Colonial knot star hand embroidery pattern

Intermediate · 3 colors · 1 kind of stitch

Colonial knot star: preview of the stitched design

An eight-pointed star is drawn entirely in colonial knots, set one after another in lines. Teal knots, 80 of them, make the outline of the star. The ring of knots inside the star is pink and goes around the cluster at the center, which is gold: one knot with eight around it and sixteen around those. The ribs of the points are pink as well: each rib is a straight line of four knots that runs from the ring toward the tip of its point. Colonial knot is the only stitch here, 161 knots in three colors.

Size and details

Intermediate. More than a hundred colonial knots.

3 colors of floss and 1 kind of stitch:

Colonial knot
Which stitch goes where

The stitched size, by hoop
Hoop	Inches	Centimeters
3 in (8 cm)	1.8 × 1.8 in	4.6 × 4.6 cm
4 in (10 cm)	2.6 × 2.6 in	6.6 × 6.6 cm
5 in (13 cm)	3.5 × 3.5 in	8.9 × 8.9 cm
6 in (15 cm)	4.4 × 4.4 in	11.2 × 11.2 cm
8 in (20 cm)	6.2 × 6.2 in	15.7 × 15.7 cm

In a 3 inch hoop the colonial knots are drawn smaller than about 2 mm (a little over 1/16 in). Use one strand of floss for them there, or choose a larger hoop.

The pattern is drawn inside a circle about half an inch (1.3 cm) smaller all around than the hoop.

What you need

DMC 3809 Very Dark TurquoiseOutline of the star
DMC 3350 Ultra Dark Dusty RoseRibs of the points and ring of knots inside the star
DMC 3852 Very Dark StrawCluster at the center

The floss is six-strand cotton; the stitch guide says how many strands to use. You also need a hoop, an embroidery needle (a size 7 to 9 suits two or three strands) and plain cotton or linen fabric. To frame the piece in its hoop, cut a square 3 inches (8 cm) wider than the hoop: a 9 inch (23 cm) square for a 6 inch hoop.

Stitch guide

Colonial knot 2 strandsOutline of the star, ribs of the points, ring of knots inside the star, cluster at the center

Getting it onto your fabric

The PDF holds the pattern twice at actual size: once as drawn, and once mirrored for an iron-on transfer pen. Print it at 100% with scaling off and check the one-inch square (25.4 mm) with a ruler before you trace. How to transfer a pattern explains tracing, carbon paper and the other ways. The files are under Downloads.