Happy St Dwynwen’s Day!
Free Crochet Heart Pattern
Happy Dwynwen’s Day! “What’s that?”, you ask? Well, St Dwynwen’s Day is celebrated in Wales on 25th January each year in a similar way to Valentine’s day. Dwynwen is the Welsh patron saint of lovers. Now, you may think that she’s just a Welsh version of St Valentine but, I’ll stop you there to just mention that, she also happens to be the patron saint of sick animals which makes her awesome!
Dwynwen’s Story
As the legend goes, Dwynwen was the most beautiful of King Brychan Brycheiniog’s daughters. She fell head-over-heels in love with a young prince called Maelon Dafodrill. However, her father had already promised her in marriage to someone else. Maelon took this news badly and declared he never wanted to see her again. Heart-broken she fled to the wilderness and prayed to God to help her forget her love for Maelon. As she drifted into sleep an angel delivered a potion to her and as soon as she had drank the draft she saw in her dream that Maelon was promptly turned into a block of ice. The angel then granted her three wishes. Her first wish was that Maelon be thawed at once. The second wish was that God help all lovers ensuring their love be fulfilled, or, they be cured of their passion. Her third wish was that she should never fall in love again and never marry. All her wishes were granted.
Dwynwen spent the rest of her days as a nun praying that other people have better luck in love than her. She founded a convent at an isolated church on Ynys Mon (Anglesey). You can still see the ruins of her church at Llanddwyn today – a beautiful, windswept tidal island stretching out into the sea with stunning views of Eryri (Snowdonia).
What has this got to do with crochet?
Well, not a huge amount I suppose! But, to celebrate Dwynwen’s Day, and to spread a little love out into the world, I’m releasing this pattern for free!….
And, I’m using Welsh wool which you can get your hands on here. This yarn is in my top 3 faves and spun from the fleeces of hardy Welsh sheep. I’ve used the Double Knitting yarn in shades Welsh Red and Perl for my hearts but you can use any colours you fancy to make your own hearts. I don’t have any affiliation with Gwlan Cambrian Wool and didn’t get the yarn for free so you can be sure that I’m recommending it because I love it! (Gwlan Cambrian – feel free to get in touch! 😉) Please note that if you are outside the UK you need to contact them for postage costs before you go ahead and order.
Of course, you can use any yarn for the crochet hearts. The yarn I’ve used is a double knit so, if you are in the USA and using worsted, your hearts will turn out a bit bigger. But, bigger is better when it comes to hearts!
Free crochet heart pattern
Yarn: Gwlan Cambrian Wool Double Knitting or any DK / Light Worsted weight yarn
Hook: 4mm (G) size hook if using DK / Light Worsted
Colour Used: Welsh Red and Perl
The pattern uses UK crochet terminology. Here’s a quick list of abbreviations and their US equivalents…
Ch = chain
slst = slip stitch
st(s) = stitch(es)
dc = double crochet ( US single crochet)
htr = half treble crochet ( US half double crochet)
tr = treble crochet ( US double crochet)
Heart Pattern
Foundation Ring: With yarn of choice make a Magic Ring (tutorial here).
Round 1: 1 ch (does not count as a st here and throughout), 7 dc into ring, join with slst to first st made, tighten ring. (7 sts)
Round 2: 3 ch (counts as 1 tr), 1 tr in same place, 2 tr in each of next 6 sts, join with slst to 3rd of beginning 3 ch. (14 sts)
Round 3: 1 ch, (1 dc, 1 htr) in next st, 3 tr in next st, (1 tr, 1 htr) in next st, 2 htr in next st, 1 htr in next st, (1 htr, 1 tr) in next st, 3 tr in next st, (1 tr, 1 htr) in next st, 1 htr in next st, 2 htr in next st, (1 htr, 1 tr) in next st, 3 tr in next st, (1 htr, 1 dc) in next st, slst into the first 1 ch made at start of the round. (27 sts)
Round 4: Do not 1 ch, 1 dc in next st, (1 htr, 1 tr) in next st, 2 tr in next st, 3 tr in next st, 2 tr in next 2 sts, (1 tr, 1 htr) in next st, 1 htr in next st, 1 dc in next 3 sts, 1 htr in next 2 sts, 3 tr in next st, 1 htr in next 2 sts, 1 dc in next 3 sts, 1 htr in next st, (1 htr, 1 tr) in next st, 2 tr in next 2 sts, 3 tr in next st, 2 tr in next st, (1 tr, 1 htr) in next st, 1 d in next st, slst into next st and end yarn. (43 sts)
Sew in ends and enjoy!
So, enjoy St Dwynwen’s Day with your lover or your pet – or just on your own with your yarns and hook. Maybe a romantic podcast, or some soulful music and a bit of reminiscing on youthful flirtations. However you spend Dwynwen’s day I’m sending you lots of fuzzy warm feelings across the interwebs and I hope you enjoy the pattern.
Happy Hooking!
PS: How on earth do you pronounce Dwynwen? A bit like this…
D – oin (like in ‘coin’) – wen (like ‘when’)
Love to have heard more about the saints just had to Google her in a search in my computer class.
Happy researching! I could have written more but was worried people might get bored!