Crochet Snowflake

I didn't put all of the decorations I made during the year on the tree, I was a little concerned at the 6 month old mastiff puppies finding them tasty treats.  I did add a few of my favourites, high up on the branches where I thought they would be safe.  The decorations that received the most comments were by far the crochet snowflakes.  They were beautiful, delicate and glittering as they wafted around gently in the air conditioned breeze.  This year I want to make a few dozen more, for both my tree and as gifts for my family, and by far my favourite site for fabulous patterns is Snowcatcher.

There are dozens of beautiful patterns to be found there, all of them free for personal use.  If you would specifically like the pattern I used for this snowflake you can find it here.

Finishing

Print the above image out onto ordinary paper. Tape the piece of paper to a sheet of styrofoam. Tape a piece of baking paper or wax paper over the top of that. This creates a non stick blocking template. The above grid allows you to easily line up your snowflake spokes so they are symmetrical.

In a small bowl dilute a little white glue until it is the consistency of pouring cream. Saturate the snowflake and squeeze well to force out any excess. Make sure you are using rust free pins, and pin to your template. Give a sprinkle of glitter if you like, I like quite a bit as I use them on the tree and really makes them sparkle. Allow to dry for 24 hours and then remove the pins and peel away from the paper. You can re-use that printed template several times.

Crochet Snowflake

Technique: Crochet

Materials:
Size 10 crochet thread

Tools:
1.5mm crochet hook

The original pattern, and many more snowflake patterns, can be found here at Snowcatcher. This wonderfully talented women is passionate about raising money for MS. If you like this pattern please, please go visit her site and consider making a donation.

Snowcatcher writes: If you enjoy my patterns, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to the Colorado Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Association. I'll be riding the MS-150 in June to show my support for eight relatives, friends and relatives of friends who battle the disease every day.

Print the above image out onto ordinary paper. Tape the piece of paper to a sheet of styrofoam. Tape a piece of baking paper or wax paper over the top of that. This creates a non stick blocking template. The above grid allows you to easily line up your snowflake spokes so they are symmetrical.

In a small bowl dilute a little white glue until it is the consistency of pouring cream. Saturate the snowflake and squeeze well to force out any excess. Make sure you are using rust free pins, and pin to your template. Give a sprinkle of glitter if you like, I like quite a bit as I use them on the tree and really makes them sparkle. Allow to dry for 24 hours and then remove the pins and peel away from the paper. You can re-use that printed template several times.

Crochet Snowflake

Technique: Crochet

Materials:
Size 10 crochet thread

Tools:
1.5mm crochet hook

The original pattern, and many more snowflake patterns, can be found here at Snowcatcher. This wonderfully talented women is passionate about raising money for MS. If you like this pattern please, please go visit her site and consider making a donation.

Snowcatcher writes: If you enjoy my patterns, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to the Colorado Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Association. I'll be riding the MS-150 in June to show my support for eight relatives, friends and relatives of friends who battle the disease every day.

Original Pattern

Print the above image out onto ordinary paper. Tape the piece of paper to a sheet of styrofoam. Tape a piece of baking paper or wax paper over the top of that. This creates a non stick blocking template. The above grid allows you to easily line up your snowflake spokes so they are symmetrical.

In a small bowl dilute a little white glue until it is the consistency of pouring cream. Saturate the snowflake and squeeze well to force out any excess. Make sure you are using rust free pins, and pin to your template. Give a sprinkle of glitter if you like, I like quite a bit as I use them on the tree and really makes them sparkle. Allow to dry for 24 hours and then remove the pins and peel away from the paper. You can re-use that printed template several times.

Crochet Snowflake

Technique: Crochet

Materials:
Size 10 crochet thread

Tools:
1.5mm crochet hook

The original pattern, and many more free snowflake patterns, can be found here. 

Finishing

Print the above image out onto ordinary paper. Tape the piece of paper to a sheet of styrofoam. Tape a piece of baking paper or wax paper over the top of that. This creates a non stick blocking template. The above grid allows you to easily line up your snowflake spokes so they are symmetrical.

In a small bowl dilute a little white glue until it is the consistency of pouring cream. Saturate the snowflake and squeeze well to force out any excess. Make sure you are using rust free pins, and pin to your template. Give a sprinkle of glitter if you like, I like quite a bit as I use them on the tree and really makes them sparkle. Allow to dry for 24 hours and then remove the pins and peel away from the paper. You can re-use that printed template several times.

Snowflake Lace Ornament

Technique: General Crafting

Materials:
acrylic paints
styrofoam ball
felt snowflake(s) or ribbon
foam glue
iridescent medium

Tools:
paintbrushes and/or painting sponges

I found this lovely blue snowflake trim at my local craft store. It is made from felt and intended for scrapbooking pages, but works well for any kind of embellishment.

