How to make a Tunisian crochet mosaic bee potholder

Whether you are advanced in Tunisian crochet or just a beginner, you can use this free Tunisian crochet mosaic bee motif to add beautiful details to your projects.

You may have been wondering if simple, square motifs in mosaic crochet is all that is achievable, but in reality that’s far from the only things you can make with Tunisian crochet mosaic.

The diagonal stitches give you a lot of room to play in mosaic, allowing you to create rounded shapes in two or more colors.

I’ve been exploring advanced Tunisian crochet mosaic for a year now, and I’ve created a method in which you can take a cute motif like a bee and bring it to life, one color at a time.

The magic of Tunisian crochet mosaic lies in the simple fact that you work with only one color per row and that you do not have to cut the yarn after every row.

If you’re curious on how to create this beautiful motif in your projects, read on or follow along with the video tutorial to make a felted potholder using this motif.

Two examples of felted and not yet felted blue with white and purple with light gray wool potholders with a mosaic motif of a bee. The felted piece appears smoother and stiffer than the other. — Examples of Tunisian crochet bee potholders before (right) and after felting (left).

Materials for the felted potholder

Yarn: chunky weight non-superwash 100% wool, at about 50 meters per 50 grams;

35 g or 35 m of main color (white in my case);
30 g or 30 m of contrast color (blue in my case);

Look for yarns with a lot of contrast.

Hooks: straight 8 mm hook or Tunisian crochet hook; regular crochet 6 mm hook.

Tapestry needle.

Materials used for making Tunisian crochet felted potholders: chunky wool in white and dark blue, 8 mm Tunisian crochet hook, 6 mm crochet hook, tapestry needle. — Materials needed to make one potholder, including 100% wool in two colors and crochet hooks.

Keep in mind when making advanced Tunisian crochet mosaic

This project is worked flat and always on the right side, like all Tunisian crochet projects.

The motif appears on one side of the project only. The other side is striped.

If you want a felted potholder, use 100% non-superwash wool for felting. If you want another type of potholder, use 100% worsted weight cotton yarn held double.

If working with cotton, you can make two and sew them with the wrong sides together to increase the thickness and make the potholder reversible.

All rows have the same stitch count, as mentioned in the first row.

Change the color before the end of the return pass of each row.

Abbreviations

CC – contrast color;
Ch – chain;
FpTDsB – Front post Tunisian Double stitch Backward: YO, insert the hook behind the 2 vertical bars of St behind current St and 1 row below, draw up a loop, YO and pull through 2 loops on hook;
FpTDsF – Front post Tunisian Double stitch Forward: YO, insert the hook behind the 2 vertical bars of St in front of current St and 1 row below, draw up a loop, YO and pull through 2 loops on hook;
FpTEDsB – Front post Tunisian Extended Double stitch 2 stitches Backward: YO, insert the hook behind the 2 vertical bars of St 2 Sts behind current St and 1 row below, draw up a loop, Ch 1, YO and pull through 2 loops on hook;
FpTEDsF – Front post Tunisian Extended Double stitch 2 stitches Forward: YO, insert the hook behind the 2 vertical bars of St 2 Sts ahead of current St and 1 row below, draw up a loop, Ch 1, YO and pull through 2 loops on hook;
FpTEs – Front post Tunisian Extended stitch: YO, insert the hook behind the 2 vertical bars of St 1 row below current St, draw up a loop, Ch 1;
Ls – last stitch: insert the hook behind the 2 vertical bars on the edge of the work and draw up a loop;
MC – main color;
R – regular return pass: Ch1, Rep [YO and pull through 2 loops on hook] until you are left with only one loop;
Rep – repeat;
Sc – single crochet (double crochet in UK terms);
Sl St – slip stitch;
St – stitch;
Tss – Tunisian simple stitch: insert the hook behind the front vertical bar of next St and draw up a loop;
YO – yarn over.

Video tutorial for bee mosaic

Right handed video tutorial.

Left handed video tutorial.

How to make a felted bee motif potholder

Start with a slip knot on your hook in MC.

Row 1. Ch 23, pick up 23 loops in back bumps, R — 24 loops

Switch to CC while making the last “YO and pull through 2 loops on hook” in the return pass.

Row 2. 22 Tss, Ls, R

Switch to MC. Continue switching the colors at the end of every return pass.

