JAKIGU

Call me a purist, but in our house the magic of winter season doesn’t start until the first day of December. The good thing is, that’s today! And that made me want to go “Hooray!” more than once. ‘Tis the season.

My 5-year-old son was helping me decorate the house for the first time today. At one moment, he picked up a little jingle bell ornament, kissed it, and proclaimed, “Oh, jingle bell, how I’ve missed you!” My feelings, exactly.

While we certainly share love for jingle bells, the quintessential holiday decoration in my mind comes in the form of a snowflake. Made of wood, paper, fabric, yarn, beads, twigs, wire, or the special Swarowski crystal snowflakes my husband has been gifting me in our son’s name every year since our boy was born – I cannot get enough of them!

An so, in order to perpetuate my love for snowflakes, I am kicking off an annual tradition of bringing you an original crochet snowflake design each year on the first of December.

Ta-da! Here’s Snowflake 2018!

Like the snowflake trio from a few years back, this year’s crochet snowflake is easy to make, works up relatively quickly, and uses only scraps of thread. Though it wasn’t my objective, just like the previous trio this crochet snowflake is also worked in a single round.

On their own, these snowflakes make adorable gift tags, timeless tree ornaments, eye-catching window decorations, or thoughtful last minute gifts. Don’t you agree? Alternatively, you could group and join several together. Can you imagine a dozen of these snowflakes hanging on your mantel as a bunting banner? Or as a Christmas tree garland?

What else would you use them for?

Seriously, let me know in the comments!

And if you’re ready, let’s get started.

You will need:

• 2.25 mm (B) crochet hook
• Aunt Lydia’s Crochet Thread Fashion 3 (or another size 3 crochet thread)*
• needle for sewing in the ends, and scissors

*Note: Feel free to experiment and use any appropriate thread or yarn and hook combination. Gauge is irrelevant to the success of this project. The bigger the hook and the thicker the yarn, the bigger the snowflake; and vice versa.

Abbreviations used:

• ch (chain stitch), chs (chains)
• sk (skip)
• sl st (slip stitch)
• dc3tog (3 double crochet stitches worked together)
• FP (front post)
• BL (back loop)

How to work individual stitches:

Adjustable magic loop

Check out my detailed pictorial for step-by-step guidance.

Chain stitch

Yarn over the hook. Pull yarn through the loop on the hook.

Slip Stitch

Insert hook into a stitch or space specified. Yarn over. Pull yarn through the stitch and the loop on the hook.

dc3tog

*Insert hook into magic ring. Yarn over. Pull up a loop through the stitch. Yarn over. Pull yarn through first two loops on the hook .* The first partial double crochet is complete. Repeat steps between asterisks (*) to work two more partial double crochets. When you finish 3 partial double crochets (and have 4 loops on the hook), yarn over, and pull yarn through all 4 loops on the hook.

Note: for the starting dc3tog, work 2 chain stitches instead of the first partial double crochet.

Picot and front post slip stitch

Chain 4.

When crocheting snowflakes, I like to use FP slip stitch to anchor the picot and to cinch and define the point of the dc3tog and the base of the picot above it.

To anchor the picot with a FP slip stitch, first bend the chain to the left so that fourth chain stitch and the first chain stitch are next to each other. Pinch and hold the bent chain with left thumb and index finger. Moving over the tip of the dc3tog, guide the hook to the right (and under the chain 2 space for every other picot except the first one). Point the hook behind the dc3tog, and pull up a loop from behind the picot. Pull this loop through the loop on the hook to complete the FP slip stitch. As you tighten this PF slip stitch, make sure it’s centered right above the dc3tog tip.

Crochet Snowflake 2018, Pattern Instructions

Note 1: The whole snowflake is worked in a single round.
Note 2: If you have a favorite way of crocheting a picot, feel free to substitute the picot and anchoring FP sl st with your preferred picot making method. 

*work into magic loop: dc3tog (work ch 2+dc2tog instead of first dc3tog) – picot, FP sl st – ch 12, sk 1, sl st into BL of each of next 5 chs – ch 7 – sk 1, sl st into BL of each of next 4 chs – ^ch 5 – sk 1, sl st into BL of next 4 chs^ repeat from^ 2 times – sl st into BL of next 2 chs – ch 6 – sk 1, sl st into BL of each of next 5 chs – sl st into BL of next 4 chs – ch 2* 6 times, join with a sl st – fasten off – weave ends in

Finishing

You will need to stiffen the finished snowflake.

Supplies:

• foam board (or other surface into which you can safely and firmly push pins: cork and cardboard should work well)
• cling wrap
• pins (36 per snowflake)
• a bowl with water
• clear or white school glue, like Elmer’s (or your favorite commercial stiffener – follow manufacturer’s instructions)
• a round or 1/4 flat paint brush

Whenever I need to stiffen a finished crochet item, I like to use a mixture of water and white or clear school glue (like Elmer’s). While for baskets and picture frames, I use the 1:3 to 1:4 glue to water ratio, for these snowflakes I recommend the ratio of 1:1. If you know your snowflakes will be frequently handled, consider 3:1 glue to water ratio (or even glue only) to keep them nice and stiff.

Process:

First, soak your snowflakes in warm water, until fully saturated.

In the meantime, prepare your glue mixture by combining appropriate amounts of glue and warm water. Glue dissolves into water easier when the water is warm. Carefully stir until there are no more glue streaks left.

Lay cling wrap over your board to prevent snowflakes from getting stuck to it when the glue-water mixture dries.

Then, remove snowflakes from the water bath and gently squeeze our excess water.

One at a time, lay the snowflakes onto the prepared board, and pin them down into desired shape. Insert your pins at an angle to prevent tension created at the opposite end to pull the pin out. Start with a tip of the longest arm. Stretch and pin the opposite tip next. Continue pinning the remaining 4 long arms, always in opposite pairs. Then, start pinning the shorter forks – again working in opposite pairs to ensure nice and even tension. Lastly, pin down the picots.

When you have pinned all your snowflakes, brush each snowflake’s surface with the glue-water mixture until the thread is thoroughly saturated.

Let the pinned snowflakes dry completely. It may take 8-24 hours.

Remove pins, and enjoy!

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

Friends, may you be surrounded with love, joy, and laughter this holiday season; and may you have as much uninterrupted crochet time as your hearts desire.

I sincerely hope you enjoy working with this, or my other free crochet patterns. If you would like to get any of my paid patterns here on jakigu.com or on Etsy, I welcome you to use coupon code LENTAK25 for an instant 25% discount (on everything, including items on sale).

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