Catherine Wheel Stitch

The Catherine wheel, also called the starburst stitch, gathers groups of stitches into fans and closes them at the centre so each motif reads as a spoked wheel. You work a fan of several double crochet into one point, then on the return you draw a matching group of stitches together into a single cluster at the base of the next fan, and those gather points become the hubs while the fans become the rims. Alternating the direction of the fans and clusters each row, and usually changing colour every two rows, builds a bold, repeating pattern of interlocking wheels that looks far more complex than the stitches involved. It is one of the more advanced textured crochet patterns because you must count the stitches in each cluster and fan and keep them aligned, so a stitch marker at each hub helps. The two-colour version is the classic, giving a striking, blanket-worthy fabric that is dense, warm, and reversible-ish. Work the clusters at an even tension so the wheels stay round.