PlanetJune by June Gilbank: Blog
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© June Gilbank 2011
This is a clever little pattern to make sweet hearts in three sizes – each heart builds on the pattern of the previous heart. You can also make a bonus puffy heart to give a total of 4 different designs in this one pattern! String them into a garland, add a pin back to make a cute brooch, or fill a bowl with pretty hearts for Valentine’s Day decorating.
UPDATE April 2020: If you’re making pairs of matching hearts for COVID-19 patients and their families, use the Puffy Heart (D) pattern, preferably in pink or red. I thank you for offering some comfort to those who are suffering.
UPDATE March 2022: If you’d like to make hearts to support the current Ukraine crisis, please see my new Two-Tone Heart versions of this pattern, to make hearts in the colours of the Ukranian flag.
A: Small Heart; B: Medium Heart; C: Large Heart; D: Puffy Heart
This pattern is Donationware – the pattern is available for free, but if you like it please consider sending me a donation to show your appreciation:
Send me a donation and receive the easy-to-print PDF version of the pattern as a thank you!
NEW! Now, in addition to the standard (US) terminology PDF pattern, with your donation you’ll also receive a second PDF file with a version of the pattern in UK crochet terminology.
NEW! Both the US and UK versions of the pattern have been updated again to include the complete Two-Tone Heart pattern (flat and puffy versions) and colour change tips.
Donations of any size are much appreciated. Just add the amount you wish to donate, and, once you have checked out and paid, your pattern will instantly be available to download from your PlanetJune account.
The complete pattern and instructions are available below, regardless of whether or not you choose to pay for them 🙂
This is a PlanetJune original crochet pattern. Feel free to use items made from this pattern however you wish, but I’d appreciate credit as the pattern designer. Please do not reproduce the pattern anywhere else; instead post a link to www.planetjune.com/hearts
Not ready to make it yet? Add it to your Ravelry queue: 
Terminology
| ch | chain |
| ch-sp | chain space |
| dc | double crochet (treble crochet for UK/Aus) |
| hdc | half double crochet (half treble crochet for UK/Aus) |
| sc | single crochet (double crochet for UK/Aus) |
| sl st | slip stitch |
| st | stitch |
| tr | triple (treble) crochet (double treble crochet for UK/Aus) |
You will need…
- E US/3.5mm crochet hook
- Small quantity of worsted weight yarn in red, pink, or the colour of your choice
- Yarn needle to weave in ends
- Optional: small amount of polyester fibrefill stuffing for the puffy heart
Gauge
Gauge is unimportant for this pattern. I like to crochet the hearts with a small hook so they are rigid and there are no gaps between the stitches; if you prefer a looser, floppier heart, use a G or H hook instead.
Notes for all hearts
To make these hearts, you must be comfortable with the magic ring technique. Instead of single crocheting into the magic ring, the entire first round (Heart A) is crocheted directly into the ring, and then the ring is pulled tight to complete the round. This same pattern also forms Rnd 1 of all the other hearts, so read these instructions before beginning any of the hearts!
- As you crochet Rnd 1, you may need to stop and snug together the bases of the stitches you’ve already made, so that you can fit all the stitches into the magic ring.
Left: Halfway through Rnd 1. Right: The same stage after pushing the bases of the stitches together. - When you reach the end of Rnd 1, pull the magic ring almost closed, leaving a small hole in the middle.
Left: Rnd 1 finished. Right: Magic ring pulled almost closed with a small hole remaining. - To complete Rnd 1, make the final sl st into the remaining hole, and then pull the magic ring tightly closed.
Left: Final sl st made. Right: Magic ring pulled tightly closed.
A: Small Heart
Make a magic ring, ch 2.
Rnd 1: (3 tr, 4 dc, tr, 4 dc, 3 tr) into magic ring.
Pull the magic ring mostly closed, leaving a small space in the middle, ch 2, sl st into the remaining hole in the magic ring. Pull the magic ring tightly closed.
