The cloverleaf is my favorite Super Spirograph arrangement because it is so curvy. The larger wheels do very interesting things as they go from concave to convex to concave again.

To make it fit on a regular piece of paper, you have to lay it sideways as shown in the picture, not in a vertical cross formation.

The design is formed from the curved pieces laid out D-B-C-D-B-C-D-B-C-D-B-C, with the C pieces turned in the other direction from the D-B units. HINT: Join each D piece with a B piece, then connect the 4 resulting units with the C pieces turned the other way.

The total number of teeth inside the pattern is 336.

Use lots of putty – at least one per piece. If you’re using pins, use lots of pins. If the frame gets loose and wiggles as you go by, you’ll lose precision. I learned this the hard way.

Drawing the design can sometimes be tricky when you’re bringing the pen to a point at a convex part of the frame. Watch carefully how the wheel is moving. You may need to guide it with your other hand at those spots. Patience and practice!

At left is a variation on the most amazing red pattern in the instruction book that came with my old Super Spirograph. What’s different about this one is that I used Hole 1 instead of Hole 12 as instructed, and I changed colors so I could see better how it works. Just amazing.

Wheel 84 makes 4 revolutions, producing 4 points, as it goes around the cloverleaf’s 336 teeth. (84 times 4 = 336.) As you move the hole to the right one tooth at a time, the shape of the pattern changes a little bit, resulting in this mind-boggling design.

Here are some more beautiful designs using the cloverleaf arrangement. Click to enlarge.