We wanted to design something fun and festive to celebrate one of America’s biggest milestones – the 250th birthday of the United States! Enter in the Stars & Stripes Bandana, featuring the ultimate classic crochet design, the granny stitch, and dangling stars that make this bandana extra special! It’s a patriotic twist to a classic bandana. A bold, wearable, beginner-friendly project that’s perfect for the 4th of July!

If you have some extra red, white, and blue cotton yarn in your stash, this is a great project! It uses less than a skein of each color, so it’s perfect for using up leftovers from larger projects. It works up quickly, so you can start, finish, and wear it right away!

It’s fairly easy to make adjustments, too! I already have plans to make a smaller one for our dog, Phoebe! She’s a small cockapoo, so I’ll just take off a few rows.

If you’re using different yarn and a different hook size, just crochet until you reach your desired bandana size. Be mindful of the color changes though. This bandana is 16 rows of granny stitch, with the last 2 rows in blue. To keep the same color order, your row count needs to be a multiple of 4. For more flexibility, you can change the order and begin with red instead!

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This bandana features a granny stitch bandana and mini star motifs. If you’d like the full written pattern for each of those, the bandana is the same as the one in our Bat Bandana Pattern (which includes a private video tutorial) and the stars are included in the Star Pattern Collection (which includes instructions for a star bag, medium, small, mini, small Christmas & medium Christmas stars).

On Etsy: Bat Bandana Pattern
On Ravelry: Bat Bandana Pattern

On Etsy: Star Pattern Collection
On Ravelry: Star Pattern Collection

Size

The finished bandana measures approximately 9″ at its tallest point (B) and 17″ along the longest edge (A).

Gauge: 10 rows of 5 granny stitches measures 4″ x 4″.

Notes & Special Stitches

• 3 dc: make 3 double crochets into the next stitch/space
• (xyz): all stitches are worked into the same stitch/space
• {xyz}: repeat all those stitches a certain number of times
• cluster: 3 dc in the same space
• Starting Chain: The starting Ch 3 counts as a stitch.
• Stitch Counts: Stitch counts are listed at the end of each Round in [ ].
• Between stitches/clusters: Work the stitch(es) under all 3 loops in the space between stitches.

Pattern

Stars

Make 11.

With white yarn, begin with a Magic Ring.

{Sc, dc, ch 2, dc} rep 5 times in the ring, sl st to first sc to join. Cut yarn and fasten off. Weave in the ends.

Bandana

With white yarn, begin with a Magic Ring.

Row 1 (RS): Ch 3, 2 dc, ch 2, 3 dc in the ring. Pull to tighten, turn. [6 dc]

Row 2 (WS): Ch 3, dc between first two dc stitches, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in ch 2 sp, 2 dc between dc and ch 3 of Row 1, turn. [10 dc]

Cut yarn and fasten off.

Row 3: Attach red yarn with a sl st between first two dc stitches. Ch 3, dc in same space, 3 dc in space before cluster, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in ch 2 sp, 3 dc in space after cluster, 2 dc between dc and ch 3 of previous row, turn. [16 dc]

Row 4: Ch 3, dc between dc stitches, 3 dc in space before next cluster, 3 dc in space between clusters, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in ch 2 sp, 3 dc in space between clusters, 3 dc in space after next cluster, 2 dc between dc and ch 3 of previous row, turn. [22 dc]

Cut yarn and fasten off.

Row 5: Attach white yarn with a sl st between first two dc stitches. Ch 3, dc in same space, 3 dc in space before next cluster, 3 dc in each space between clusters, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in ch 2 sp, 3 dc in each space between clusters, 3 dc in space after next cluster, 2 dc between dc and ch 3 of previous row, turn. [28 dc]

Row 6: Ch 3, dc in same space, 3 dc in space before next cluster, 3 dc in each space between clusters, (3 dc, ch 2, 3 dc) in ch 2 sp, 3 dc in each space between clusters, 3 dc in space after next cluster, 2 dc between dc and ch 3 of previous row, turn. [34 dc]

Cut yarn and fasten off.

Rows 7-14: Repeat Rows 5 & 6, alternating between red and white yarn every 2 rows. Your stitch count will increase by 6 dc (2 clusters) each row.

Rows 15-16: Repeat Rows 5 & 6 with blue yarn.

Row 17: Ch 50 (or until you reach 10-12″ in length), turn. Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across.

Flip your bandana over to twist the chain (don’t turn), so the WS of Row 16 is facing up and continue along the edge.

Sc in each st until you reach the ch 2 sp at the tip of the bandana. (Sc, ch 1, sc) in ch 2 sp, sc in each st across. Ch 50 (or the same amount as the other tie), turn. Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across.

Adding the Stars

Mark for the stars first. Begin at the tip of the bandana and mark the 2nd stitch from the left and right of the ch 1 sp. Going down the right side, {skip 6 sc and mark the next sc} rep 5 times. Repeat going down the left side. You should have a total of 12 stitches marked.

Flip your bandana over to twist the chain (don’t turn) so the RS of Row 16 is facing and continue along the edge with blue yarn to attach the stars as follows:

Sc in next 11 sts, sl st in first marked stitch, {ch 3, sl st to the ch 2 of star*, ch 3, sl st in next marked stitch} rep 5 times, ch 2, sl st to the ch 2 of star, ch 2, sl st in next marked st, {ch 3, sl st to the ch 2 of star, ch 3, sl st in next marked stitch} rep 5 times.

*When attaching to the star, make sure the star is RS facing. Insert your hook into the ch 2 sp from top to bottom.

Sc in remaining 11 sts, sl st to join, or end with an invisible finish.

Love granny stitch projects? Check out our other patterns & tutorials that feature the traditional granny stitch & granny square motif: