The poppy is a symbol used in most Commonwealth nations for Remembrance Day. In Australia, we also wear them for Anzac Day. This year, because of the global pandemic, most ANZAC Day ceremonies are either cancelled or will be held with no spectators because of lockdowns and social distancing rules. There is a movement here to display poppies on our letterboxes instead, and to stand at the end of our individual driveways while the dawn service is broadcast.

I’ve done these in three colours here – the red is the traditional ANZAC and Remembrance Day poppy which is worn to remember those who lost their lives to protect ours. The purple poppy has come to symbolize remembrance for service animals who have been killed in action. The white poppy represents hope for peace. I will be putting several red poppies with one white and one purple on my letterbox this year. I hope you will join me.

While many in the crochet community have good patterns for small poppies that can be worn as a brooch, I couldn’t find any patterns for larger poppies. So this week I designed this one. After many attempts that weren’t quite right, I reduced the number of rounds to make the petals but used a chunky yarn and large hook to get the effect I wanted. The gauge doesn’t matter. This is meant to be a stash buster and I recommend bulky or super bulky weight yarns and their corresponding hook size (or go bigger in the hook if you want). The bulkier the yarn/larger the hook, the bigger the poppy will be. I used Scheepjes Chunky Monkey for the red poppy pictured in the trio but I used stash yarn for the white and purple.

This pattern is designed with popcorns (smaller 3 double crochet versions) in the middle to represent the stamen of the poppy. I’ve included bonus substitute instructions for that round if you don’t want to do the popcorns.