by Carrie Schutrick

Created on: April 15, 2009

The pineapple motif is one of the most common ones in thread crochet, and for a good reason: it's easy to work, pretty, and simple to fit into almost any pattern. With nothing more complex than treble crochet (American), you too can make a gorgeous pineapple motif. For a basic pineapple, there are some equally basic directions. Once you've got the hang of it, you can play with different numbers of stitches to customize the size of the motif for your own purposes.

Take your yarn and a hook of appropriate size (the pineapple usually appears in thread crochet, but you might want to begin with something a little heavier to learn), and start with ch 4, or a "magic ring" if you prefer. Once you've got your foundation ring, ch 5 (3 for the first dc, and 2 for a space), then dc into the ring. Ch 4 to turn, which counts as the first treble, then work 12 trebles into the ch 2 space, for 13 trebles total. Ch 4 to turn, skip the first treble, and work *ch 1, treble* across; again, you'll have 13 trebles when you're finished. This fan shape is the basis for the rest of your pineapple.

Turn the work, and work *ch 3, sc in next ch 1 space of the row below* across. You'll end up with 12 ch 3 loops. For the next and each subsequent row, skip the first ch 3 loop and *ch 3, sc in next ch 3 loop* across. You'll have one fewer ch 3 loop on each row. When you finish the row that has only one, end off. And that's really all there is to it; you've made your first pineapple.

From here you can do whatever you like with the motif. Different numbers of trebles in the starting fan will give you different numbers of rows of *ch3, sc*, and thus larger or smaller pineapples-you'll always end up with one fewer rows than you have trebles. It's also pretty easy to work a pineapple into a larger pattern, so that there are some spaces between the pineapple and its neighbors that are filled with other stitches; keep in mind, however, that the pineapple does have a tendency to make the path of the thread curl, so it's somewhat simpler to fit it into round items like doilies than onto straight things such as the edge of a pillowcase or sleeve cuff. Regardless, the pineapple makes a lovely decorative touch for all sorts of crochet lace, from the simple to the complex; now that you've learned it, you'll be using it for years to come in all your thread crochet. Just start adding it where it works, and see how fast the compliments roll in!

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