There’s something wonderfully satisfying about creating handmade items for your home, especially when they’re both beautiful and practical. This Merry Berry Trivet combines the gorgeous texture of the even berry stitch with festive Christmas colors to create a functional kitchen essential that looks just as good as it works.
At 8.5″ by 8.5″, this trivet is perfectly sized for protecting your counters and tables from hot pots, pans, and baking dishes. The dense, textured fabric provides excellent heat protection while the cheerful holiday colors make it a lovely seasonal accent for your kitchen.
What You’ll Need
Materials:
- Loops & Threads Classic Cotton yarn in Christmas colorway (worsted weight cotton)
- 5mm (H/8) crochet hook
- Yarn needle for weaving in ends
- Scissors
Yarn Notes: I used Loops & Threads Classic Cotton for this project, which comes in the most delightful Christmas colorway perfect for holiday crafting. If you’re looking for more festive yarn options, check out my complete Christmas Yarn Roundup. It turns out so many of your favorite yarns feature hidden holiday colorways in their regular year-round lineup! They can be hard to find so I did the searching for you.
Cotton yarn is ideal for trivets because it’s heat-resistant and durable. Acrylic yarns can melt when exposed to high heat, so always choose cotton or cotton blends for kitchen items that will come in contact with hot cookware.
Gauge: Gauge isn’t critical for this project, but using the recommended hook and yarn should yield an approximately 8.5″ x 8.5″ finished trivet.
Skill Level: Beginner-friendly! If you can chain and single crochet, you can master the even berry stitch.
Understanding the Even Berry Stitch
Before diving into the pattern, let’s review the even berry stitch technique. This stitch creates a dense fabric that’s flat on one side and beautifully textured with raised “berries” on the other.
For complete step-by-step instructions and photo/video tutorials on the even berry stitch, visit my Even Berry Stitch tutorial. It’s a truly beautiful stitch great for projects all year ’round.
Merry Berry Trivet Pattern
Foundation Chain: Chain 32.
Row 1 (Setup Row): Skip the first chain. Work 1 single crochet into the second chain from hook and into each chain across. (31 scs) Chain 1 and turn.
Row 2 (Berry Row): Single crochet into the first stitch.
*Work 1 berry stitch into the next stitch (yarn over, insert, pull up a loop. Yarn over, pull through the first loop on your hook. Yarn over, insert into same stitch, pull up a loop. Yarn over, pull through all 5 loops on your hook and chain 1), single crochet into the next stitch. Repeat from * to * across the row, ending with a single crochet. Chain 1 and turn.
Row 3 (Single Crochet Setup Row): Single crochet into the first stitch. *Skip the chain that closes the berry, work 1 single crochet into the top of the berry stitch, work 1 single crochet into the next single crochet.* Repeat from * to * across. Chain 1 and turn.
Rows 4-35: Repeat Rows 2 and 3 (Berry Row, then single crochet row) until you have completed 34 total rows. Finish with one more single crochet row.
Adding the Crab Stitch Border
The finishing touch that takes this trivet from handmade to professionally polished is the crab stitch border. This reverse single crochet edging creates a beautiful rope-like edge that reinforces the trivet and prevents curling.
To add the border, fasten on your yarn to any edge stitch and work the crab stitch (backwards single crochet) around the entire perimeter of your trivet, working 3 crab stitches in each corner to turn neatly.
For complete step-by-step instructions on how to work the crab stitch border, including photo and video tutorials, visit my Crab Stitch Border Tutorial.
Finishing Your Trivet
Once you’ve completed the border, weave in all loose ends securely using your yarn needle. Because this is a functional kitchen item, take extra care to weave ends in well so they don’t come loose with use and washing.
Care Instructions: Cotton trivets can be machine washed in cold water and laid flat to dry. The even berry stitch creates a durable fabric that holds up beautifully to repeated washing. Just wash in cold water, repeated hot water washes can stretch out cotton sometimes.
Why This Pattern Works
The even berry stitch is particularly well-suited for trivets because it creates such a dense, thick fabric. Those raised berries on one side mean extra layers of protection between your hot cookware and your surfaces. The flat side can face down for stability, while the textured side faces up for visual interest.
The square shape makes this trivet versatile—it works for round pots, square baking dishes, and everything in between. At 8.5″ square, it’s large enough to be practical but not so large that it’s cumbersome to store. Feel free to alter the size by adding more chains at the start as long as it is an even number. Plus you can add as many rows as you’d like or even keep going to create a table runner!
The Joy of Handmade Kitchen Items
There’s something special about using handmade items in your daily life. Every time you reach for this trivet, you’ll remember the meditative rhythm of creating those berry stitches. And if you’re giving these as gifts, you’re sharing something both beautiful and genuinely useful.
The even berry stitch might become your new favorite technique—it certainly has a way of winning crocheters over with its satisfying texture and surprising simplicity!
I’d love to see your Merry Berry Trivets! Whether you make yours in Christmas colors or choose a different palette entirely, each one will be unique and special.
Happy crafting!🦀
Pattern Summary
Materials: Worsted weight cotton, 5mm hook
Finished Size: 8.5″ x 8.5″
Foundation: Chain 32
Body: 34 rows alternating berry rows and setup rows
Finishing: 1 final single crochet row + crab stitch border
