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I’d never thought of using this little lamb crochet appliqué until an accident with some beetroot ruined a perfectly good sweater my son loved!
A few weeks ago we went out for my husband’s birthday and enjoyed a lovely mezze platter of all sorts of lovely things including flat breads and beetroot dip. Our little boy Elliot loved the colour of the dip and so he dug in. Great we thought, until a great big dollop landed down his jumper!
To cut a long story short, after much washing and attempting to remove the stain I suddenly came up with the idea of making a little crochet appliqué to pop over the top and hide the said stain.
I remembered that I’d designed some little boot toppers for Simply Crochet magazine years ago and figured that the little lambs were perfect for this time of year so I whipped one up in Aran cotton and sewed it on. Brilliant! Brand new jumper and no stain.
He’s had so many comments on the crochet appliqué that I decided to share the pattern with everyone so that you can enjoy it too.
Of course you don’t have to use yours to cover dodgy stains, you can pop them wherever you like. I think it would look fab on a little canvas bag or backpack, or on the back of a jacket, or the hem of a skirt with the little legs dangling down? Am I getting carried away? Maybe….!
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my full disclosure and privacy policy for details.
I’d love you to add some snaps of your finished project on Ravelry here.
The Yarn
I used some Rico Creative Cotton Aran from my yarn stash to make the little lamb. You only need about 15g of the main colour (Nature) and then some little scraps for the head and legs (Brown).
Tension and Sizing
My finished little lamb crochet appliqué measures 15cm by 12cm and tension really doesn’t matter for this project.
If you’d like a slightly smaller lamb then perhaps just change down to double knit yarn and a smaller hook and that will work fine.
Materials
Along with the yarn you will also need:
A 4mm/G crochet hook
Needle
Scissors
Small amount of thread to sew appliqué on
Glossary/Abbreviations
ch – chain
ss – slip stitch
st- stitch
rep – repeat
RS – right side
sk – skip
UK TERMS: dc – double crochet, htr – half treble, tr – treble crochet, dc2tog – double crochet 2 together, 3tr-Cl – 3 treble cluster
US TERMS: sc – single crochet, hdc – half double crochet, dc – double crochet, sc2tog = single crochet 2 together, 3dc-Cl – 3 double crochet cluster
Notes
- The ch-1 at the beginning of each row does not count as a st.
The Pattern
STANDARD UK TERMS – please scroll down for US terms.
BODY: – use Nature
Foundation chain: ch14
Row 1: RS: dc in 2nd ch from hook and each across [13]
Row 2: ch1, dc, *3tr-Cl, dc, rep from * across
Row 3: ch1, 2dc, dc in each to last, 2dc in last [15]
Row 4: Rep Row 2 [15]
Row 5: ch1, dc in each [15]
Row 6: ch1, dc, *dc, 3tr-Cl, rep from * across to last 2, dc in last 2
Row 7: Rep Row 5
Row 8: Rep Row 2
Row 9: ch1, dc2tog, dc in each to last 2, dc2tog [13]
Row 10: dc2tog, *3tr-Cl, dc, rep from * across to last 3, 3tr-Cl, dc2tog [11]
Border: turn to RS dc evenly around, ss in 1st to join
Tail: Turn to work with WS facing and join to top corner – ch1, 3tr-Cl over the 3 corner sts.
HEAD: – use Brown
Foundation chain: ch4
Round 1: dc in 2nd ch from hook and next, 3dc in last, rotate to work on other side of FC, dc, 2dc in last [8]
Round 2: *dc in 3, 3dc, rep from * around
Round 3: htr in 4, 3htr, htr in 5, 3htr, htr, ss in 1st and continue for 1st ear: Foundation chain: ch5
Row 1: dc in 2nd ch from hook, htr, dc in 2, ss back into the head
Join yarn to other side and repeat ear instruction for 2nd ear
LEGS: – make 4 using Brown
Foundation chain: ch6
Row 1: 3tr-Cl in 2nd ch from hook
Sew into position as shown
STANDARD US TERMS
BODY: – use Nature
Foundation chain: ch14
Row 1: RS: sc in 2nd ch from hook and each across [13]
Row 2: ch1, sc, *3dc-Cl, sc, rep from * across
Row 3: ch1, 2sc, sc in each to last, 2sc in last [15]
Row 4: Rep Row 2 [15]
Row 5: ch1, sc in each [15]
Row 6: ch1, sc, *sc, 3dc-Cl, rep from * across to last 2, sc in last 2
Row 7: Rep Row 5
Row 8: Rep Row 2
Row 9: ch1, sc2tog, sc in each to last 2, sc2tog [13]
Row 10: sc2tog, *3dc-Cl, sc, rep from * across to last 3, 3dc-Cl, sc2tog [11]
Border: turn to RS sc evenly around, ss in 1st to join
Tail: Turn to work with WS facing and join to top corner – ch1, 3dc-Cl over the 3 corner sts.
HEAD: – use Brown
Foundation chain: ch4
Round 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook and next, 3sc in last, rotate to work on other side of FC, sc, 2sc in last [8]
Round 2: *sc in 3, 3sc, rep from * around
Round 3: hdc in 4, 3hdc, hdc in 5, 3hdc, hdc, ss in 1st and continue for 1st ear: Foundation chain: ch5
Row 1: sc in 2nd ch from hook, hdc, sc in 2, ss back into the head
Join yarn to other side and repeat ear instruction for 2nd ear
LEGS: – make 4 using Brown
Foundation chain: ch6
Row 1: 3dc-Cl in 2nd ch from hook
Sew into position as shown.
Step by Step Tutorial
Here are a few snaps of the process that I hope might help if you need it:
More Easter themed crochet patterns and ideas
If you love Easter and Spring makes then make sure to check out these free Easter egg crochet patterns too!
