.2 cm) wide × 3.75 in (9.5 cm) tall.
Border
Border gauge: same as the body, 6.5 sc per inch. The picot dots add bulk but not width, and the full border adds 0.25 in (0.6 cm) on every edge.
Rnd 9 (Color A): Join Color A with a standing sc in the sc3tog at the top dip.
Right side (45 sts): (sc, pd) in next st, sc in next 2 sts. Rep from * 15 times in total. (45 sc, 15 pd)
Point: (sc, pd, sc) in the ch-2 sp. (2 sc, 1 pd)
Left side (45 sts): sc in next 2 sts, (sc, pd) in next st. Rep from * 15 times in total. (45 sc, 15 pd)
Sl st to the first sc.
Rnd 9 total: 1 + 45 + 2 + 45 = 93 sc and 31 picot dots.
Hanging loop: Do not fasten off. Ch 18 and sl st into the first sc at the dip. The loop is about 1.5 in (3.8 cm) tall. Fasten off.
Why the math works:
– Each side has 45 sts, which is 15 repeats of 3, so no stitch is left over.
– At the point, the last two plain sc on the right side, the point sc and the point pd keep the dots exactly 3 sts apart. The left side mirrors this.
– At the dip, the two dots sit 2 sts apart, framing the hanging loop.
– One sc goes in every stitch of Rnd 8, so the edge neither ruffles nor cups.
Final Blocking
- Weave in all tails before blocking. Hide the green tails inside the frame and the cream tails along the border.
- Spray the heart with water until it is damp all the way through.
- Pin the bottom point, then pin the center of the top dip directly above it.
- Pin the top of each lobe so the width measures 4.5 in (11.4 cm).
- Check that the height from lobe top to point is 4.25 in (10.8 cm).
- Gently straighten each spoke so the wheel looks even. Pin through a few spoke tops if needed.
- Pin each picot dot outward so it sits round.
- Press the flower petals forward with your fingers so they stay raised.
- Let the heart dry completely, at least 6 hours. For a firm ornament, use a light spray starch.
Final Quality-Control Checklist
- Flower has 6 even petals and is raised in front of the green ring
- 18 spokes, each running straight from ring to frame
- Rnd 8 has 91 sts: 45 per side plus the sc3tog
- Border has 31 picot dots, evenly spaced
- The bottom point is sharp and centered under the dip
- Both lobes are the same size
- Measures 4.5 in (11.4 cm) × 4.25 in (10.8 cm)
- Hanging loop is centered and secure
- All tails are woven in and invisible from the front
Troubleshooting
The frame ruffles. Your spaces are too full, or your sc are loose. Drop one sc from each 5-sc space in Rnd 7, and remove the matching stitches when you count Rnd 8 and Rnd 9.
The frame cups or pulls in. The spokes are shorter than intended. Go up half a hook size, or relax your tension on the tall stitches.
The lobes look flat. Check that Spokes 3, 4, 5 and 15, 16, 17 are all dtr, not tr.
The point is blunt. Make sure you worked (sc, ch 2, sc) at the point in both Rnd 7 and Rnd 8, and block it firmly with a pin.
The flower is hidden. In Rnd 4, the chains must pass behind the petals. Push the petals forward before each sc.
The picot dots lean. Keep the cluster tight and close it fully before you work the next sc.
Care
Hand wash in cool water with mild soap, press out the water in a towel, and lay flat to dry. Reshape and re-pin if the heart loses its shape.
Final Notes
Everything in this heart follows one measurement chain:
- Flower: 1.5 in (3.8 cm)
- Ring of 36 sc: 2 in (5.1 cm)
- 18 graded spokes: about 3.5 in (8.9 cm)
- 91-st frame: 4 in (10.2 cm) × 3.75 in (9.5 cm)
- 93-sc picot border: 4.5 in (11.4 cm) × 4.25 in (10.8 cm)
If each checkpoint matches, the finished heart will too. Hang it by its loop as an ornament or tie it onto a gift.
Happy crocheting!