Snowflower Ornaments
Last weekend, with the feeling of having eaten way too much pumpkin pie still in my belly, I got busy decorating my Christmas tree. Actually, I would have done it even sooner if it had been at all seemly. The fact is I love Christmas trees, Christmas lights and Christmas ornaments more than any other part of any other holiday.
I love it all so much that I grow my Christmas tree inside my apartment all year long. I have an old potted Norfolk Pine that, at about ten feet tall and almost as wide, takes up way more than its fair share of New York City real estate, but when this time of year rolls around, it’s totally worth the loss of square footage!
Like my tree, my ornament collection keeps growing every year! This season I am so excited to add these sweet crocheted ornaments to my crowd of sequined owls, vintage glass balls and painted tin donkeys. Simultaneously evocative of fluffy snowflakes and plump dahlias, I call them Snowflowers.
Rich in texture and elegant in spirit, these pretty little ornaments look wonderful on my Norfolk Pine and also on this spare winter branch. They’ll bring lots of cheer to more traditional choices of timber too!
Because ornaments are forever, I made these with Blue Sky’s very special new yarn, Metalico. Fifty percent baby alpaca and fifty percent mulberry silk, Metalico combines naturally occurring shades of each for a wonderfully pure and gorgeously earthy yarn. And each Snowflower starts off with a bright splash of gorgeous Koigu hand dyed color. Thank goodness for mini KPM Needlepoint Skeins who make spots of color actually affordable!
Yarn lovers, if you adore the yarn used in this project, you’ll love exploring all of our other yarn collections! Discover over 45 thoughtfully designed yarns in nearly every natural fiber and in every spectacular color you can imagine. Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn store, where every skein is created with care and your creativity in mind!
Pretty ornaments made with your own two hands seem to me to embody the very spirit of Christmas! -Whitney
Designed by Purl Soho designer, Whitney Van Nes.
Materials
MATERIALS
To make up to 18 ornaments, you will need…
- Main Yarn: 2 skeins of Blue Sky’s Metalico, 50% baby alpaca and 50% mulberry silk. Each skein is 147 yards/ 50g; approximately 288 yards required. We used the color Opal.
- Contrast Yarn: Koigu Premium Merino Needlepoint Yarn, 100% merino wool. Each skein is 11 yards/ 3g; approximately 66 yards required. We used the colors 1155, 2229, 1265, 2100, 1520, and 1041.
- A size D (3.25 mm) crochet hook
NOTE: Each ornament uses 15-16 yards of the Main Yarn, so with one skein of Metalico you can make 9 ornaments and with two you can make 18. We made an even dozen!
Shop our wonderful collection of sport-weight yarn to find a suitable substitute for this project, and remember that it’s always a good idea to check your gauge before you cast on… Our All About Gauge Tutorial shows you how!
GAUGE
7 single crochets = 1 inch
SIZE
3 inches in diameter
NOTES
HOW TO MAKE A BEGINNING POPCORN
Chain 3 and make 3 double crochets into same space.
Remove the working stitch from the hook and insert the hook into the 3rd stitch of the beginning chain.
Put the hook back through the working stitch.
And pull the working stitch through the 2nd stitch on the hook, cinching closed the group of double crochets.
HOW TO MAKE A POPCORN
Make 4 double crochets into space and remove the working stitch from the hook. Insert the hook into the top of the 1st double crochet.
Re-insert the hook into the working stitch.
And pull that stitch through the 2nd stitch on the hook, folding the double crochets together.
PATTERN
Round 1: With the Contrast Yarn, chain (ch) 4 into an adjustable loop, [make 1 double crochet (dc), ch 1] 11 times into loop. Join to 3rd stitch of beginning chain with a slip stitch. Cut Contrast Yarn. (24 stitches)
Round 2: Joining Main Yarn into any ch 1 space, make a beginning popcorn (see Notes), ch 3, *into next ch 1 space, make a popcorn, ch 3, repeat from * to end of round. Join to top of beginning popcorn with a slip stitch. (48 stitches)
Round 3: Slip stitch into next ch 3 space, make a beginning popcorn into space, ch 3, make a popcorn in to same space, ch 3, *into next space [make a popcorn, ch 3, make a popcorn, ch 3], repeat from * to end of round. Join to top of beginning popcorn with a slip stitch. (96 stitches)
Round 4: Ch 1, *make 2 single crochets (sc) into next space, make 1 sc into top of next popcorn, repeat from * to last space, make 2 sc into last space, join to beginning ch 1 with a slip stitch. (72 stitches)
The Loop
Ch 30. Insert hook into same space, being careful the chain isn’t twisted.
Slip stitch, cut yarn and pull it through the remaining stitch. Weave in your ends.
Ta da!
Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our crochet patterns and crochet tutorials, buy one of our many kits and yarn bundles, and shop for beautiful yarn. We have over 35 gorgeous natural fiber yarns in 100’s of magnificent colors, designed to bring integrity, beauty, and joy to your next crochet or knitting project and only available at Purl Soho!
Stunning! Just love them.
Okay, MUST have a class for these. I am a knitter but I want to learn to crochet and what a great project to start on!!!
Your instructions are amazing. Extremely well done. Thank you, Tana
They are gorgeous!
I've made some for my Christmas tree either (diferent from these ones and they also look great). It's an easy and affordable way to decorate our Christmas tree and make it unique!
http://www.tricotaria.com/2012/12/first-sunday-of-advent.html
These are so beautiful! I'm a knitter but this project makes me want to learn to crochet.
Love the pattern and am looking forward to trying it out. The colors of Koigu that you used seem to be mostly out of stock! Will you be getting more, soon?
