This year the Purl Bee is celebrating Christmas with the sweetest inspiration we know: candy! From rolling ribbon candy to twisty taffy, this whole week will bring ornaments and projects all inspired by the confections of the season. Yum!

Crochet Candy Ornaments | Purl Soho

Kicking off the week, our Crochet Candy Ornaments evoke the spirit of classic lollipops and peppermint swirls. To make them, I crocheted simple circles with Purl Soho’s soft and gentle Line Weight and then used Koigu Premium Merino Needlepoint Yarn to embroider colorful rings. I also backed each ornament with a circle of ecru-colored Wool Felt to give it structure and year-after-year permanence.

Crochet Candy Ornaments | Purl Soho

I love the idea of these ornaments decorating a tree or a branch but can also imagine them strung on a garland or dangling from a wrapped gift. They seem to radiate a small burst of joy and goodness, which makes them perfect for the season!

And here’s a sneak peak at some of what the upcoming week on the Bee will bring: a confectionery of ornaments! Stay tuned for all the who’s-whose, how-to’s and what’s-whats!

Crochet Candy Ornaments | Purl Soho

Have a very sweet and merry Christmas! -Whitney

Materials

Crochet Candy Ornaments | Purl Soho

This is enough yarn and felt for at least two dozen ornaments!

Size

Finished Diameter: 2 3/4 inches

Pattern

Crochet Circle

Round 1: With the Main Yarn, chain (ch) 3 into an adjustable loop, make 15 double crochet (dc) into the loop, join to third stitch of beginning chain with a slip stitch. (16 stitches)

Crochet Candy Ornaments | Purl Soho

Round 2: Ch 3, [2 dc into next stitch] 15 times to beginning chain, 1 dc into base of chain…

Crochet Candy Ornaments | Purl Soho

…join to third stitch of chain with a slip stitch. (32 stitches)

Round 3: Ch 3, *2 dc into next stitch, 1 dc into next stitch, repeat from * to last stitch, 2 dc into last stitch, slip stitch into third chain. (48 stitches)

Round 4: Ch 3, 1 dc into next stitch, *2 dc into next stitch, 1 dc into next 2 stitches, repeat from * to last stitch, 2 dc into last stitch, slip stitch into third chain. (64 stitches)

Make Hanging Loop

Ch 30, and keeping chain untwisted, slip stitch into base of chain.

Crochet Candy Ornaments | Purl Soho

Cut a 24-inch tail and pull it through the remaining stitch.

Insert hook into the base of the chain from the back side of the crocheted circle to front…

Crochet Candy Ornaments | Purl Soho

…and pull the tail through to the back.

Block the circle flat and weave in the center tail.

Crochet Candy Ornaments | Purl Soho

Embroider

To decorate your ornament, use the Contrast Yarns to backstitch three concentric circles. Here’s how…

Thread a length of Contrast Yarn onto a tapestry needle. (For the inner circle of embroidery cut a 13-inch length; for the middle circle, a 20-inch length; and for the outer circle, a 27-inch length.)

You will stitch into the holes at the top of each double crochet, indicated below by the pink arrows…

Crochet Candy Ornaments | Purl Soho

Start by inserting the needle from back to front through any hole in the circle. Leave a 1 1/2-inch tail that you will sew over as you work.

*Through the hole to the left of the last exit point, push the needle to the back, bringing it through to the front, one hole to the right of the last exit point.

Crochet Candy Ornaments | Purl Soho

Repeat from * all the way around the circle. Weave in the end.

Do the same for all three circles: inner, middle and outer.

Crochet Candy Ornaments | Purl Soho

Make and Attach Felt Back

Find a circular vessel whose diameter measures 1/4 inch smaller than the diameter of your crocheted circle. Use the fabric marker to trace the vessel on the Wool Felt. Cut out the traced circle, and if you’re using a fabric marker with an eraser, erase the remaining marks from the felt.

Place the felt circle on the back of the crocheted circle. Thread the Main Yarn tail (coming from the base of the hanging loop) onto an embroidery needle and use a whipstitch to sew the two circles together. Here’s how…

Bring the needle through the felt circle 1/8 inch from the edge, from front to back, and then through every other second-most-outer stitch bump of the crocheted circle. The photo below illustrates these steps: first the needle goes through 1a and 1b, then through 2a and 2b, and so on.

Crochet Candy Ornaments | Purl Soho

And here is the needle in action:

Crochet Candy Ornaments | Purl Soho

Make about 6-10 whipstitches and then flip the two circles over. Make sure their edges are aligned. Use the fabric marker to mark the center of the crocheted circle onto the felt circle.

Crochet Candy Ornaments | Purl Soho

Use the hole puncher to cut a hole through the felt at the place marked.

And now continue to whipstitch all the way around the two circles, finishing where you started.

Push the needle between the two layers, exiting out the center hole.

Crochet Candy Ornaments | Purl Soho

Tack the edges of the punched hole to the crocheted circle at 3, 6, 9, and 12 o’clock.

Crochet Candy Ornaments | Purl Soho

Tie a knot in the yarn 1/2 inch from its exit point and bring the needle under a few stitches around the center hole of the crocheted circle and then between the felt and crocheted circles, exiting out the felt circle. Cut the yarn close to the felt so that the end disappears between the layers.

All done! Now make a bunch more!