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These little crochet cherries take one evening and two colors of scrap yarn. Amy from Crochet Jewel makes them with an E hook and medium worsted yarn: two stuffed red balls, two green stems with leaves, a few stitches to join it all. Clip a keychain ring through the leaves and you have a bag charm, a stocking stuffer or a sweet little gift for a teacher.
Any medium worsted (weight 4) yarn works. Acrylic is cheap and holds its color, and cotton gives crisper stitches. Amy uses an E hook (3.5mm), which is a size or two smaller than the yarn label suggests. That is on purpose. Tight stitches keep the stuffing from peeking through. Go up a hook size for bigger cherries or down for tiny ones; the pattern stays the same.
Work in a spiral without joining each round, and move a stitch marker up as you go.
Open a split ring or a lobster clasp keychain and slide it through the stitches where the two leaves meet. That join is the strongest point, so the cherries hang from it without stretching. For a bag charm, a lobster clasp is easiest to clip on and off. You can also sew the pair onto a hair clip or a headband instead.
Make a handful at once. They tie onto gift bags, hang from a Christmas tree, top a jar of homemade jam and work as a little prize for a grandchild's backpack. A single cherry with one leaf makes a cute pin for a cardigan, too.
New to the stitches here? Start with the magic ring, single crochet and the crochet decrease. For a firm, smooth finish, see how to stuff amigurumi. Then make a crochet strawberry to go with your cherries.
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Crochet two stuffed cherries with leaves and clip them on a keychain. An easy project: about 1 hour. Materials cost about $1 to $4. You need 8 things, including red medium worsted yarn, green medium worsted yarn and polyester fiberfill. The 10 steps start with work Six Single Crochet Into the Cherry Magic Ring, pull the Magic Ring Closed on the Crochet Cherry, work the Crochet Cherry Increase Rounds and crochet Four Even Rounds to Shape the Cherry.
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Start with red yarn. Wrap it around your fingers to make a magic ring, insert the hook, pull up a loop and chain 1. Now work six single crochet into the ring: insert the hook, grab the yarn, pull it through, yarn over and pull through both loops. Count to six as you go. This is round 1 of the cherry.
Not sure about the magic ring? Chain 2 and work the 6 stitches into the first chain.
Hold the stitches and pull the yarn tail firmly. The ring cinches shut into a small solid circle with no hole in the middle. Slip stitch into the first stitch to join. After that, you can work the rest of the cherry in a spiral, so there are no more joins and no visible seam running up the side.
Pull the tail again after round 2 to close any gap that opens.
Round 2: work 2 single crochet in every stitch for 12. Clip a stitch marker into the first stitch so you know where each round starts. Round 3: 1 single crochet in the next stitch, then 2 in the stitch after that. Repeat around for 18. The piece stays flat for now and grows into a small disc.
Move the marker up into the first stitch of every new round.
Now work 1 single crochet in every stitch, no increases, for four full rounds. You keep 18 stitches each time. The flat disc starts to curl up into a cup, and that is the round body of your cherry taking shape. Keep your tension even here so the sides look smooth and the stitches stay tight.
The outside of the cup is the right side. Keep it facing out.
Round 8: single crochet in one stitch, then a decrease over the next two. To decrease, pull up a loop in each of two stitches and yarn over through all three loops. Repeat around for 12. Now stuff the cherry lightly with fiberfill. Then round 9: decrease all the way around for 6 stitches.
Stuff before the hole gets too small. A pencil end helps push it in.
Slip stitch into the next stitch, fasten off and leave a tail. Thread it on a yarn needle and weave it in and out across the top of the cherry to close the last little gap. Pull it snug and bury the end inside. Make a second cherry the same way, so you have a matching pair.
Push the needle out the far side and trim close so the end hides inside.
Switch to green yarn. Make a slip knot on the hook and chain 12. This part becomes the stem. Then chain 10 more for the leaf, so you have 22 chains in all. Keep the chains loose and even, because the leaf gets worked back into the last 10 of them and tight chains are hard to work into.
Leave a long starting tail. It sews the stem to the cherry later.
Skip the first chain. Slip stitch, sc, hdc, dc, 2 dc, 2 dc, dc, hdc, then 3 sc in the next chain to turn the tip. Work back up the other side: hdc, dc, 2 dc, 2 dc, dc, hdc, sc and a slip stitch. The taller stitches in the middle give the leaf its oval shape. Fasten off and make a second stem and leaf.
The 3 sc at the far end turns the corner and makes the leaf tip.
Lay the two leaves side by side so their stems hang down. Thread a yarn needle with one of the green tails and sew through both leaves where they meet at the base. Go back and forth a few times in the back so the join is firm. This joint holds the whole charm, so make it strong.
Angle the leaves in a slight V. It looks more natural than a flat line.
Take the tail at the end of one stem and thread it on the needle. Push it into the top of a cherry and weave it through three or four times so the cherry cannot pull off. Repeat with the other stem and cherry. Slide a keychain ring through the leaf join and your cherry keychain is done.
Tug each cherry gently to test it before you trim the tails.
Keep going
How to Crochet Front Post Double Crochet (FPdc) for Ribbing
More on this topic, picked for this cherry keychain.
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How to Crochet a Cherry Keychain (Easy Amigurumi Cherries)
Clover
Clover Amour Crochet Hook Set (10 sizes)
Soft, easy-grip handles that warm to the touch and a full size range in one case. The set most crocheters upgrade to and never look back.
Lion Brand
Lion Brand 24/7 Cotton Yarn
Mercerized cotton with crisp stitch definition and a subtle sheen. Machine washable, and the go-to for amigurumi, bags, and dishcloths.
Clover
Clover Locking Stitch Markers (20-pack)
Lock onto stitches so they never slip while you mark rounds, increases, and repeats. A dollar-store fix that actually holds.
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