ANZAC Poppy - free crochet pattern

Lest We Forget, April 25



"In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row, "

(John McCrae)

I have designed and crocheted this little poppy to commemorate ANZAC day. The poppy measures 3 ½ cm / 1 ½ inches wide and can be pinned to clothing or accessories. They are running a competition at ETSY for a design that incorporates beads, and this is my entry as I have been thinking about ANZAC day, April 25, and its place in our Australian history. I have provided the pattern below and ask if you do download the pattern, please donate a coin to a charity that supports servicemen, women and their families.


Significance and Meaning

ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. The association of the red poppy also called the Flanders Poppy or poppy of remembrance with war is interesting. The poppy is seen as a natural symbol of resurrection and remembrance as the poppy was the first plant to grow in the churned up soil of soldiers' graves in the area of Flanders during the First World War. Of the some 50,000 Australians who fought at Gallipoli, 8,709 were killed and 18,235 wounded; New Zealand suffered 2,701 killed and 4,880 wounded.

Australians now recognise 25 April as an occasion of national commemoration and respect for those who have served at war. Commemorative services are held at dawn, the time of the original landing, across the country. I went to the Dawn service in Canberra at the National War Memorial a few years back and it was a most moving ceremony. My Grandfather was a returned soldier, as was my father in Law. Both served in WWII. We have my father in laws medals for our sons. These are a prized possession. Anzac Day parades are held and it has become a day that has deep significance in Australia and New Zealand.

These moving words are a part of the tradition -

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”
(Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

The last post is played by a solitary bugler, and wreaths of poppies are laid. While the poppy is symbolic and cover the wreaths, rosemary sprigs (meaning remembrance) tend to be worn on Anzac day, while the poppy is worn on Remembrance Day 11th of November.

I thought I would post the pattern for the poppy with the intention that this be used for days of remembrance, and specific fund raising for charities to do with the armed forces and their families. I have put a price on the original poppy with the intention of donating the profit to Legacy.

Australian Instructions

1.75 hook, 4 ply thread, Size 6 steel, 10 thread
Black and red thread, 12 Black seed beads, 25 Red seed beads

Stamen - starting with black
Thread 12 beads onto thread before starting. I leave about 20cm/8in of thread at the start which is used later to stitch the poppy to a pin or barrette.

1. 3ch, into first ch work 6dc, slst join.
2. Work into front loop only; (1dc, *2ch, bead to hook, 2ch, 1dc) first loop, 2ch bead to hook 2ch 1dc into next loop. Repeat from * around slst join into start dc. You should have 12 stamens with a bead on each.

For unbeaded option, omit bead and work (1dc, 5ch, 1dc) into sp, 5ch around

3. You will now work in the spare loop behind the stamens. 1dc first loop, 3ch, 1dc next loop, 3ch, around 5 times. You can miss a loop as you only need five 3ch spaces for the petals. Slst finish join, off black.

Petals – poppy red
Thread 25 red beads onto red thread.
4. Slst start in one of the 3ch loops behind the stamens. (2ch, counts as htr, 3tr 1htr) into first loop, then (1htr 3tr 1htr) in remaining 4 loops, slst join

5. The red beads are worked in this round. 2ch start, bead to hook, 1tr next st pushing bead up thread to hook after first yarn over hook, then work st in usual way. You might need to fiddle with the bead to make it face forwards. 1tr bead in next 2 st, 1htr bead next 1st, 1dc between petals (no bead), work 1htr 3tr 1htr each with a bead across each petal and 1dc (no bead) between. The petal should curl.

Slst finish off. Use start thread to stitch onto a pin.

American Instructions

1.75 hook, 4 ply thread , Size 6 steel, 10 thread
Black and red thread, 12 Black seed beads, 25 Red seed beads

Stamen - starting with black
Thread 12 beads onto thread before starting. I leave about 20cm/8in of thread at the start which is used later to stitch the poppy to a pin or barrette.

1. 3ch, into first ch work 6sc, slst join.
2. Work into front loop only (1sc, *2ch, bead to hook, 2ch, 1sc) first loop, 2ch bead to hook 2ch 1sc into next loop. Repeat from * around slst join into start sc. You should have 12 stamens with a bead on each.