Fasten off. To complete the heart, see Finishing (below).
B: Medium Heart
Make a magic ring, ch 2.
Rnd 1: (3 tr, 4 dc, tr, 4 dc, 3 tr) into magic ring.
Pull the magic ring mostly closed, leaving a small space in the middle, ch 2, sl st into the remaining hole in the magic ring. Pull the magic ring tightly closed.
Note: do not turn work, continue working anti-clockwise (clockwise for left-handers) around the heart, working into the stitches of Rnd 1, and starting by working into the ch-sp formed by the ch 2 you made after the magic ring.
Rnd 2: sc in ch-sp, 2 hdc in next st, 3 hdc in next st, 2 hdc in next st, hdc in next 3 st, 2 hdc in next st, (hdc, dc, hdc) in next st, 2 hdc in next st, hdc in next 3 st, 2 hdc in next st, 3 hdc in next st, 2 hdc in next st, (sc, sl st) in ch-sp.
Fasten off. To complete the heart, see Finishing (below).
C: Large Heart
Make a magic ring, ch 2.
Rnd 1: (3 tr, 4 dc, tr, 4 dc, 3 tr) into magic ring.
Pull the magic ring mostly closed, leaving a small space in the middle, ch 2, sl st into the remaining hole in the magic ring. Pull the magic ring tightly closed.
Note: do not turn work, continue working anti-clockwise (clockwise for left-handers) around the heart, working into the stitches of Rnd 1, and starting by working into the ch-sp formed by the ch 2 you made after the magic ring.
Rnd 2: sc in ch-sp, 2 hdc in next st, 3 hdc in next st, 2 hdc in next st, hdc in next 3 st, 2 hdc in next st, (hdc, dc, hdc) in next st, 2 hdc in next st, hdc in next 3 st, 2 hdc in next st, 3 hdc in next st, 2 hdc in next st, (sc, sl st) in ch-sp.
Note: do not turn work, continue working anti-clockwise (clockwise for left-handers) around the heart, working into the stitches of Rnd 2.
Rnd 3: sc in next 2 st, (sc in next st, 2 sc in next st) three times, sc in next 6 st, 3 sc in next st, sc in next 6 st, (2 sc in next st, sc in next st) three times, sc in next 2 st.
Join with sl st into first st.
Fasten off. To complete the heart, see Finishing (below).
Finishing (Hearts A, B ,C)
As Hearts A, B, and C are flat, you’ll need to weave in the yarn ends.
Starting tail
Note: Make sure your magic ring is pulled tightly closed before you begin weaving in the ends – this is your last chance to avoid having a hole in the middle!
This yarn end should already be at the back of the work (the side facing away from you as you crochet). Using a yarn needle, weave the end, a few stitches at a time, underneath the backs of the stitches of Rnd 1.
End tail
If you’d like to make a hanging loop to string your hearts into a garland, keep the end tail long and use it to form the hanging loop. If not, draw the yarn end to the back of the heart (the side facing away from you as you crochet). Using a yarn needle, weave the end under the backs of the stitches of Rnd 1, as you did for the other end.
D: Puffy Heart
Heart D is a puffy version of Heart C, made by crocheting 2 hearts together with a small amount of stuffing in between them.
- Begin by crocheting 2 x Heart B, but do not fasten off the yarn when you have completed the second heart.
- Holding both hearts with wrong sides together, begin to work Rnd 3 of Heart C, inserting the hook through both layers to begin each stitch (see picture below).
- When you have one lobe of the heart left to crochet together, stuff all the yarn ends into the heart, then add a small wisp of stuffing to puff up the heart a little (see pictures below).
- Complete Rnd 3, again crocheting through both layers.
- Fasten off. If you’d like to make a hanging loop to string your hearts into a garland, keep the yarn tail long and use it to form the hanging loop. If not, use a yarn needle to lose the end between the two layers of the heart.