Paint the ball in a mixture of white and pale blue, I went a few shades lighter than the snowflakes for contrast and for that icy blue feel, but you could go several shades darker instead if you prefer. Allow to dry and apply the snowflakes to the ball using foam glue and allow to dry. Neither felt nor foam are fond of sticking to anything, in the end I saturated the felt and draped it around the ball and allowed it to dry.

I wanted a shimmer to this that was more subtle than glitter so I dappled the surface with iridescent medium.  Spray with a gloss varnish or sealant to finish.

Crochet Snowflake

Technique: Crochet

Materials:
10 weight crochet cotton

Tools:
Size 3 (1.25mm) Steel Crochet Hook
Tapestry Needle

Chain 7, join

Round 1: *Chain 3, Single Crochet in the loop, Repeat 8 times total from *.

Round 2: Ch 3, Work 2 DC in the same loop, CH 2, *Work 3 DC, CH 2, complete 7 times total from *, join with the beginning chain.

Round 3: *Chain 4, Work a cluster through the top of the 3 previous DC. CH 4, SC in the CH 2 space. Complete 8 times total from *. Work a Triple Crochet at the base of the beginning chain, instead of the last chain 4. You will want to end at the top by the cluster. Slip stitch back in to the top of the cluster.

Round 4: ** Chain 6, join, slip stitch in to the chain 6 * CH 4 SC in the loop, complete 5 times total from * (5 chain 4 loops), CH 3, SC in the next loop, CH 3 SC in the next loop, CH 3, SL ST in the center of the next cluster, Complete 8 times total from**

Using the tapestry needle, weave in the loose ends.

Soak in a mixture of 50% pva glue and 50% water until completely saturated. Squeeze out by hand and blot with a paper towel. Using stainless steel pins, pin out onto a board. This is called blocking and ensures that the pattern is set evenly. Sprinkle with glitter and allow to dry. If you have a disaster like I did and realize after the fact that your pins were not stainless steel and they left horrid rust marks on your snowflake, all is not lost! Make a smooth paste of cream of tartar and water and cover snowflake. Let sit overnight and rinse clean in the morning, all signs of rust should be gone.

This pattern sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is, this was one of my first completed crochet patterns and I ended up with a snowflake looking collection of thread! If you are a rank beginner and struggle to understand the pattern and terms, this video has an excellent step by step tutorial of each round, stitch by stitch.

Trans-continental crochet can be a little confusing as our hook sizes are labelled very differently. In Australia they are sold by metric size, and when I put this one together I realized afterwards that the conversion chart I used was off, and so it's a little 'off'. Not to worry, I think most people are quite taken by shiny objects, a sprinkle of glitter and people will go oooohhh ahhhhh and not notice any flaws.

Quilled Snowflake

Technique Used: Quilling

Materials:
white quilling paper strips
quilling tool
pva glue
adhesive spray
fine glitter

Tools:
quilling tool

From the strips, cut the following:
one 6-inch-long strip (center round);
eight 3-inch-long strips (arms);
four 6-inch-long strips (scrolls);
four 3-inch-long strips (teardrops);
four 2-inch-long strips (marquise shapes)

For the centre round: Using a quilling tool, begin rolling a 6-inch strip from one end. Roll strip into a tight circle. Finished center round should be 1/2 inch wide. Use a dot of glue to secure end; let glue set.

For arms: Roll one end of a 3-inch strip around quilling tool twice. At opposite end, roll strip around tool until finished arm is 1 inch long, with a small scroll at one end and a larger scroll at the other. Make eight of these. Glue arms together in pairs so that the they are mirror images of each other and allow a few minutes to dry. Glue the large scrolls of the arms in place around the center circle.

For scrolls: Fold a 6-inch strip in half. Roll each end to the center so that it resembles a heart shape. Make four of these. Glue the bottoms of scrolls to bottoms of arms near the center round, awhat you are doing here is lining up the middle section where you creased with the large scrolls of the arms. Let glue set. Gently extend the heart shaped scrolls open and ahere these to the arm sides of scrolls to arms.

For teardrops: Using a 3-inch strip, make a 1/2-inch round. The length of paper used here is pretty short, and when allowed to unwind naturally it will be much smaller than 1/2 inch. What i did here was to wind up a tight coil from the strip, then open it up fully and rewind it loosely by hand. Place the loose coil into the 1/2" circle on the quilling board and glue end down. Allow a few minutes to set, then recoil the centre with the quilling tool. Pinch one side into a point. Make four.

Glue the teardrops between rolled ends of scrolls.

For marquise shapes: Using a 2-inch strip, make a 1/4-inch round. Pinch opposite sides into points. I used the same technique here as previous for the 3" strips. Coil, unwind to relax the paper, recoil loosely with your fingers and then place in the quilling board to set into the correct size.

This is the working sketch I used to help with the placement of the pieces.

Let ornament dry overnight. Spray one side of ornament with adhesive and sprinkle with glitter; let dry. Turn over ornament and repeat on opposite side.

Whilst making this ornament I reminded myself that the only woman capable of creating a perfect snowflake was Mother Nature!