[0:00]So this week I've been making these bee applicates. I made the first one actually to go on to this quite cute Valentine's Day card. Um but as there are applicates, they could go on to anything, um, a child's blanket. A bag, a wall hanging, even in a shallow box frame with other applicates. So, I'm going to take you through how I made one. Um if you prefer a written pattern, there is one available. Um you'll find the link in the description box below. Um but I will take you through now, how I make these. So, I use a 3.5 mm hook and double knit yarn. So I've got yellow, black and white. It doesn't matter um the brand as long as it's a double knit. So I'm going to start off with the yellow and I'm going to make three chains. That's one, two, three. And we're going to work in the middle chain, which is the second chain from the hook, and in that I'm going to do an increase, so I'm going to do two double crochet, which if you're working in US terms will be two single crochets. Um in fact, apart from the wings, the main body of the bee and the head and the tail is all worked in double crochet, which is single crochet in US terms. So in that second chain from the hook, I'm going to do one, two stitches. And in the next stitch, the last chain, I'm going to do another one, two. And so we've got four stitches now. So I'm going to chain one, turn my work. Into this first stitch, I'm going to do two double crochets, one, two, so that's an increase in that first stitch. The next stitch I'm going to do one double crochet. In the next stitch, I'm going to do one double crochet, and in that last stitch, I'm going to do an increase again, so I'm going to do two double crochets. That's one, two. So I've now got six stitches. So I'm going to chain one, turn my work and then I'm going to do one double crochet in each stitch along. One, that's two, three, four, five and six in this last one.
[3:31]Now, on the last stitch, we're going to grab the yarn and pull it through, but we're not going to finish off that stitch. We're going to leave the two yellow loops on the hook, and I'm going to grab the black yarn, wrap it around the hook and pull that black yarn through those two yellow loops. So we're now ready to start our black row. So, we chain one, turn our work.
[4:10]And we're going to work back along these six stitches, one double crochet in each stitch, but we're going to trap the yellow yarn within the stitches so that we can carry it along the back. So, into the first stitch, yellow yarn trapped around the back, pull through, make our first double crochet. Same thing again for the second one, and that's three, four, five and six.
[4:55]Now, in the last stitch again, we're going to keep the two black loops, drop the black yarn, pick up the yellow and pull the yellow through those two loops. Chain one and turn our work. Now we're going to carry the black yarn. We're going to go through that first stitch with the yellow. And that's one and the black yarn is trapped underneath that stitch, so we can carry it along to the end. So that's one double crochet, now we do the second one, and then the third, that's four, five, and then six.
[5:52]So at the end of this row, don't go through those two, two yellow loops, we drop the yellow, and we're going to pick up the black and pull the black through.
[6:06]And then turn our work. And we're going to work back along this row, six double crochets, one in each stitch, and we're going to carry the yellow with us. That's one, two, three, four, five, six.
[6:38]And again in the last stitch, drop the black, and we're going to pick up the yellow. Chain one, turn our work. Then we're going to work back along the row in yellow, so that's six double crochets, trapping the black as we go. That's one, two, three, four, five, six.
[7:22]So, on the last pull through, drop the yellow, pick up the black. Chain one, turn our work. So, there are no more yellow rows in this, um, body bit because we're now coming on to to work the tail. But we, for this next row, we do still need to carry the yellow across because we want it to end on this side. So, we're still carrying the yellow at the back of the work. What we're going to do along this row with the black are double crochet decreases. So, for that, I'm going to insert the hook into that first stitch, still trapping the yellow behind. Going to grab the black yarn and pull it through, but I'm not going to finish off that stitch like we would for a double crochet ordinarily. What I'm going to do is go into the next stitch along, insert the hook, grab the yarn, pull it through, so we've got three loops on the hook. So, I'm going to grab the yarn and pull through all three black loops. So we've now got one stitch where before we had two, so that's a double crochet decrease. I'm going to do the same across the next two stitches. So, insert into that first yellow stitch, grab the black yarn and pull through, move along to the next stitch, insert the hook, grab the yarn, pull up a loop.
[9:20]So we've got three stitches, grab the yarn, pull through all three. So we've got three stitches left now. So we don't need to carry the yellow in this next one, the yellow's okay this side so we can leave that. So we're going to chain one, turn our work. And into these three stitches, we're going to do one decrease. So, we're going to insert our hook through the stitch, grab the yarn, pull through, so you've got two loops on the hook. Into the next stitch, put our hook, grab the yarn, pull through, so we've got three loops on the hook, then into that last stitch, we're going to insert our hook, grab the yarn, pull through.
[10:06]So you've now got four loops on the hook, and we're going to grab the yarn and pull through all four loops.
[10:17]And that's the last decrease.
[10:22]So, we then going to chain three, one, two, three. Turn our work, and we're going to do a slip stitch into into the first chain that we made.
[10:48]Okay, so that's the point of our tail.
[10:54]We're going to do double crochet stitches all around this outside edge of the bee, just to clean up those edges, make it look neater. So, where we've got black rows, we're going to do black double crochets. Where we've got the yellow rows, we're going to do a yellow double crochet, then we're going to change back to black for that stripe. Then yellow, then black, then change to yellow, change to black, change to yellow, and then the last few stitches will be in black.
[11:32]So, for this this part of the tail, we're going to do black. Now, just space the um double crochet stitches as evenly as you can. It's roughly one stitch per row that we're looking to do.
[11:51]So, we're just working double crochets around this outside edge.
[12:04]So this is the last black row, so I'm going to pull the yarn through, but I'm not going to finish off that stitch like we did before. I'm going to pick up the yellow and pull it through so that we've got yellow on my hook so that I can do a yellow double crochet at the end of this stripe.
