FREE PATTERN - Fancy Christmas Bauble

 Fancy Christmas Bauble

(Adventurous Beginner to Intermediate)

  

Just to get into the Christmas spirit early...I have had a lot of fun designing and making this pattern. A great way to use up your yarn scraps to create a special colour scheme for this year's Christmas decorations.

 KEY

MR - magic ring

ch(s) - chain(s)

sc - single crochet (UK - double crochet)

dc - double crochet (UK - treble crochet)

rnd - round

st(s) - stitch(es)

sl st - slip stitch 

beg - beginning

pm - place stitch marker

2tog - 2 together

pc - popcorn stitch 

 

Popcorn stitch: 5 dc in same st, remove hook & place in top of 1st dc & last dc loop. Yarn over (yo) & pull through both loops. In new round - ch 3 & 4 dc in same st. Place hook in 3rd ch of beg ch-3 and last dc loop. Yo & pull through both loops to complete pc.

Materials

Yarn - Any yarn can be used. I used both acrylic & cotto yarn in 8ply (DK) & 10pl (4 medium weight). My personal preference is 8ply (DK).                  

Hook - I recommend that you use a smaller hook size than recommended on the yarn label (e.g. 0.5mm smaller) for tighter sts for stuffing.

Scissors

Darning needle

Stitch markers

Toy stuffing

Beads, ribbon, embellishments     You may choose to use embellishments to decorate your bauble. Check your bead's hole is large enough for your yarn. Use ribbon is an alternative to the ch-20 for hanging bauble. 

Dimensions

Dimensions will vary depending on the yarn, hook size, tension and amount of stuffing used.

Here are my measurements (I have tight-normal tension):

8ply:        Approx. 21cm circumference & 9 cm high

10 ply:     Approx. 26 cm circumference around & 10cm high

 

I hope you enjoy making these as much as I did. Please tag me on Instagram or Facebook with your wonderful creations @MuchAdoAboutCrochet. I would love to see what design & colour choices you make!

 

Instructions

Rnd 1	WORK IN ROUND for Rnds 1 – 5 & pm in first st of each rnd, if required. In MR, work 6 sc. (or ch 2, 5 sc in first ch)  (6 sc)
Rnd 2	(Increase every st). 2 sc in each st.  (12 sc)
Rnd 3	(Increase every 2nd st). Repeat: sc, 2 sc, sc, 2 sc to end of rnd.  (18 sc)
Rnd 4	18 sc.  Tighten beginning yarn tail and weave in to close hole.  (18 sc)
Rnd 5	18 sc and sl st to beg sc to join.  (18 sc)
Rnd 6	Ch 3 (dc), 4 dc in same stitch (beg pc) & complete first pc. Ch 1 loosely. Skip next st. Repeat: pc, ch 1, skip 1 to end of rnd & sl st join to beg pc.  (9 pc, 9 ch)
Rnd 7-8	Beg pc. Ch 1. Pc in next ch-1 rnd 6. Ch 1. Repeat: pc, ch 1 to end. Sl st join to next ch-1.  (18 pc, 18 ch)
Rnd 9	Beg pc & ch 1. Repeat: pc, ch 1 in each ch-1 from Rnd 7. Sl st join to beg ch-1.  (18 pc, 18 ch)
Rnd 10	Working in each ch-1 from Rnd 8, sc 2 tog & ch 1 to end. Sl st join to beg sc 2tog.  (9 sc, 9ch)
Rnd 11	Beg pc & ch 1. Skip ch-1 from Rnd 9. Working in sc sts (& skipping ch-1 from Rnd 9), repeat: pc, ch 1, to end. Sl st join to top of beg pc.  (9 pc, 9 ch)
Rnd 12	WORK IN ROUND for Rnds 12 – 15 & pm in first st of each rnd, if required. STUFF. Ch 1 (sc). Sc in each ch-1 & pc from Rnd 11.  (18 sc)
Rnd 13	18 sc.  (18 sc)
Rnd 14	(Decrease every 2nd st). Repeat: sc, sc 2tog to end. STUFF.  (12 sc)
Rnd 15	(Decrease every st). Sc 2tog and sl st to next st in rnd.  (6 sc). Ch 20 or more for hanger. Sl st to opposite side sc and fasten off. (Use alternative material, such as ribbon weaved in to last rnd, to create hanger).