For unbeaded option, omit bead and work 1sc, 5ch, 1sc, 5ch around

3. You will now work in the spare loop behind the stamens. 1sc first loop, 3ch, 1sc next loop, 3ch, around 5 times. You can miss a loop as you only need five 3ch spaces for the petals. Slst finish join, off black

Petals – poppy red
Thread 25 red beads onto red thread.
4. Slst start in one of the 3ch loops behind the stamens. (2ch, counts as hdc 3dc, 1hdc) into first loop, then (1hdc 3dc 1hdc) in remaining 4 loops, slst join

5. The red beads are worked in this round. 2ch start, bead to hook, 1dc next st pushing bead up thread to hook after first yarn over hook, then work st in usual way. You might need to fiddle with the bead to make it face forwards. 1dc bead in next 2st, 1hdc bead next 1st, 1sc between petals (no bead), work 1hdc 3dc 1hdc each with a bead across each petal and 1sc (no bead) between. The petal should curl.

For unbeaded version, omit the beads. Slst finish off. Use start thread to stitch onto a pin.

© copyright crochetroo 2007. Do not reproduce pattern by any means. You may use it for personal use, gifts and charity fundraising. Do not sell to make a personal profit as this is inappropriate.

Echidna and echidna baby puggles at Easter

Happy Easter to you all! A time that is about new beginnings, fresh starts and family. I thought this a perfect time to share my echidnas with the world.

When I undertook to design an echidna in crochet, I took on one heck of a challenge. The trick is getting the echidna look, and not becoming a hedgehog or porcupine. I have seen some really cute crochet hedgehogs, but they often use fun fur which although it gives a spiky look, is soft to the touch. I did consider doing a loopy effect but that didn't quite look right either. So in the end I did the best I could with rows of individual spikes. Yes this is a bit tedious, but quite relaxing once I was in the rhythm.

Echidnas by their nature aren't very colourful critters. Their whole goal in life is to not get noticed. The one that looks the best in the real is the dark brown and variegated. These are always a bit of a pain to count stitches on and photograph so I ended up doing a goldy yellow echidna as well.

I do like these guys. I think of all my stuffed Aussie Animals these are my favourites. Probably because the Koalas and Kangaroos, and platypus are a bit better known around the world, there are a few patterns for these about. Although they are of varying quality, they do exist.

The echidna, also called the spiny ant-eater, is one of the most primitive orders of mammals, a monotreme. They are closely related to the platypus and are egg-laying mammals. They lay only one egg at a time hatch is incubated is incubated in the pouch.

Baby echidnas are called puggles and once hatched, they remains in the pouch until its spines appear. It makes good sense because as a Mum, I don't think I would want a prickly little fellow in my pouch for long! The ones above I have named Blue, Elizabeth, Rusty and Shazza.

Their main food is ants. The echidna's snout is between 7 and 8 cm long, and is quite stiff. This enables them to break up the termite mounds and logs.

They have a long sticky tongue to lick up insects.
They look like a hedgehog or porcupine but are not related. Their backs and sides are covered with spines and coarse hair and they can roll themselves into a ball when in danger. While they look pretty tough, they are quite shy. They also have the claim to fame being of being featured on the Australian five cent piece.

Having seen the echidna in the wild, they are quite fascinating. You have to wonder what nature was thinking.

These ones I used variegated yarn for a different effect. This is Dave, Muriel, Digger and Lucy doing a bit of bush calisthenics. Of course once their spines devloped they wont be ablt to do that!

I believe the term puggles originally was associated with the echidna, however at times it is incorrectly used for platypus young as well. The same way the koala is incorrectly called a bear. There is no such thing as a platypus puggle, or a koala bear. I like to research the animals I am designing, and the misuse of these terms annoy me. (lol) I must be getting old!

The baby echidnas are a lot of fun to make and play with. I have made a few over the long weekend. The one below I thought I would try to felt to make a bag pull. I attached some yarn to his beak. He sort of felted, but not quite.

These are nice and tactile and they just fit in the hand. I might try felting another one as I think they would be good on keys and bags.

The indigenous people have some interesting myths about the echidna. One story is that a group of young men where hunting and stumbled on a wombat. They threw spears at the wombat, and it became the echidna.

Thanks for looking, and have a safe and happy Easter.


(c) copyright crochetroo 2007