These knitted ladybirds make pretty ornaments or badges. There are three sizes, so you can make ladybirds with 2, 4 or 6 spots. They can also be used as a counting game to help children learn how to add up. Templates for simple mathematical signs are also included, so you can make them in felt or card, to use for your game – addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. Two ladybird spots plus two ladybird spots equals four!

The red dome of each ladybird is knitted in one piece, with a bit of increasing and decreasing. Making up the ladybirds can be a bit fiddly with the legs and antennae, but there are tips for making a simpler version if you prefer. The spots are made by casting on some stitches, then gathering the stitches into a circle.

A donation from downloads of ladybird patterns is made to the charity Sustain, which is a UK charity that works to persuade gardeners and local authorities to cultivate bee-friendly and ladybird-friendly plants and use less pesticides on their land, see: www.capitalbee.org. Sustain also runs The Big Dig project (www.bigdig.org.uk) and the Capital Growth campaign (www.capitalgrowth.org) to promote community food growing that is also wildlife-friendly.