Strawberry Potholder Pattern #5505

FRUIT POTHOLDERS

Materials Required—
AMERICAN THREAD COMPANY "DE LUXE” MERCERIZED CROCHET AND KNITTING COTTON, ARTICLE 346
2—250 yd. Balls White.
1—175 yd. Ball each Yellow, Blue and Red,
"STAR” SIX STRAND MERCERIZED EMBROIDERY COTTON, ARTICLE 50
1 Skein each Red, Brown and Green and
"STAR” PEARL COTTON, ARTICLE 90, SIZE 5
1—50 yd. Ball Green.
Steel Crochet Hook No. 8 or No. 9.

STRAWBERRY POTHOLDER #5505

With White, ch 2 and work 6 s c in 1st st of ch. (Do not join or turn this or the following rows.)
2nd Row—Place a marker at beginning of rows. Work 2 s c in each s c.
3rd Row—* 1 s c in next s c, 2 s c in next s c, repeat from * all around.
4th Row—* 1 s c in each of the next 2 s c, 2 s c in next s c, repeat from * all around. Continue working in same manner having 1 more st between increasing points in each row, until there are 24 rows (144 s c in 24th row), join with a slip st, drop White.
25th Row—Attach Red (when changing Color always complete last half of st with next Color), ch 3 (counts as 1 d c) and work 1 d c in each of the next 22 s c, 2 d c in next s c, * 1 d c in each of the next 23 s c, 2 d c in next s c, repeat from * 4 times, join in first d c (150 d c), drop Red.
26th Row—Pick up White, ch 3, pick up and pull loop through the 2nd st of ch, pick up the next st of ch and pull loop through, pick up and pull loop through same st as joining, pick up and pull loop through next st leaving all loops on needle, thread over and pull through all loops on needle at one time, ch 1 (the ch 1 is termed the eye of the star st), * pick up and pull loop through the eye of st just made, side loop of st just made and each of the next 2 sts leaving all loops on needle, thread over and pull through all loops at one time, ch 1 (star st), repeat from * all around (75 star sts), join, drop White.
27th Row—Pick up Red, ch 1 and work a row of s c all around working 2 s c in loop of each star st and 1 s c in eye of each star st increasing 1 s c at end of row, join (226 s c).
28th Row—With White, work same as 26th row (113 star sts).
29th Row—With Red, ch 1, 1 s c in loop and 1 s c in eye of each star st, break Red (226 s c).
30th Row—Repeat 28th row, break thread.
Work another section in same manner.
STRAWBERRY: With Red, ch 3, s c in 2nd st from hook, s c in next st of ch, ch 1 to turn each row.
2nd Row—2 s c in each s c.
3rd Row—Working in s c throughout entire berry increase 1 s c in first and last s c.
Repeat 3rd row once, then work 2 rows even.
Next 5 Rows—Repeat 3rd row 3 times, then work 2 rows even.
14th Row—Skip 1 s c, 1 s c in each of the next 11 s c, skip 1 s c, 1 s c in next s c.
15th Row—Skip 2 s c, 1 s c in each of the next 7 s c, skip 2 s c, 1 s c in next s c.
16th Row—Skip 1 s c, 1 s c in each of the next 5 s c, skip 1 s c, s c in next s c, break thread.
Work another berry in same manner.
STEM AND HULL: With Green, ch 8, s c in 2nd st from hook, 1 s c in each remaining st of ch, * ch 5, s c in 2nd st from hook, 1 s c in each remaining st of ch, slip st in base of stem, repeat from * twice, break thread. Work another stem and hull in same manner.
LEAF: Ch 3, s c in 2nd st of ch, s c in next st of ch, ch 1 to turn each row.
2nd Row—2 s c in each s c.
3rd Row—Increase 1 s c in 1st and last s c, then work 3 rows even.
7th Row—Decrease 1 s c at beginning and end of row.
Repeat 7th row once, break thread. Work another leaf in same manner.
With White, embroider seeds in berry as illustrated, sew hull to berry. Sew berries, hulls and leaves to center of holder as illustrated.
EDGE: With Red, crochet the 2 sections together as follows: * ch 3, 3 d c in same space, skip the next star st, s c in loop of next star st, repeat from * all around.
With Red, cover a bone ring with s c and attach to holder as illustrated.