November 7th, 2021
Interactive Hanukkah Menorah – Free Crochet Pattern
We are so thrilled to release this pattern in time for the season! We heard from the community to provide more inclusive holiday patterns and we were so happy to jump on the initiative! We are a mixed-faith-holiday-celebrating family with a little one on the way – who will arrive just before Hanukkah this year – so this was a lot of fun to make! We can’t wait to see his chubby little fingers place the candles as he gets older.
We hope you enjoy this as much as we will!
Happy Holidays!
Pattern Notes:
This pattern is worked up in 5 distinct pieces:
- Backdrop
- Candles
- Menorah
- Menorah Base / Candle Pocket
- Start of David Embellishment (optional)
Once all pieces are complete, we sew them to the backdrop. We will walk you through all the instructions under Assembly below.
Measurements:
Backdrop: 18x14in
- With dowels: 20x15in.
Candles: 6.5in x 3.4in
- With Flame: 7in
Materials:
- 4.00mm Crochet Hook
- Bernat Softee Baby in the following colours:
- Flannel (for backdrop)
- Navy (for Menorah)
- White (for candles)
- Buttercup (for flames to candles)
- 2 wooden dowels 20in in length, width of 5/16in. (I picked mine up from a local craft store which came in 36in length that I cut down to 20in)
- Tapestry needle
- Scissors
Gauge:
4” x 4” (10 cm x 10 cm) 16 sc x 19 rows with 4 mm crochet hook
Abbreviations:
- SC: Single crochet
- HDC: Half Double crochet
- Ch: Chain
- Sts: Stitches
- Slst: Slip Stitch
- SC2Tog: Single Crochet 2 sts together
Pattern:
Backdrop:
With Grey Ch 73,
Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook to end, ch 1, turn (72 sc)
Row 2: sc in each st across, ch 1, turn. (72 sc)
Repeat row 2 until work measures 14in. Bind off.
Menorah:
With Navy and size 4.0mm hook Ch 61,
Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook to end, ch 1, turn (60 sc)
Row 2: sc in each st across, ch 1, turn (60 sc)
Repeat row 2 until work measures 1.5in.
Ch 1, turn.
Begin Candle Holders: we will work each candle holder separately.
Row 1: sc in next 4 sts, ch 1, turn (4 sc)
Row 2: 2sc in each of the 4 sc, ch 1 turn (8 sc)
Row 3-12: sc in each st to end, ch 1 turn.
Row 13: sc in each st to end, bind off.
Candle holder 2 – 4 and 6-9: We will make an adjustment to the center/Shamash candle per the instructions below.
Resuming back at the menorah base, attach yarn 3 sts from the first candle holder (meaning there should be 3 sts between each candle holder).
Row 1: sc in next 4 sts, ch 1, turn (4 sc)
Row 2: 2sc in each of the 4 sc, ch 1 turn (8 sc)
Row 3-12: sc in each st to end, ch 1 turn.
Row 13: sc in each st to end, bind off.
Shamash (Lead Candle):
Row 1: sc in next 4 sts, ch 1, turn (4 sc)
Row 2: 2sc in each of the 4 sc, ch 1 turn (8 sc)
Row 3-22: sc in each st to end, ch 1 turn.
Row 23: sc in each st to end, bind off.
Menorah Base / Pocket for Candles:
With Navy and size 4.0mm hook Ch 37,
Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook to end, ch 1, turn (36 sc)
Row 2: sc in each st across, ch 1, turn (36 sc)
Repeat row 2 until work measures 5in.
Candles: Make 9
These are worked in rounds from the bottom of the candlestick up.
With white and 4.0mm hook, ch 4, join with a slst to the first ch. Loop created.
Rnd 1: 6 sc within loop (6 sts)
Rnd 2: working in BLO, sc in each st around (6 sts)
Rnd 3: sc in each st around (6 sts)
Continue working sc in each st around, lightly stuffing with polyfill every inch or so. You do want the candle to hold its shape but not be overstuffed to the point where it is stretching.
Continue until work measures 6 inches. Bind off leaving a long tail to synch top closed.
To synch the top closed, attach a tapestry needle to the remaining tail. Weave the needle through all 6 sc and pull to tighten. Secure to close but do not cut down the tail. You will need this again to attach the flame.
Flame:
With Buttercup and 4.0mm hook, ch 4, join with a slst to the first ch. Loop created.
Rnd 1: 4 sc within loop (4 sts)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st around (8 sts)
Rnd 3: sc around (8 sts)
Rnd 4: sc2tog around (4 sts)
Rnd 5: sc2tog around (2 sts) bind off leaving a long tail to tie to the top of the candle stick.
Attach the flame to the candlestick by tying the two tails together and securing the flame so it stands upright.
Curly Tie:
With Navy, ch 121
Row 1: 2sc in 2nd ch from hook, 2 sc in each ch to end (244 sc). Bind off.
Star of David (Optional Embellishment):
*Make 2 Triangles
Ch 30; join with slip st in first ch to form a large ring.
Rnd 1:
Ch 1, hdc in same ch, hdc in next 4 ch, [(hdc, dc, Ch 2, slip st in last st, hdc) in next ch, hdc in next 9 chs] twice, (hdc, dc, Ch 2, slip st in last st, hdc) in next ch, hdc in next 4 chs; join with slip st in top of first hdc.
Assembly:
- Center the menorah base on the backdrop and sew approx. 3.5in from the bottom. Start with the right side edge and sew down the side, along the bottom and up the left side edge.
- Sew the candlestick holders. In this step you are shaping the holders into little pockets by sewing up either side. This part can get a bit tricky but they key is to remember that each candlestick holder should be straight from the base of the menorah and each holder should be spaced 3 sts apart from the next holder. The top of the candlestick holder will remain open, creating a pocket for the candle to slide into. Here is a picture:
The Shamash candle should sit higher than all the other candles so, be sure to stuff the base of its candlestick holder with about an inch of polyfil. That will naturally prevent the candle from sitting at the same height as the others.
3. Attach the menorah base / candlestick pocket. Center the base at the bottom of the menorah and sew along the top edge. Sew the bottom edge 1 row up from the bottom edge of the backdrop. The base is longer than the space left on the backdrop so it will naturally form a pocket for the candles to slide into.
4. Attach the backdrop to the wooden dowels. You can certainly skip this step but I do think it adds the structure needed to hold its shape. To attach the top dowel, with the right side of the work facing, pick up the first stitch and sc around the dowel. Continue in each st across, crocheting around the dowel. For the bottom dowel, turn the work upside down and with the right side facing, pick up the first stitch and sc around the dowel. Continue in each st across, crocheting around the dowel.
5. Optional: Attach the Star of David to the center of the Menorah base.
You can find the pattern for the Star of David right here!
That’s it! We hope you enjoy!
Be sure to check out all of our Hanukkah patterns Right Here!