Row 3. 22 Tss, Ls, R

Row 4. 2 Tss, Rep [FpTEs, 1 Tss] 2 times, FpTEs, 9 Tss, Rep [FpTEs, 1 Tss] 3 times, Ls, R

Row 5. 7 Tss, FpTEs, 1 Tss, 5 FpTEs, 1 Tss, FpTEs, 6 Tss, Ls, R

Row 6. 2 Tss, Rep [FpTEs, 1 Tss] 2 times, FpTEs, 3 Tss, FpTEDsB, 1 Tss, FpTEDsF, 3 Tss, Rep [FpTEs, 1 Tss] 3 times, Ls, R

Row 7. 7 Tss, 3 FpTEs, 3 Tss, 3 FpTEs, 6 Tss, Ls, R

Row 8. 2 Tss, Rep [FpTEs, 1 Tss, FpTEs, 5 Tss] 2 times, Rep [FpTEs, 1 Tss] 2 times, Ls, R

Row 9. 5 Tss, 3 FpTEs, 7 Tss, 3 FpTEs, 4 Tss, Ls, R

Row 10. 2 Tss, FpTEs, 3 Tss, FpTEDsF, 2 Tss, FpTDsF, 3 Tss, FpTDsB, 2 Tss, FpTEDsB, 3 Tss, FpTEs, 1 Tss, Ls, R

Row 11. 3 Tss, 3 FpTEs, 1 Tss, 2 FpTEs, 5 Tss, 2 FpTEs, 1 Tss, 3 FpTEs, 2 Tss, Ls, R

Row 12. Tss, FpTEs, 2 Tss, FpTEDsF, 4 Tss, FpTEs, 3 Tss, FpTEs, 4 Tss, FpTEDsB, 2 Tss, FpTEs, Ls, R

Row 13. 2 Tss, 2 FpTEs, 1 Tss, 4 FpTEs, 5 Tss, 4 FpTEs, 1 Tss, 2 FpTEs, 1 Tss, Ls, R

Row 14. Tss, FpTEs, 1 Tss, FpTDsF, 5 Tss, FpTEs, 3 Tss, FpTEs, 5 Tss, FpTDsB, 1 Tss, FpTEs, Ls, R

Row 15. 2 Tss, FpTEs, 1 Tss, 4 FpTEs, 7 Tss, 4 FpTEs, 1 Tss, FpTEs, 1 Tss, Ls, R

Row 16. Tss, FpTEs, 2 Tss, FpTDsB, 1 Tss, FpTEDsF, 2 Tss, FpTEs, 3 Tss, FpTEs, 2 Tss, FpTEDsB, 1 Tss, FpTDsF, 2 Tss, FpTEs, Ls, R

Row 17. 2 Tss, 2 FpTEs, 3 Tss, 2 FpTEs, 5 Tss, 2 FpTEs, 3 Tss, 2 FpTEs, 1 Tss, Ls, R

Row 18. Tss, FpTEs, 9 Tss, FpTDs2Tog, 9 Tss, FpTEs, Ls, R

Row 19. 7 Tss, 4 FpTEs, 1 Tss, 4 FpTEs, 6 Tss, Ls, R

Row 20. 2 Tss, Rep [FpTEs, 1 Tss] 2 times, FpTEs, 9 Tss, Rep [FpTEs, 1 Tss] 3 times, Ls, R

Row 21. 22 Tss, Ls, R

Bind off the last row by making a Sl St in each St.

Using the smaller hook, make 1 Sc in each St, with “1 Sc, Ch 2, 1 Sc” in each corner.

Optionally, replace one “1 Sc, Ch 2, 1 Sc” with “1 Sc, Ch 14, 1 Sc” to create a loop.

Finish off with an invisible join and weave in the ends.

Two examples of felted and not yet felted blue with white and purple with light gray wool potholders with a mosaic motif of a bee, with the felted one being slightly smaller. — Tunisian crochet bee motif potholders before and after felting.

Felting the bee potholder

Use hot soapy water and agitation to felt the potholder until the texture of the front and back of the potholder is smoothed out.

You can wet felt by hand or in the washing machine on a hot water setting.

The potholder thickens and shrinks in size after proper felting. Repeat the felting process if the potholder feels too thin or if there are any gaps.

Backs of the two examples of felted and not yet felted blue with white and purple with light gray wool potholders. The felted piece is much flatter than the other. — View of the back of the potholders, showing how much the ridges on the back have flattened due to the felting.

Charts for making the bee mosaic

Follow along with the chart to make the mosaic. It’s easiest to read the instructions and read the chart at the same time, until you are familiarized with the different stitches.

Read the chart from right to left for every row, irrespective of handedness.

Tunisian crochet mosaic chart for a bee surrounded by a plain grid. Arrows show tall stitches.

Legend

Try out other Tunisian crochet mosaic projects

If you enjoyed this tutorial, there are more free Tunisian crochet patterns here on the blog.

Here’s a selection from the home décor category:

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