In the Autumn 2023 issue of Crochet World, we have a lovely stitch sampler style afghan by Rena V. Stevens. The Spice It Up! Throw is filled with fun interesting stitches in stripes that could easily be converted to any color combination for your decor.

The trickiest stitch in that set is probably the Anise Star stitch, so let me show you how it works. My sample in the photos is worked over a row of sc which is different than the pattern but is just to demonstrate placement of stitches in the anise row. I worked the start of the row, 2 full anise star bottoms and the end of the row. Come back tomorrow to see the next row of the stitch.

Row 16 (WS): With WS facing, join burnished heather in top of beg ch-2,
ch 4 (see Pattern Notes), sk next dc,tr in next dc,

work anise bottom (see Special Stitches) across,—here is that portion explained for you…
Ch 5, yo twice, —red arrows point to the starting chain 4 and the treble that starts the row. Green arrow is pointing at the chain 5…

insert hook in back bar (see illustration; counts as eye) of 5th ch from hook, —image above shows the hook going into the back bar of the first of the chain 5 sts
yo, pull up lp,
[yo, draw through 2 lps on hook] twice (2 lps on hook, side star-point made),—image below shows what it looks like at this point. You have a chain 5 and a treble going into the top of the first treble you made in the row. This is the side point of your first star.

yo twice,
insert hook in same st as last tr post made, —This image shows your hook placement after your 2 yarnovers. You are going into the same stitch as the first treble of the row. In this case that is the last treble made.

*yo, pull up lp,
place marker in front side of last 2 lps on hook, —next image shows you have yarnovered and pulled up a loop and where the stitch marker should go in the 2 loops on the hook

[yo, draw through 2 lps on hook] twice (tr post made), —we have made another treble and are now ready to got in the loops with the marker

yo, insert hook on RS from right to left in both marked lps, —now you go into those 2 loops from the right but first be sure to yarnover

yo, pull up lp to approximate height of last tr post made, —Below is what it will look like with loop pulled up

yo, draw through 1 lp on hook (next star-point made)*,
yo twice,
sk next 3 sts,
insert hook in next st,

rep once between *
*yo, pull up lp, —above is what it will look like when you insert into the next stitch and pull up a loop to start another star point.

Note the loops on the hook, I have just started the * repeat at this point and am ready to put the marker in

place marker in front side of last 2 lps on hook,

[yo, draw through 2 lps on hook] twice (tr post made),
yo, insert hook on RS from right to left in both marked lps,
yo, pull up lp to approximate height of last tr post made,
yo, draw through 1 lp on hook (next star-point made)*—I have completed the above steps and have the 8 needed loops on the hook

(8 lps on hook),
yo, draw through all lps on hook,
remove marker (3 star-points made).

Above is the first completed anise. From this point you will go back to the chain 5 instructions and repeat to make anise stars all the way across. Here are some images of the start of another anise bottom…

After working the chain 5 and the treble into the back bar of the 5th chain, you will place the next part of the instructions right where my finger is pointing. Into the same stitch as the last “cluster” of stitches of the previous anise star.

working last star-point in 3rd st from end, —when you get to the end of the row, the last cluster of stitches of your star should be 3 stitches from the end of the row, then you will need to work the first side star point (the chain 5, treble pair).

So chain 5, work your treble into the back bar of the 5th chain until 2 loops on hook (that is this part of the instructions “work last side star-point to 2 lps on hook,”).

yo, draw through 2 lps on hook, —draw through those 2 loops you see in the image above
tr in same dc as last tr post worked in row below,
sk next dc,
tr in last dc,

Here is what the end of your row will look like with the final trebles.
Be sure you have the stitch counts stated in the pattern before moving on to the next row.

Join me back here tomorrow and we will go through creating the top of the Anise Star.

—Britt Schmiesing, editor