Christmas Stars & Baubles

With a Christmas-to-do-list longer than my arm, it was probably not the smartest thing to listen to the crochet voice in my head. On the other hand, just sitting down with a hook, yarn, some beads and the two ideas that apparently needed to be materialized, was very relaxing too.
And when the ideas turned out like I had envisioned: ahh…..such a happy feeling!
Having shown my stars and beaded baubles on Instagram, I made a promise there to write down the patterns/diy, and here they are.
They’re both rather quick projects, so you’ll be able to whip some up, even in time for this year’s Christmas…..
Christmas Stars – small version (us terms used)
* chain 5, close to form ring with slip stitch in 1st chain;
* chain 3 (= first dc), 15 dc in ring, slip stitch in top of 3-chain st (total of 16 dc’s);
* chain 3 (= first dc), dc in same stitch, 2dc in each stitch of previous round, sl st in top of 3-chain (total of 32 dc’s);
* chain 6, slip stitch in 2nd st from hook, and in every following stitch: sc, hdc, dc, tr; slip stitch in 4th dc from previous round. Repeat 7 more times (8 star points made).
Fasten off, sew in ends; blocking your stars definitely pays off, and you might even want to stiffen them up a little by adhering some Mod Podge.

I played around a bit with my stars; added some beads and hung them on a stick that Mila found on one of our walks the other day……
Christmas Stars – big version (us terms used)
* chain 5, close to form ring with slip stitch in 1st chain;
* chain 3 (= first dc), 15 dc in ring, slip stitch in top of 3-chain st (total of 16 dc’s);
* chain 3 (= first dc), dc in same stitch, 2dc in each stitch of previous round, sl st in top of 3-chain (total of 32 dc’s);
* chain 3 (=first dc), dc, dc, 2dc’s in 4th st of previous round; repeat all around: dc, dc, dc, 2dc’s (total of 40 dc’s);
* chain 7, slip stitch in 2nd st from hook, and in every following stitch: sc, hdc, dc, tr dtr; slip stitch in 5th dc from previous round. Repeat 7 more times (8 star points made).
Fasten off, sew in ends; blocking your stars definitely pays off, and you might even want to stiffen them up a little by adhering some Mod Podge.
Christmas Stars – 3D version (us terms used)
Crochet 2 circles like you would for the small or big stars; with wrong sides facing, crochet them together: 1 sc in every stitch, no increases made. With a small opening left, fill your circle with a little fiber fill, close circle.
Pick up the part of the pattern to make the star points and ta-dah: 3D star made!

Beaded Christmas Baubles (us terms used)
I’ve used plastic Christmas balls for mine, but you can easily use styrofoam balls as well. My balls were about 9 inches in circumference (ca 22 cm), and I crocheted with 100% cotton and hook size 3,5 mm.

* start with a magic circle and crochet 4 chains (=1dc plus 1 chain);
* crochet 1dc + 1 chain 11 more times; close with slip stitch in 3rd chain of 1st stitch (total of 12 dc’s and 12 chain spaces);
* slip stitch into next chain space; chain 2 and 1dc (= 1st 2dc cluster stitch), chain 1. Repeat all around: 2dc cluster + 1 chain in every chain space from previous round (12 2dc cl, 12 chain spaces);
* slip stitch into next chain space; chain 2 and 2dc’s (= 1st 3dc cluster stitch), chain 2. Repeat all around: 3dc cluster + 2 chains in every chain space from previous round (12 3dc cl, 12 chain spaces);
* chain 4 (=1st treble), * 2 trebles in 2-chain space, 1 treble in top stitch of 3-dc cluster from previous round **.
Repeat from * to ** all around – total of 36 stitches;
* chain 3 (=first dc), 1 dc in every stitch – total of 36 stitches.
Fasten off – sew in ends. Make a second one.

String your beads – 36 if you want one in every stitch, 18 for every other one – onto your yarn.
With wrong sides together, start crocheting your half crochet balls together with sc’s, only using the two inner loops (like this tutorial shows you).
Make sure to slide a bead towards your hook, before you crochet each sc (more info here). Once you’re 2/3 done, you’ll want to fit your crochet work onto the ball. The next part might be a bit fiddly, but you’re going to continue to crochet your work together, adding beads while doing so. Fasten off, sew in ends, and …… admire your work!
Wishing you merry times!
Love,
Marianne xx