We've now welcomed December and as such, the world is ramping up it's efforts to get festive. Several times this weekend I've noticed groups and couples hauling trees, or bags packed with lights and tinsel and various bits and bobs to get into the spirit - and why wouldn't you? Christmas has a warm nostalgic tingle, most of the time. A rare moment in childhood when the family is together, warmth away from cold and the buzz of fairytale gift givers, twinkly lights bloody everywhere and the chance of snow. I can be a bit of a scrooge during these times, only caving in for mulled wine and a bit of a sing-along, but this year I've been getting right into it trying to think up ideas for workshops - which resulted in this guy, a pom pom wreath. 

There's not much to it. You get a base, you make pom poms, you put them on the base. Voila!

For mine - and for the workshops - I've sourced a mix of chunky merino for super big fluffy bits and some organic cotton KPC yarn for constrast. I found it quite hard when googling around to find out how much yarn you'd need, and the conclusion I came to was more than you think! For bigger wreaths, some places were recommending a kilo of yarn, which can be quite an outlay. So the wreaths at the workshops will be 20-23cm in diameter, you can choose between a star, a heart or a traditional ring and you'll be given 300g of yarn (200g merino, 100g cotton) and 3 sizes of pom pom makers. 

I'm pretty happy with mine - and no doubt will end up making a few more - and I like the fact you can keep it year after year. It's a great way to burn through that yarn stash, and for those with bolder tastes you can really go to town with colours and embellishment (fairy lights?). And once you've started why stop? You can go big (the arm knitting wool can be used for giant pom poms), you can make baubles and bunting, jewellery, add pom poms to your hats, accessories - everything. Everything can be pom pom-ed, let no one judge, we are all guilty. Grab a mulled wine, and off you go!

We're deep into November and Christmas approaches at speed, as it does every year. The christmas lights are up and twinkling on the main shopping streets and the waves of cinnamon that waft from the mulled wine vendors at Greenwich Market have started to embalm the stall  - all small lovely things to compensate for dark cold nights and regular rainy showers. 

The theme of November's 'The Company of Crafters' (29th, 7-10pm at Deptford Does Art) is 'Festive Delights', so I've been thinking up and practising some on-theme crafting. Pretty early on, I got fixated with stockings. There's so many things you can craft for christmas - baubles, wreaths, jumpers, gifts - but this seemed like a good place to start. And as ever, the thick sturdy Hoooked Zpagetti comes to the rescue again for a one-evening project and a simple place to start for beginners. 

This stocking uses crochet, the pattern was based off of a Hobbycraft blog (here), which uses tiny wool and hooks to make up tiny stockings you can use to build up an advent calendar! As with any of these, once you've got the shape and the jist, you can resize and embellish till your heart is content! Do it in one colour and sew an initial on the front, add pom poms, go stripy - the options are endless.. I'll certainly be churning out a few in the next weeks, so keep your eyes peeled for inspiration. 

All you'll need is:-

1) 12mm Crochet Hook
2) Hoooked Zpagetti (I've used Hoooked's Ribbon XL silvery lurex for some shimmer as my contrast colour) 

I'll be using US notation here - where:
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DC - Double Crochet (wrap the yarn once before entering the stitch)
TC - Triple Crochet (wrap the yarn twice before entering the stitch)
SLST - Slip Stitch 


You start at the toe:-

row 1: magic loop, chain 1, work 6 DC into the first chain, SLST into the first stitch to complete the ring (6)
row 2: chain 1, 2 DC into every stitch, SLST into the first stitch to complete the ring (12)
row 3: chain 1, *1DC, 2DC* - increasing in every second stitch, SLST into the first stitch to complete the ring (18)
row 4-6: Chain 1, DC into all stitches, SLST into first to complete the ring (18)

remove hook and replace with a stitch marker (I use a giant safety pin), don't tie off or cut the yarn, we're coming back after the heel.  


Now for the heel (switch colours if you like):-

starting 4 stitches on from the stitch marker
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row 7:- SLST to join new yarn, for next 11 stitches: DC, HTC, HTC, TC, TC, TC, TC, TC, HTC, HTC, DC SLST
row 8-9:- chain 1 to turn, DC, HTC, HTC, TC, TC, TC, TC, TC, HTC, HTC, DC, SLST

fasten off!


Back to the body:-

row 10:- Chain 1, DC into all stitches, SLST into first to complete the ring (18) 
(this will take you around the loop, across the heel section, bringing everything together)
row 11 - 13:- Chain 1, DC into all stitches, SLST into first to complete the ring (18)

Trim:-

row 14:- switch colours and Chain 1, DC into all stitches, SLST into first to complete the ring (18)
row 15:- SLST into all stitches, above the heel SLST, chain 10, SLST to create the loop, chain more for a bigger loop (18)

fasten off! Voila!