Last time I made my Christmas cards I wasn't such an avid knitter and I couldn't crochet at all, but this time round I'm going all out! My cards wont be over the top, infact they'll look very simple with a crocheted snowflake across the front, hooked on to the card. This snowflake will be removable and can be used as a tree decoration.
The first few snowflakes took a good couple of hours, it's all very intricate and detailed and they use a very small hook (1.75mm to be precise) but after I got the pattern in my head I managed to speed the process up. I can crochet, block and stiffen a snowflake in an hour and considering I have to make in excess of 50 of these snowflakes the speed can only be a good thing! I guess now you realise why I am thinking about Christmas cards in August!!
The snowflakes look very odd before they're blocked and stiffened, all floppy and with no real shape, but they completely transform once they're pinned. I created my own makeshift pinning board using sponges intended for car cleaning and covering them in a small amount of fabric. I couldn't find crochet thread stiffener in my local Hobbycraft so I researched online about other methods you could use to stiffen them and hairspray was an option I read that was perfect for snowflakes, so that is what I've been using and it seems to be working well enough. I have left a snowflake hanging in my living room to see if it loses its crispness over the next few months but 3 weeks down the line its still going strong so I think it'll be ok!
In other news, Molly Mouse has been out with us to feed the ducks and has spent the day with Charlotte at her friends house. She is also being snuggled LOTS at night time so I think she's going to like it here.
wow - what a lovely card it will make and a tree decoration!
ReplyDelete