It’s taken me all week, but I’ve finally written up the second pattern! Busy times in the run up to christmas I guess – out every night and over estimating what I can achieve in terms of the festive crafts.

So here it is!…

I’m gonna call this one Long Legged Lucy:

Yarn:            Rico design essentials mercerised cotton, white

Hook:           2mm

(Different variations in yarn weight will produce a differently sized flake. Get a few different kinds – knock yourselves out!)

Abbreviations:

ch:            chain

dc:            double crochet

tr:            treble crochet (yarn around hook once to start)

dtr:           double treble crochet (yarn around hook twice to start)

ttr:           triple treble crochet (yarn around hook 3 times to start)

ss:            slip stitch

Chain 6 and join to form a ring

Round 1:            ch 2 (counts as a tr), (dtr into centre of ring, ttr into centre of ring, ch 10, skip first 2 chain stitches, dc into next 8 chain sts, dtr into centre of ring, 2 tr into centre of ring) x5, dtr into centre of ring, ttr into centre of ring, ch 10, skip first 2 chain stitches, dc into next 8 chain sts, dtr into centre of ring, tr into centre of ring, ss into top of first chain stem.

R2:            ch 1, dc into next 5 sts, (ch 3, dc into same st as last dc, dc into next 3 sts, ch 3, dc into same st as last dc, dc into next st, ch 3, dc into next 2 sts on opposite side of chain stem, ch 3, dc into same st as last dc, dc into next 3 sts, ch 3, dc into same st as last dc, dc into next 12 sts) x5, ch 3, dc into same st as last dc, dc into next 3 sts, ch 3, dc into same st as last dc, dc into next st, ch 3, dc into next 2 sts on opposite side of chain stem, ch 3, dc into same st as last dc, dc into next 3 sts, ch 3, dc into same st as last dc, dc to end of round, ss into 1^st dc.

Fasten off and sew in the yarn ends. To stiffen, soak for a few minutes in a solution of cornflower and water. PVA glue and water also works very well and makes the snowflakes less fluffy. I’m using both at the moment but I’m gradually leaning towards the PVA as the better finish.

If you’d like to use a template to get your snowflake perfectly even and symmetrical print out a 6 pointed star, just 6 lines equally spaced will be fine, and dry each snowflake out on top of a template lining up the points exactly.

I haven’t, because I live dangerously.

I’ve had a book of 60 snowflake patterns for about ten years and I haven’t cracked it open so much as once. It’s survived a lot of moving house and has been saved from every cull because I’m always completely convinced that one year I will use it and the results will be amazing.

Last week I gave it go! And it’s crap. Makes no sense, complete gibberish. Probably crystal clear to an American, but that doesn’t help me.

So I sort of used the photos from said book to write my own patterns, and they’ve turned out pretty well! They’re very simple once you get familiar with the pattern and I can turn out a three or four in an evening now, sat in front of the TV.

I’ve written out the instructions for the smallest one, along with round-by-round development photos (because I find that with crochet it’s often really hard to know which stitch you should be putting your hook into at any given time and this way it should be easier for you to see which elements line up from each round).

The pattern below is for the simplest of the three designs pictured. The other two will follow in later posts and if you’re all really lucky I’ll even draw them out in diagram form :)

First snowflake; let’s call him Basic Bob

Yarn:            Rico design essentials mercerised cotton, white

Hook:            2mm

(the top photo of the post shows two sizes of this snowflake, the yarn above will make the smaller one. Even a slight variation in yarn weight will produce a differently sized flake. Get a few different kinds – knock yourselves out!)

Abbreviations:

ch:            chain

dc:            double crochet

tr:            treble crochet (yarn around hook once to start)

dtr:           double treble crochet (yarn around hook twice to start)

ttr:           triple treble crochet (yarn around hook 3 times to start)

ss:            slip stitch

Chain 6 and join to form a ring

Round 1:            ch 2 (counts as a tr), 2 tr into centre of ring, (ch 2, 3 tr into centre of ring) x5, ch 2, ss into top of first chain stem.

R2:            2 ch (counts as a tr), 1 dtr & 1 ttr into next st (the one which sits between the first two treble stitches in the cluster of 3 in the round below), 1 dtr & 1 tr into next st, (ch 2, skip 2 sts, 1 tr into next st, 1 dtr & 1 ttr into next st, 1 dtr & 1 tr into next st) x5, ch 2, ss into top of first chain stem.

R3:            ch 1, dc into each of the next 2 sts, (ch3, dc into the same stitch as previous dc, dc into each of the next 7 sts) x5, ch3, dc into the same stitch as previous dc, dc to start of round, ss into 1^st dc.

Fasten off and sew in the yarn ends. To stiffen, soak for a few minutes in a solution of cornflower and water. I don’t think it’s exact science, but for reference I used a quarter cup of cornflour with a half cup of water and that produced a soft but flat and set snowflake. Pull into shape when wet and leave to dry on a tea towel or something similar.

I haven’t used a template because it seems to me that they look plenty nice enough just shaped by eye! But the perfectionists among you might want to print out a 6 pointed star, just 6 lines equally spaced will be fine, and dry each star out on top of a template lining up the points exactly. Then you will be able to sleep at night knowing that, should Santa bring a protractor down the chimney on Christmas eve, you will not be getting a piece of coal in your stocking as a punishment for sloppy angle making.

(PS. I haven’t gotten the box of Christmas crap out yet, so apologies for the lack of festive backdrop in today’s photography! Tree will arrive on Wednesday, so I promise I’ll work on it.)