I hope you enjoy this pattern. Please leave me a comment below if you do, and consider leaving me a donation. Thanks!
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Olivia Fanning said
Dear June, I am glad to contribute to the cause to Ukraine, but would prefer sending you a check. Can you give me an address? I love the heart patterns.
Olivia
Saline, MI
June said
Hi Olivia, I don’t collect funds for the Ukraine – if you’d like to help the cause, I thank you for that, and I’m sure there are aid organizations in your country that will gladly accept your check 🙂
Ana said
Hi June,
Just wanted to say thank you posting the free patterns. My grandma was a crafter and worked as a seamstress and I was so lucky she passed that love of crafting down to me. Unfortunately, she passed away suddenly and unexpectedly 2 weeks ago, but thanks to this pattern, I made white hearts for everyone and we placed one with her so that we will always be linked by something meaningful to her and us. These hearts bring us comfort. Thank you.
Reida M Childress said
Thanks for this pattern. My best friend passed late last month, I had just finished knittinf hats for her husband and each of her 5 kids, I’m going to fix a heart on the inside of each in the color of her hat, as a reminder of her love for them and that she will always be with them.
June said
That’s a beautiful idea, Reida ♥
kelly turrentine said
That is a great idea. Heart-felt.
Dianne U said
If anyone knows of places in the USA that are accepting these hearts, and the requirements they have, I’d LOVE to know about them. I want to make up lots of these but haven’t got anywhere to send them to. Help! You can reply directly to me with “Hearts” in the subject line: diannemu22@hotmail.com Thanks So Much!
Liesl said
Hi Dianne U said: I have seen on other groups, that they crochet hearts or even anything cute and leave it anywhere to be found with a cute message. Park, school, lots of places. Have fun and enspire.
Tammy said
Check out the Peyton Heart Project on fb.
L.S.H said
I know this is years later but I found this pattern for the Peyton Heart Project. They accept these hearts to support suicide awareness.
Deborah B said
Thank you so much for the free pattern for the very nicely designed 3 sized Love Hearts. For Valentine”s Day I am hanging them on our fake Christmas tree with the hand-knitted birds my mother made from the Arne & Carlos Book. I have made with yarns in metalics and solids in pinks, purples & red. They are so charming and warm my heart!
Sharon Gate said
Great idea for the valentine tree!
Pam said
Dear June, Trying to remember to use English terminology, I completely forgot to change the stitches for Round 3, and continued in half treble, thus the hearts were rather smaller than expected. To enlarge them, I did a row of scallops all round, which helped. Now, I do them correctly!
Lynne Stranick said
Hello I am new to this group. I have crocheted the lovely hearts for Covid and am searching for a proper mailing address to ship my package. Thank you very much, stay safe, stay healthy. My best, Lynne
Katherine Charles said
Thank you for this lovely pattern. I usually knit but switched to crochet because these hearts looked so pretty.
I find it helps not to tighten the magic loop fully until after Round 2 – it makes it a lot easier to find the chain spaces at the start and end of the round. This might help the people who have had problems with the stitch counts.
June said
Yes! I give this tip in my magic ring video, but I hadn’t thought to specifically mention it here too.
Jeanette said
i stuffed mine w a bounce sheet. i thought it was a cite idea.
Vickie said
Bounce and soaps, scented products can trigger episodes in anyone suffering a respiratory disease. please dont use scented products. Thank you.
Melissa said
i would assume she made these for personal use so there isn’t an issue with her using whatever she wants to stuff them.
Lucy said
That is a cute idea! 🙂
Melissa said
thats an awesome idea. I’m gonna try that, then stuff them all over my teens smelly room. lol
Jean said
could the hearts be filled with miniture soaps.
Jennifer said
Hi! Thank you for sharing this. I’m interested in making some for a local hospital (they are collecting them). Which pattern do you suggest? D? The puffy heart?
June said
Yes, the hospitals want lightly stuffed hearts, so the puffy heart (D) is ideal!