 Tips

 

1.     Leave any yarn tails from colour changes unwoven. They help as stuffing.

2.     For eliminating yarn tangles with multiple colour changes & uncut yarn (e.g. alternating colours for each popcorn), carry the yarn with your work and pick up as you work your stitches. You may only need to pick up the yarn strands in one stitch to help keep it along the outside of your bauble and avoid any bulking.

3.     When working beads into the body of the bauble, thread them onto your yarn before starting. You need to have an idea of how many you wish to use and in what colour order for multiple coloured beads. Keep them on the working strand side until required, then slot in place at desired point and continue with your next crochet stitch. It is better to have more beads on your yarn than less! Unused beads can easily be removed after yarn is cut.

4.     If you wish to invert your bauble, attach the hanging cord before closing the beginning hole, tie securely and weave in ends.

5.     Play around with extra/decreased rows of popcorns or sc to change the look and shape of your baubles.

6.     If you wish to fill your baubles with a gift, chocolates etc., from Rnd 13 work 1 or 2 extra rnds of 18 sc, with the 2^nd last rnd being a repeat of sc, ch1, skip 1 for the closing tie. Ensure that all ends are weaved in (or crocheted over as you go) and thread your hanging & tie cord through the ch-1 spaces created in the 2^nd last row of sc.

7.     See the Chandelier Christmas bauble for a different feel to this pattern.

Maiden Voyage

 

Well, here I am with my very first blog; how exciting! Thought I would begin with "why now?".

It actually all started with a cancer diagnosis just before Easter 2019. After following up with my GP for a flu that never seemed to go away, I found out that I had a type of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma known as SMZL - or marginal zone splenic lymphoma. I went through a very challenging 6 months of chemo and received the news that every cancer patient wants to hear, "You're in full remission", in December of that year.

During my monthly treatments, it would take me a few days to recover from the nausea and then maybe a week to feel 'normal' again. I spent some time at home recuperating before returning to work. I was a 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off kind of person for a while lol! This meant that I had a lot of free time on my hands, but very little energy to do much.

This is where I re-discovered my love of crochet.

The very first time I picked up a hook was in a craft class I had elected to do in Grade 4. My mum was one of several mums who were volunteering to teach a particular craft skill, of which hers was knitting. Not happy with the time it took to grow a knitting project, I tried crochet. I loved how quickly progress was made on my very first granny square blanket. I still have it to this day! Mind you, I did not finish it until I was about 16!! It sat in a bag in my room until one winter clean out. I pulled it out again and after a refresher with my grandmother, who was an inspiring crocheter of doilies and granny square blankets, started to crochet again and finished it in time to have a lap blanket to put in my very first car..

I made very few projects in the years that followed. I lived overseas for many years and didn't take up the craft again until after I returned home to Australia in 2004. For some reason, I associated crochet with winter. Probably because all I could do was crochet granny square blankets, which kept my legs warm as I was working on them, during the colder months.

It took my cancer diagnosis for me to really sink my teeth into crochet again.

I have made so many things in the last 18 months or so, that I have forgotten what my actual first project was, after my long hiatus of crocheting nothing. (Or maybe it is just chemo brain?) I think I started with crocheting a jacket for the family fur-baby - this was after seeing a fellow dog-walker with a gorgeous knitted (or maybe crocheted) dog jacket on their pooch and suffering dog jacket envy! So, I made one for my terrier x, Kobi, from a free pattern I searched online, . I moved on to crocheting some lampshade covers, after not finding the right colour of lamp shade for my room decor. It just grew from there and I haven't stopped crocheting since.

Now, after having made so many new and wonderfully challenging projects, being inspired by so many other talented crocheters, I am ready to start creating some of my own designs.  

Watch this space...