Val Pierce - Mini Christmas Crochet

Val Pierces passion for knitting began when her father taught her to knit at the age of five. Later in life she began home knitting for yarn manufacturers, and since then she has made a huge range of items, from evening dresses to teddy bears. She later began designing items of her own, and before long Vals designs were appearing regularly in national knitting and crochet magazines. She also teaches knitting, as well as a range of other needlecrafts, to both adults and children. Val lives and works in Shropshire.

First published in Great Britain 2011

Search Press Limited
Wellwood, North Farm Road,
Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 3DR

Reprinted 2012

Text copyright Val Pierce 2011

Photographs by Paul Bricknell at Search Press Studios

Photographs and design copyright Search Press Ltd 2011

All rights reserved. No part of this book, text, photographs or illustrations may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche, photocopier, internet or in any way known or as yet unknown, or stored in a retrieval system, without written permission obtained beforehand from Search Press.

Print ISBN: 978 1 84448 740 0

EPUB ISBN: 978 1 78126 043 2

Kindle ISBN: 978 1 78126 098 2

PDF ISBN: 978 1 78126 152 1

The Publishers and author can accept no responsibility for any consequences arising from the information, advice or instructions given in this publication.

Readers are permitted to reproduce any of the items in this book for their personal use, or for the purpose of selling for charity, free of charge and without the prior permission of the Publishers. Any use of the items for commercial purposes is not permitted without the prior permission of the Publishers.

Suppliers

If you have difficulty in obtaining any of the materials and equipment mentioned in this book, then please visit the Search Press website for details of suppliers:
www.searchpress.com

Contents

Introduction

Christmas comes but once a year and when it does it brings good cheer, so why not bring your very own cheer to this magical time of year by creating some or all of the delightful little crocheted decorations I have designed for this book.

There is nothing quite like making your own tree hangings, either for yourself or to give as a special gift to a close friend or relative. They can be packed away and used year after year and even handed down through the generations, giving you and your family pleasure for many years to come. Some of the pieces are free-standing, but there is no reason why you shouldnt add hanging loops and use them to adorn your Christmas tree too.

My favourite colours are reds, golds and greens, but all the items can be crocheted in whatever yarns or colours you want to match your particular Christmas theme, whether it be traditional, cool and trendy, or simple and childlike.

All of the designs can be made quickly and easily using scraps and oddments of yarn, so even those new to crochet will be able to make an impressive collection of novelty knits for the festive season. Add a tiny gift inside the cracker, or use it instead of a place card at the Christmas dinner table; use sparkly yarns, beads and sequins, or even embroider on a name to make these novelty knits truly your very own creation. Whatever you decide to do I am sure that you will have as much fun making them as I did designing them. Happy Christmas crocheting!

Here is a selection of the mini crocheted Christmas decorations you can make using the patterns in this book. In a range of colours and styles that can easily be adapted to suit your personal taste, they make perfect little projects for the festive season.

Hints and Tips

American and British crochet terminology

In all the patterns, US terms are given first, followed by the UK terms afterwards in brackets. So US single crochet would be written as sc ( UKdc ) and US double crochet as dc ( UKtr ).

Materials

All the decorations are made using a size 2.00mm (US B-1, UK 14) crochet hook, though for the Christmas Bear you will also need a 4.00mm (US G-6, UK 8) crochet hook. Either a no. 5 or no. 3 crochet cotton is used throughout, though if you prefer a fine 4-ply yarn can be used instead. Most of the items use only small amounts of yarn, making them ideal for using up scraps and oddments.

You will also need various embellishments, including bows, stars, ribbons, buttons and beads; a sewing needle and thread; craft glue; and toy stuffing.

Measurements

Approximate measurements of all the pieces are provided, but remember that if you use different yarns from those specified, the finished sizes may vary.

Techniques

Some of the decorations are worked in the round, which is sometimes a little difficult to master, so always place a marker at the beginning of the round so that you know where you started; it is very easy to end up with either too many or too few stitches if you dont know where the row began.

One or two of the designs are stuffed as you make them, and again this is a technique that you will need to get used to. It does make it a little difficult to crochet sometimes, especially when the opening is quite small. The secret is to add only tiny bits of stuffing at a time.