Grateful Star – a free tapestry crochet mat pattern

Free Grateful Star Mat pattern

I made these Grateful Star mats in July to give as thank-you gifts to my daughters’ teachers. They make fab little gifts as they work up really quickly and look great with a pot plant on them too. Check out the free tapestry crochet mat pattern below.

Yarn

I was really lucky to be sent some gorgeous cotton DK yarn from MoYa Yarn to try out and it was perfect for this project: beautiful soft colours and great stitch definition too.

You could of course use any yarn you like but I think cotton works particularly well. Anything from a 4-ply to aran weight would look good, depending on the size and final look you’re going for.

Each mat uses small amounts of two colours (MC and CC in the pattern below).

Hook

I used a 3.5 mm hook with the above DK yarn. I’d suggest using a slightly smaller hook than you usually do so that the carried yarn is covered well.

Tapestry crochet

The mats are made using the tapestry crochet technique.

If you’ve not used this technique before, check out this step-by-step guide, which explains exactly how to do.

You may also want to watch this Tapestry Crochet Tutorial on YouTube and this tutorial explains how to carry two yarns up to the next round.

The Grateful Star Mat pattern

Terminology

The pattern uses UK crochet terminology. To switch to US terms, just read “tr” as “dc”, and read “dc” as “sc”.

ch = chain; tr = treble crochet; sl st = slip stitch; beg = beginning; ch-sp = chain space; rep = repeat; dc = double crochet; st = stitch; cont = continue

Pattern notes

When working with two yarns, make the joining sl st at the end of each round around the unused yarn to carry it up ready for the next round.

Method

Rnd 1:  With MC, working into a magic ring, 4 ch (counts as 1 tr, 1 ch in this round), [2 tr, 2 ch] 5 times, 1 tr, join with sl st in third ch of beg 4 ch.  (12 tr, 1 1ch-sp, 5 2ch-sp)

Rnd 2:  With MC sl st into ch-sp, 3 ch (counts as 1tr, 1 ch here and in each following round), 1 tr into same ch-sp, *2 tr, (1 tr, 2 ch, 1 tr) into 2ch-sp.  Rep from * four more times.  2 tr, sl st in second ch of beg 3 ch.  (24 tr, 1 1ch-sp, 5 2ch-sp)

Rnd 3:  With MC sl st into ch-sp, 3 ch, 1 tr into same ch-sp, *4 tr, (1 tr, 2 ch, 1 tr) into 2ch-sp.  Rep from * four more times.  4 tr, sl st in second ch of beg 3 ch.  (36 tr, 1 1ch-sp, 5 2ch-sp)

Rnd 4:  With CC sl st into ch-sp, 3 ch, 1 tr into same ch-sp. *6 tr in MC; (1 tr, 2 ch, 1 tr) into 2ch-sp in CC.  Rep from * four more times.  6 tr in MC, sl st in second ch of beg 3 ch in MC.  (48 tr, 1 1ch-sp, 5 2ch-sp)

Rnd 5:   With MC sl st into ch-sp, 3 ch, 1 tr into same ch-sp. *2 tr in CC; 4 tr in MC; 2 tr in CC; (1 tr, 2 ch, 1 tr) into 2ch-sp in MC.  Rep from * four more times.  2 tr in CC; 4 tr in MC; 2 tr in CC; sl st in second ch of beg 3 ch in MC.  (60 tr, 1 1ch-sp, 5 2ch-sp)

Rnd 6:   With MC sl st into ch-sp, 3 ch, 1 tr into same ch-sp. *2 tr in MC; 2 tr in CC; 2 tr in MC; 2 tr in CC; 2 tr in MC; (1 tr, 2 ch, 1 tr) into 2ch-sp in MC.  Rep from * four more times. 2 tr in MC; 2 tr in CC; 2 tr in MC; 2 tr in CC; 2 tr in MC; sl st in second ch of beg 3 ch in MC.  (72 tr, 1 1ch-sp, 5 2ch-sp)

Rnd 7:   With MC sl st into ch-sp, 3 ch, 1 tr into same ch-sp. *4 tr in MC; 4 tr in CC; 4 tr in MC; (1 tr, 2 ch, 1 tr) into 2ch-sp in MC.  Rep from * four more times. 4 tr in MC; 4 tr in CC; 4 tr in MC; sl st in second ch of beg 3 ch in MC.  (84 tr, 1 1ch-sp, 5 2ch-sp)

Rnd 8:   With MC sl st into ch-sp, 3 ch, 1 tr into same ch-sp. *6 tr in MC; 2 tr in CC; 6 tr in MC; (1 tr, 2 ch, 1 tr) into 2ch-sp in MC.  Rep from * four more times. 6 tr in MC; 2 tr in CC; 6 tr in MC; sl st in second ch of beg 3 ch in MC.  Cut CC leaving an end to weave in. (96 tr, 1 1ch-sp, 5 2ch-sp)

Rnd 9:  With MC sl st into ch-sp, 3 ch, 1 tr into same ch-sp, *16 tr, (1 tr, 2 ch, 1 tr) into 2ch-sp.  Rep from * four more times.  16 tr, sl st in second ch of beg 3 ch.  Fasten off. (108 tr, 1 1ch-sp, 5 2ch-sp)

Rnd 10: Join CC to any 2ch-sp. 1 ch (does not count as st), 2 dc in same 2ch-sp then cont around making 1 dc in each tr, and 2 dc in each 2ch-sp or 1ch-sp. Sl st to beg dc to join. Fasten off.

Finishing

Weave in ends, block, and enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this free tapestry crochet mat pattern. If you have any questions or comments at all, please drop me a message below.

Happy crocheting,

Catherine

More tapestry crochet patterns

If you enjoyed making this pattern, why not check out more of my tapestry crochet patterns?