2021 Year of the Cow Garland ♥ Crochet Pattern

In 2019, I crochet a year of the pig decal. This year, I wanted to make another crochet pattern for the animal of the year 2021, the ox. The Lunar New Year animal for 2021 is an ox, however, I’ve been seeing a lot of cows in Lunar New Year merchandise so instead of attempting to crochet an ox (what does an ox even look like?) I decided to crochet cows because your girl adores cows! haha

The Lunar Animal of 2021 is the ox which is the second animal in the Chinese zodiac wheel. Those born under the year of the ox are said to be diligent, dependable, strong, and determined.

This pattern is pretty easy. The only difficult part is creating the cow’s spot. I used a technique where you travel with two different yarn strands as you crochet. To do this, color change like you normally would but keep the second yarn underneath the yarn you’re using and crochet as if the yarn isn’t there like you normally would. Continue doing this and color change when the pattern tells you to.

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If you want to learn how to crochet watch my how-to video here. If you decide to make this pattern post it on Ravelry or tag me @mooeyscrochet and @mooeyandfriends.

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Supplies
– H/5.00 mm crochet hook (my favorite hook)
– Yellow worsted weight yarn
– Grey worsted weight yarn
– White or cream worsted weight yarn
– Brown worsted weight yarn
– Pink worsted weight yarn
– Tan worsted weight yarn
– Black felt
– Slanted tapestry needle (I use these)
– Glue (this is my favorite no-sew glue)
– Scissors
– Twine

Aberrations
ch(s) – chains
st(s) – stitch(es)
slst – slip stitch (same as join)
sc – single crochet
hdc – half double crochet
dc – double crochet
flo – front loop only
blo – back loop only
cc – color change
dec – decrease (same as sc2tog) (single two st together)
inc – increase (make 2sc in a single st)
(x_) – repeat (_) amount of times
[x_] – repeat everything inside the [_] times amount of times

Crochet Level
intermediate

Pattern Notes
The pattern is written in US terms
This pattern uses a magic circle. Magic circle instructions here.
If you have any problems with this pattern feel free to contact me so that I can make corrections to the pattern.

Banner (make 4)
With H hook and yellow or grey yarn
Row 1: ch 11 sts, sc 10 sts. Total = 10 sts
Rows 2-8: ch 1, sc 10 sts. Total = 10 sts
*Row 9: ch 1, sc 5 sts. Total = 5 sts
Row 10: ch 1, dec 1 st, sc 1 st, dec last st. Total = 3 sts
Row 11: ch 1, sc 1 st, dec 1 st. Total = 2 sts
Row 12: ch 1, dec st. Total = 1 st*
repeat again from*
Cut off and weave ends

Cow (make 2)
With H hook and white yarn
Round 1: magic circle, sc 8 sts. Total = 8 sts
Round 2: [2sc in each st](x8). Total = 16 sts
cc to brown
[2sc in each st](x2). Total = 16 sts
cc to white
Round 3: [2sc in next st, sc 1 st](x5)
cc to brown
[2sc in next st, sc 1 st](x3). Total = 24 sts
cc to white
Round 4: [2sc in next st, sc 2 sts](x5)
cc to brown
[2sc in next st, sc 2 sts](x3). Total = 32 sts
Round 5: [2sc in next st, sc 3 sts](x5)
cc to brown
[2sc in next st, sc 3 sts](x3). Total = 40 sts
cc to white
Round 6: sc 25 sts. Total 25 sts
cc to brown
sc 15 sts. Total 40 sts
Cut off and weave ends

Ears (make 4)
With H hook and white and brown yarn. Skip 7 sts from where white and brown yarn meet.
Row 1: slst, sc in same st as slst, sc 2 sts. Total = 3 sts
Row 2: ch 1, sc 3 sts. Total = 3 sts
Row 3: dec 1 st, sc 1 st. Total = 2 sts
Cut off and weave ends

Horns (make 4)
With H hook and tan yarn
Row 1: slst, hdc in same st as slst, 2 hdc sts. Total = 2 sts
Cut off and weave ends

Nose (make 2)
With H hook and pink yarn
Row 1: ch 6 sts. Total = 5 sts
Round 2: turn and crochet on the opposite side of the row you were just working on, sc 5 sts, slst to first st. Total = 10 sts
Cut off and leave a long tail for sewing

Assembly
Surface crochet the numbers ‘2021’ to the banners. Weave ends.

Sew the nose of the cow to the center. With black felt, cut out black eyes and black nostrils. Glue and leave to dry. You can always just use black yarn to create facial features instead if you don’t have black felt on hand.

To make the garland, ch 10 sts, slst to 10 st from hook to form a loop, ch 20-25 sts, and slst to one of the pieces. Connect each crocheted piece by ch 10 sts and slst to the corner. Continue and finish off the garland by ch 30-35 sts and slst to the 10 st to form a loop. Weave yarn ends.