Helena said
something appears off with the stitch counts on row 2 of the pattern. i am an avid crocheter and it appears row two uses more stitch spacs than created in row one etc. can you assist?
June said
Hi Helena, I can assure you that there’s no mistake in the pattern. Assuming you’ve worked Row 1 correctly, the most likely culprits if you’re running out of stitches to work into would be that you’ve accidentally misread a “3 hdc in next st” as “hdc in next 3 st” (or similar), or that you’ve skipped working into the chain spaces.
I’d recommend that you check you’re in the right place when you reach the bottom tip of the heart: the (hdc, dc, hdc) should be worked into the tr halfway around Rnd 1 (you can mark that stitch with a stitch marker during Rnd 1 to make it easier to spot again during Rnd 2). That should help keep you on track, and help you figure out where you might be going wrong!
Melanie said
I rewrote the pattern, with no changes to the stitches at all, just in a way that I found easier for me to read, and suddenly it worked perfectly. :crazy_face:
Beth Bartlam said
This keeps happening to me too. Ive used a stitch marker and there still arent enough stitches to do round 2
June said
Beth, I can promise that there are no mistakes in the pattern! Thousands of hearts have been made from this pattern – it’s been extremely well tested… You just need to read the pattern carefully to make sure you’re following it exactly and it will work out. If your centre stitch *does* match up with the marker you placed in the centre stitch in Rnd 1, that means your mistake is in the second half of the round, so that should help you to trace your error!
Rita said
It keeps happening to me too, ive read and re read the pattern and redone it five times now but im still short of stitches on row 2 😥
Natalie said
This has happened to me too! It’s driving me mad :joy:
Sarah said
It works for me and it counts correctly. Rnd 2 works into 15 stitches and 2 chain spaces which is what you create in Rnd 1
Katherine O’Brian said
Any hospitals in Billings MT accepting the hearts?
Tammi Fretz said
Local Toronto Canada
Bereavement Services
The York Hospital, Wigginton Road , York, North Yorkshire, YO31 8HE
Scarborough Hospital
All colours are ok as long as they are in matching pairs but pink or red are preferable
It is important to use clean yarn and seal them in a taped bag, such as a freezer bag, the bags should be dated because 72 hours must have elapsed before they are safe to use.
Vivian said
HI June,
Could you let me know of places in Toronto that are accepting hearts?
June said
I’m afraid I can’t help with finding places (anywhere in the world) that are accepting hearts – as far as I know this is being organised by an individual nurses (or similar) at each place that’s doing it, so there’s no directory I know of that I can point you to – sorry 🙁
PJ readers: if you know of anywhere that’s requesting crocheted hearts, please post a link here so others can see it too!
Rhona Keay said
The hearts that are made for the NHS in the UK, must be in pairs one for the patient and one for the family. They should fit in the palm of your hand. Place them in Ziplock bags for 72 hours before passing them on to your local hospital, Care Home, Nursing Home. this ensures they are free from Covid 19. Good Luck.
Colleen said
I believe most hospitals are starting to adopt this idea. I know hospitals in Halton Region are for sure.
Sharman Howes said
yes I know Heart House Hospice is accepting donations www.hearthousehospice.com
Sharon C;ancey said
Hello June,
I think the hearts are a wonderful idea for the covet/19 virus for the patients and families. Where would we submit them to after they’re finished ?
June said
Lots of healthcare workers are requesting them – I’ve heard of most in the UK and Canada, but I’d try to find out if a hospital or care home that’s local to you is requesting them. (Please don’t send them anywhere unless they have been requested – they need to be properly sterilized before they can be distributed, so you’ll need to find somewhere where volunteers are doing this – we don’t want to add an extra burden to our healthcare workers in this time!)
Gloria said
Here is where you can donate in Ontario, Canada. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/how-ontario-knitters-are-giving-their-hearts-to-comfort-dying-covid-19-patients-1.5535819