[12:25]So, with the black hidden at the back, but tucked inside to carry it, I'm going to pull through the yellow and I've got two yellow loops on the hook. So I need to go back to black for this next stripe, so I'm going to pick up the black and pull it through those two stitches. So, we've got a yellow double crochet at the end of the black stripe. And carrying the yellow, I'm going to go into that black stitch, trapping the yellow yarn, going to pull through that black, and then in the two black loops, we're going to pick up the yellow because the next color we need to use, the next stripe is yellow. So, we've got a black double crochet at the end of the black stripe. So, carrying the black, we're now going to work into this yellow stitch, pull through the yellow, and then we're going to pick up the black. So that we can work into the next black stitch with black, oops, carry the yellow, pull that black through, and then we need to change to yellow to go around the head of the bee.
[13:52]Okay, so we can drop the black now because it's not needed for a while. And we're just going to work with yellow around the head of the bee. So, as we've been doing, just do double crochets around the edge.
[14:14]Now then, when we get to the row where we started with four stitches, which is this one, just where the head of the bee curves. I'm going to put two double crochets into that stitch, just because it helps to go around the bend of the head, and then we've got the two stitches that we started with.
[14:46]Then we're back to the other end of the row with the four stitches, so I'm going to do two double crochet stitches into that end of that row. And then back to one stitch at the end of each row. Then when we get right back around to the black, what we're going to do is we drop the yarn at this end, so we need to bring it up to this end.
[15:22]So I'm just going to carry it at the back of the bee, just loosely so that it doesn't pull the bee too tight. And I'm going to wrap that around the hook and pull it through, so that we're back to black for this black stripe. So I'm just carrying the yarn loosely at the back of the bee. So, I'm going to pull the yarn through, but I'm not going to finish off that stitch.
[16:15]I'm going to pick up the yellow, pull through those two stitches, the yellow in the last stitch of that yellow stripe.
[16:59]Carry the black, pull up a loop, and then we can drop the yellow, we don't need that anymore. So, we pick up the black, pull through, and then we're just going to work the last few black double crochet stitches around the edge of the tail of the bee.
[17:30]Then when we get back to the first chain that we made of that chain three for the tail, we can then do a slip stitch and that's enough.
[17:58]Cut that yarn, pull it through.
[18:15]So, I fastened off my ends, weave them in, and we're going to work on the wings now. So, with the white DK yarn, I'm going to insert my hook into that first yellow stitch around the edge next to the black stripe. So, yarn over the hook and pull that white through, and then I'm going to chain one, two stitches. Then into that same stitch, I'm going to do a half treble crochet, which is a half double crochet in US terms.
[19:30]So, yarn over, insert into that same stitch again, grab the yarn, pull it through, you've got three loops on the hook. Yarn over, pull through two stitches, yarn over, pull through the last two stitches. Then the next stitch is going to be another half treble stitch into the same yellow stitch. So, yarn over, insert hook into the same stitch, pull the yarn through, and then pull through all three stitches.
[20:25]So that's one wing completed. So, next, we're going to do another slip stitch but into the next stitch along, which is that black stitch at the end. So, insert the hook, pull through, pull through, and now we can start working on this second wing.
[21:14]So, I'm going to chain two, and then just like the first wing we did, into the same stitch, one half treble, then another half treble into the same stitch, and then chain two, and slip stitch into that same stitch that we've been working in. So, we've now got our two wings on the bee, cut that yarn, pull it through.
[22:16]I'm going to thread the end onto a needle and just weave in the ends. For the antenna, I use knots in a piece of black yarn.
[22:35]There's one knot, so I usually do about three knots on top of each other, which is about the right size.
[22:46]So that's two, pull those tight, and then a third one. So that's three knots on top of each other to make a ball for the top of the antenna. And then that's quite tight so I just cut the excess yarn off, and we've got one completed there. And just do the same on this other side. We're left with a piece of black yarn with two two balls on the end. So, fold that in half and then I've threaded the yellow yarn through each black strand near the center.
[24:01]Pull the yellow yarn through, and then we want them positioned about there. So if I turn the B over, and I'm now just going to stitch the antenna in place, quick tie there. And then I'm just going to weave the yellow yarn ends into the back of the B. So the antenna are in place, I've sewn them onto the back of the B, and I'm now going to do the two eyes and the mouth. So, for the eyes, I tend to use French knots, you could just use stitches if you prefer. Um but for the French knots, I push through the needle where I want the first eye to be roughly, and then take the needle, the yarn in my left hand, and then with my right hand, wrap the yarn around the needle a couple of times. Turn the needle so that it's point down, back into the bee, just slightly to the side of where the needle came through initially. Push that through to the back and pull down, and then just give a little pull on the yarn at the back to tighten the knot up. And there's one eye, so I'll just cut that black yarn off there.
[26:13]So that's the first eye, and I'm going to do another eye now at the side. Okay, so I've done the two eyes on this B. I'm now going to do the mouth, so I'm just going to bring the yarn up roughly where I want the mouth to be, and then into the other side under the second eye. Push the needle through, leaving it quite loose. What I'm going to do now is just pull that mouth down slightly and insert the needle just above so that I can pull the yarn through and pull that down tight, so that it pulls the mouth into a a V sort of shape.
[27:27]And then I'm just going to fasten off the yarn at the back. Okay, so there's the finished applique B. And we've threaded all the yarns through, weave them in at the back, so they're quite secure. And the applique B is finished. Um so, I hope you enjoy making this. As I said earlier, there are some written instructions for this B that are available, um the link is in the description box below. So, thanks for watching.
