Homemade Christmas Tree

With the help of my son's youngest children my tree is up for this year. I decided to use a 4 foot tree instead of my huge one I usually use. Every ornament on the tree is handmade and has a story. There are knitted and crocheted ornaments. My oldest daughter, Mandy, has a ceramic ball ornament that she made in girl scouts and a plastic canvas penguin she made a few years ago. My youngest daughter has a teddy bear she made in kindergarten and a bear spoon ornament that was made for her by my Mother when Cyndy was small. Mariah, my oldest granddaughter has a tiny moccasin to represent her heritage and a marshmallow snowman she made in Headstart. My son's tree holds his ornament he made in cub scouts and his children's ornaments.

Here in this close up you can see the polymer clay ornaments I made this year and a few of my mini hats, bells and winter wear I knitted and crocheted.

The angel at the top is always the crowning glory. My youngest daughter was killed in an automobile accident on November 17, 2001. This angel looks just like her and is always at the top of my tree. I made her out of porcelain and lace. You can see Cyndy's photo peaking out of the left side of the angel.

I have a Christmas Plan

I have decided what I am giving for Christmas, at least for the females on the list, maybe even a Grandson or two. I found a pattern for the cutest felted teeny tiny totes:

http://web.archive.org/web/20080201114446/http://sarahsthreads.com/crafts/index.php?pid=40

I plan on making a BUNCH of these and fill them according to the person. One granddaughter will get finger puppets, the other will get pretties and a new DS game. I need to make one first but I am hoping that a DS will fit in it . If so I have wool Camo yarn for the grandsons to make one with boy stuff and maybe a game. For the ladies at work they will get a notepad, postits, and a few Hershey Minis. For my daughter and mother they "might" get small dishcloths, scrubbies, scrunchies for my daughter and sugar-free candies fro my mother. Haven't decided what I am doing for my son yet but I have a few ideas. I know he will also want dishcloths and scrubbies for his dishes. You become a father mother when you are a single father raising your kids on your own.

As soon as I have a few photos I will post them. I have already dug through my stash and have it all over my sofa.

Crochet Christmas Star

Just sat down this morning and wanted to crochet another ornament but wanted something different. I started wanting a poinsettia flower. I tried a few things, frogged a bit and came up with this star that would look pretty in any window or on any tree or as a coaster.

Materials:

Scraps of Worsted weight yarn - I used a red Christmas yarn with a silver thread in it
G crochet hook. A smaller hook will make a smaller star, a larger hook will make a larger star for a potholder
The G hook makes it about 4 1/2 inches across.

Ch 6, join to form a ring.
Round 1: Ch 4, 19 tc in ring, join in top of ch 4.

Round 2: Ch 1, sc in joining, skip 1 st, *5 dc in next st, skip next st, sc in next st, skip next st* repeat around ending with a sl st in top of 1st sc.

Round 3: Sl st in next st, ch 1, sc in same st, hdc in next st, (2 dc, 1 tc, 2 dc) in next st, hdc in next st, sc in next st, skip 1 st (located between points), *sc in next st, hdc in next st, (2 dc, 1 tc, 2 dc) in next st, hdc in next st, sc in next st, skip 1 st (located between points), repeat around for a total of 5 points.

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Simple Ball Ornaments in Knit and Crochet

These ball ornaments are very simple but can be snazzier up by using the pretty Christmas yarns or adding some lace or dried flowers. Fixed the knitted ball as it refered to repeating rows 2 and 3 but is repeat rows 1 and 2.

Crocheted Ornament

Materials:
Worsted weight Christmas yarn
Small amount of polyester fiber-fil
E crochet hook

Chain 22 leaving a 12" tail, sc in 2nd chain from hook and in each ch across. Turn.
Row 2 - 21: ch 1, sc in each stitch across.
Fasten off leaving another 12" tail.

Use this tail to sew side seam and gather bottom. Fasten off and weave in end. Turn piece inside out (seam inside).

Lightly stuff ball and gather top with other tail. Use remaining tail after top is gathered to crochet a loop for hanging.



Knit Ornament

Materials:
Worsted weight Christmas yarn
Small amount polyester fiber-fil
Size 5 or 6 knitting needles
Small crochet hook or yarn needle

Cast on 21 sts and turn.
Row 1: Knit across. Turn.
Row 2: Purl across, Turn.
Repeat rows 1 and 2 for a total of 17 rows. Do not bind off.
Cut your yarn leaving a 12 - 16" tail.

Using the crochet hook or yarn needle weave the tail through the stitches on the needle and pull tight. Then sew the seam along the side making sure to have the knit side facing itself.

Turn right side out and lightly stuff with fiber-fil.

Gather top and sew tight. Now use crochet hook and remaining tail to crochet a loop for hanging and fasten off. Weave in end.

Sparkling Snowflake

This is a simple yet pretty snowflake that can be used as an ornament, package tie or even a coaster. I love the Christmas yarns so used that for this snowflake.

Materials:
Worsted Weight Yarn. I used the white with a silver thread.
G crochet hook

Notes:
dc cluster - Keeping last loop of each dc on hook, 2 dc in space or
stitch indicated; yarn over and draw through all 3 loops on hook.

Ch 4; join to form a ring.
Rnd 1: (right side) Ch 2 dc in ring; ch 3; * dc cluster in ring; ch 3; repeat from * 4 more times; ch 3; join in first dc.

Rnd 2: Ch 2, dc in same space as joining; in dc just made work a picot (ch 3, slip stitch in top of dc)3 times; * ch 3, sc in next ch 3 space, ch 3, dc cluster in next dc cluster; in dc cluster just made work (ch 3, sc) 3 times; repeat from * 4 more times; ch 3, sc in next ch 3 space, ch 3; join in first dc.

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Christmas Yarn

I was in an organizing/cleaning mood today and went through several rooms. In the room my grandkids call the toy room I found 2 bags of yarn, opened them and there was my Christmas Yarn from last year. Some of it used to belong to my daughter-in-law before she passed away last year. Look at this festive yarn. There are some with gold threads and some with silver threads. Some are red, some are green, some are red and green. Some are an off white. One is black with a silver thread that looks like new years. The circle is a piece Aurora made so I don't have a pattern to make more. I am so happy to find this yarn. Now to knit and crochet away. YAHOO!!!!
I'm going to try making some knitted ornaments. I plan on knitting them in the round with double pointed needles but they can also be done with singles going back and forth. I plan on knitting a rectangle (if using single pointed needles) or a wide tube with double pointed. Then gather the bottom, stuff and gather the top. If they look pretty enough I might make a bunch. I can even get some gathered lace and put on the top for a ruffle and put a small tassel on the bottom. Hmmmm.......
Just for reference I will be using size 6 needles. When I have a few done I will post a few pics.

If anyone knows the pattern for the poinsettia circle shown in the photo I would be incredibly happy if you can point the way.