Crochet star decorations
Finished size: about 8cm from point to opposite point

Gather your supplies
Pellicano Perle No 5 mercerised cotton in White 7901 and Ecru 0608; Arista in Red 318, Soft Gold 303, Silver 301 and Soft White Gold 302; 2.00mm crochet hook; tapestry needle; scissors

Notes: refer to crochet stitch diagrams and key abbreviations here.

When working on a new round, always crochet over the thread ends from the previous round. This saves time as thread ends do not need to be woven in later.

Always begin using Pellicano Perle No 5, using it for Rounds 1 and 3 also. Rounds 2, 4 and 5 are made using Arista.

Thread is finished off at the end of each round with new thread joined to the inner corners of the star for the following round using a slipknot. Joining thread in the star's inner corners results in a neater finish.

Here's how
Make 2 stars, which will later be hand stitched together along their edges.

Begin with Pellicano in colour of choice and make 5ch, join with sl st to form a ring.

1st Rnd: Still using Pellicano, 2ch (represents a htr), 11htr in ring, sl st in 2nd of 2ch from beg of rnd. Finish off Pellicano.

2nd Rnd: Using Arista in colour of choice, join thread to a htr from previous row. 2ch (represents a htr), 3tr in next htr, *htr in next htr, 3tr in next htr, (repeat from * to end of rnd), sl st in 2nd of 2ch from beg of rnd. Finish off Arista.

3rd Rnd: Using Pellicano in colour of choice, join thread to a 3rd of 3tr made in a htr in the previous rnd. 1ch (represents a dc), miss next htr, dc in next tr, (htr, tr, 4ch, tr, htr) in next tr, *dc in next tr, miss next htr, dc in next tr, (htr, tr, 4ch, tr, htr) in next tr, (repeat from * to end), sl st in 1ch at beg of rnd. Finish off Pellicano.

4th Rnd: In this round you need to make 2htr together in a cluster to decrease at the inner corners of the star. To do this, wrap the thread around the hook and insert the hook into the 1st dc stitch, wrap thread around the hook and draw thread back through this dc stitch (3 loops on hook), wrap thread around the hook and insert hook into the next dc stitch, wrap thread around hook and draw the thread back through this dc stitch (5 loops on hook in total), wrap thread around hook and draw through all 5 loops on hook. Using Arista in colour of choice, join thread to the 1st of 2dc made in the start of a repeat in the previous rnd, 1ch, htr in next dc, *htr in next htr, htr in next tr, (2htr, tr, 4ch, tr, 2htr) in next 4ch sp, htr in next tr, htr in next htr, make 2htr tog in a cl to decrease by following the instructions given at the start of the 4th Rnd (repeat from * to end, omitting final 2htr cl in very last repeat), miss 1ch at beg of rnd, sl st in 1st htr at beg of rnd. Finish off Arista.

5th Rnd: Using Arista in colour of choice, join thread to the last htr worked in previous rnd. 1ch, miss next (1ch and htr) from start of previous rnd, htr in next htr, *htr in next 3htr, htr in next tr (2htr, tr, 4ch, tr, 2htr), in 4ch sp, htr in next tr, htr in next 3htr, decrease by making 2htr tog in a cl (missing the cl made in previous rnd), ie [wrap the thread around the hook and insert the hook into the next htr stitch, wrap thread around the hook and draw thread back through this stitch (3 loops on hook), miss next 2htr cl, wrap thread around the hook and insert hook into the next htr stitch, wrap thread around hook and draw the thread back through this stitch (5 loops on hook), wrap thread around hook and draw through all 5 loops on hook] (repeat from * to end, omitting final 2htr cl in very last repeat), miss 1ch at beg of rnd, sl st in 1st htr at beg of rnd. Finish off Arista, leaving a length of thread approximately 60cm on the second star, to be used to sew around the edges of the stars to join the 2 stars together at the edges.

Finishing: Weave in the thread ends, leaving just the 60cm-long thread end on 1 of the stars from the end of Rnd 5. Using whip stitch, and with the star wrong sides facing, stitch around the edge of the stars to join them together, wrapping the thread repeatedly around the top 4ch spaces of each point of the 2 stars to bind them together before continuing to sew around the remainder of the stars.

Hanger
Join Pellicano in colour of choice to 1 of the star points using a slipknot. Make 40ch, sl st back in the 4ch space at the same point of the star and finish off the hanger by weaving in the thread ends.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens magazine, December 2006