Catherine’s Wheel [tutorial]

The Catherine’s Wheel uses a fancy name, but it’s really just a bunch of SCs and DCs worked in a specific way to create the circular look.

In other words, this is a simple stitch to learn and use.

For this tutorial, we’ll use 2 different colors – MC and CC. Technically, this can even be done in one color, but two colors will make it easier to point out the different parts.

How to Crochet the Catherine’s Wheel.

Generally, you’ll work:

1. MC: The top-half of the Catherine’s Wheel.
   1. CC: The bottom-half of the Catherine’s Wheel, offset by half of a repeat.
   2. CC: The top-half of the Catherine’s Wheel that’s from Step a above.
   3. MC: The bottom-half of the Catherine’s Wheel, no offset (so it’s the same as Step 1).
   4. MC: The top-half of the Catherine’s Wheel that’s from Step c above.
2. Repeat a through d for as many times as you need.
3. Work Step 1a, one more time.

For our example we’ll Ch14.

Special Stitch Key

Shell (Sh): 7 dc in 1 st.

Double Crochet 7 together (dc7tog): *YO, pick up a loop in the next st. YO pull through 2 loops. Rep from * 6 more times. 8 loops on hook. YO and pull through all 8 loops.

How to Make a Catherine’s Wheel

With MC, ch 14.

Row 1:  Starting in 2^nd ch from hook, sc across. Ch1, turn.

Row 2:  Sc in first st. *sk 2, sh, sk 2, sc. Rep from * until end.

Fasten off and turn.

Row 3: Using CC, ch3 (counts as 1^st dc here and throughout).

Step 1:*Yo, insert hook into next st, yo, draw loop through, yo, draw through 2 loops*, rep from * 3 more times. You should have a total of 5 loops on your hook and your work should look like this:

Step 2: Now, YO and pull through all 5 loops creating ¼ of a Catherine’s Wheel. Ch1 to create the “eye” of the wheel. Ch2 more and sc into the next st. (This should be the middle dc of sh from the previous round).

Step 3: Ch3, *yo, insert hook, yo, draw loop through, yo, draw through 2 loops*, rep from * 6 more times. You should have 8 loops on your hook and your work should look like this:

Step 4: Now, YO and pull through all 8 loops creating ½ of a Catherine’s wheel. Ch1 to create the “eye” of the wheel. Ch2 more and SC into the next st. (This should be the middle DC of the shell from the previous round.)

Step 5: Repeat Steps 3 and 4 all the way across until there are 4 sts remaining. Ch3. In these 4 sts, create ¼ of a Catherine’s wheel like in Step 1. YO and pull through 5 loops. Ch1 to create the “eye” of the wheel. Turn.

Row 4: Ch3. In the same “eye,” dc 3 times, *sc in the sc from the previous round. Sk your chains and sh into the “eye” of the next ½ Catherine’s Wheel creating a full wheel. Repeat from * until you have reached your last sc. Sc in the sc from the previous round. Sk your chains and end row with 4 dc in the last eye.Fasten off and turn.

Row 5: Using MC, ch1, sc in 1^st stitch, ch3. *Dc7tog, ch2, sc. (sc should land in middle dc of the sh in previous row). Rep from * across until you’ve made your last dc7tog. Ch2, sc in last st. Ch1 and turn.

Row 6:  Sc in first st. *sk 2, sh, sk 2, sc. Rep from * until end. Fasten off and turn.

Repeat rows 3-6 until the piece is desired length.

Repeat row 3. Fasten off.

Try It for Yourself

Our Bubblegum Dots Scarf uses the Catherine’s Wheel so it’s a quick and easy way to give this a shot!