Have you ever noticed that some “snowflake” patterns are 8 pointed, some have even more points. In real life most snowflakes are 6 pointed and some are 3 pointed too. So whenever I see a really cool snowflake pattern and then realize it has 8 points I’m usually disappointed.
Recently I have discovered that it is easy to convert an 8 pointed snowflake pattern into a 6 pointed pattern if the 8 segments are all the same. All you really need to do is work the pattern as written and leave out 2 repeats in each round.
I suggest starting with a magic loop rather than chaining and joining to start. With a magic loop you can adjust the tightness if necessary to accommodate the change to 6 segments.
For the snowflake above I took the original pattern and changed the number of stitches in the first round from 8 to 6. If your first round has a multiple of 8 stitches convert it to a multiple of 6. For this one I started with 6 sc in a magic loop. When the pattern tells me to repeat a section 7 times I subtract 2, repeating it 5 times, then I follow the instructions after that to finish out the end if the round. Often the last repeat of a segment is altered slightly to connect up with the beginning of the round, so make your subtraction after you’ve done 5 segments.
After I figured out the written instructions I drew a chart to help me remember what to do.
It’s even easier if the pattern has a chart. You can just skip the 6th and 7th repeats and move to the 8th repeat to finish the round.
I made this snowflake from a chart posted on Pinterest
The pattern begins with the equivalent of double crochet 2 together. chain 5, and it is repeated 6 times around instead of 8. Then just follow the chart around skipping the 6th and 7th segments on the star.
I encourage you to try this if eight pointed just isn’t your style of snowflake.
crochetbird 