Mary Ann
I don't someone might post a chart of this lovely pattern…. 🙂
Hi Mary Ann-
We will certainly be ordering them soon and if you would like us to email you when we get they come back in stock please drop us a line at customerservice AT purlsoho DOT com.
Thank you!
Molly
I'll made that!
Thank you :*
With the adjustable loop (Round 1), I'm confused with the chain 4 in the loop. I did that and then continued with the double crochet and chain 1. Is the chain 4 suppose to look lower than the double crochets on the loop? Am I suppose to do the double drochets over the 4 chains?
I'm also NOT getting the 24 stitiches after I am done
Please let me know what I am doing wrong. Am I missing a step? I have been at this for a week.
Thank you.
HI Annie,
It sounds like you maybe chained 4 around the loop. Instead, you should put your hook through the loop, pull a stitch through and then just continue to chain 4 from that beginning stitch. Hard to explain! A picture may speak a thousand words in this case. Check out our Adjustable Loop Tutorial here: https://www.purlsoho.com/create/adjustable-loop-tutorial/
All of this may be the reason you're not getting to 24 stitches. Please let me know if you continue to have problems and we'll sort them out!
Thanks for your questions!
Whitney
I would love to add a few of these to my ornament collection! Linking up tomorrow at Tangled Happy. Thanks for sharing this wonderful Christmas tutorial! 🙂
Wow! This is beautiful !
hi there- love the pattern! i am working on my practice one now. I am a bit confused moving into round three. for the first step, you slip stitch the whole 3 chain from the previous row, right ? then make a beginning popcorn into that same space. Then, still in the same space, you make popcorn? then, after you chain 3, which space do you go to to start the next popcorn? i've been trying this different ways and everything seems really bunched together…
I'm just not understanding the first part of this row, i think once i get that, the rest will be obvious.
thanks so much! they are so beautiful, so excited to be crocheting them! 🙂
warmly,
rebecca
HI Rebecca,
For the first step you just make one slip stitch into the next space created by the previous round's chain 3. Then you make a beginning popcorn into that same space, chain 3, and make a popcorn. Then you chain 3 again and make a popcorn into the next space created by the previous round's chain 3.
A big picture way of looking at it is that you want two popcorns in every chain 3 space, and between every popcorn, you chain 3.
I hope this helps! Crochet patterns are sometimes tricky to write, to interpret and to explain! Please let me know if you're still confused!
Whitney
This would look great as an afghan blanket!! You should make it into a square so that it can be used for a blank!!
Will you be restocking the yarns? You seem to be out of the alpaca-silk blend. I'd love to make a set of these for next Christmas.
Hi Clare-
We will be! If you'd like to be informed when the yarn comes back in stock please drop us a line at customerservice AT purlsoho DOT com.
Thank you!
Molly
These are amazing and are pushing me over the edge…MUST learn to crochet some. Thanks so much for your photo tutorial!!
I am going to try to make one of these for all of my piano students. I like to make homemade gifts for Christmas and I start making them in the summer. Thanks so much for the great step-by-step tutorial!
I have made several of these. The pattern is easy and easy to follow. They look great. I used some white fingering yarn I had left over and it worked just fine. The little pop of color is striking.
Just found this patterrn and after a few false starts managed to produce one – albeit with a 3.50mm instead of a 3.25 mm hook!
Being a Brit – I was not sure of the yarn thickness and tried DK first – no use – too big have now tried baby 3 ply which seems to word or will – when I buy the right size hook.
Just wondering if it is necessary to block these. I finished one and it is wavy and not at all flat, as if there are too many stitches around. Would blocking help, or maybe using a smaller hook? I'm using fingering weight yarn and a size D hook. Or a larger hook for the center then the D for the popcorn rings? Thanks!
Great tutorial!
Hi Eileen,
I would definitely try blocking your finished ornament to see if that fixes the problem. It's very possible that it will!
Otherwise, double check that you don't, in fact, have too many stitches, and if all looks well, try going down a hook size. Although a D size with a fingering weight yarn is pretty standard, a lot depends on the tension of your crocheting!
Thanks for your question and please let us know if you have more!
Whitney
Hi! I love this pattern, and made a bunch of ornaments for my family and friends for Christmas 🙂 Now, I'd like to make a garland of snowflowers, and post a tutorial for it on my blog. I wanted to ask if this would be ok with you. I would not post the entire pattern on my blog, rather have a link to the pattern on your site. My tutorial would simply consist of how to make the garland and attach the snowflowers to it.
So anyway, please let me know if this would be ok with you, and feel free to email me with any further questions. Thanks!
Hi Laura-
Thanks for getting in touch about this. That would be fine as long as you link directly back to this page for the snowflower instructions.
Thanks!
Molly
I love the snowflower. So much potential for variation. Like one of the other posters, I really like round things to be really round so I have an idea that I am going to try. I am going to go up a few hook sizes and make two snowflowers and then sew two old back to back, CDs inside to make it round. If I pull the snowflower, there should be little spaces where the shine from the CDs will show through. I only have a little tree so they will be hung in the window where the sparkle will show through.
Gorgeous! Thanks for posting such easy to follow tutorials, I picked up crocheting after following your site, there were too many things I wanted to make! Would love to see a crochet pattern for a tree skirt in the future!
Gorgeous – love them!
Hi Whitney/Purl People, I’d like to work these in a bulkier yarn with a bigger hook and join them to form a blanket. In your professional opinion, do you think this could work and if you were to try this, how would you join the pieces? Thanks!
Hi there,
You could certainly translate this to a thicker yarn. I’d try our Super Soft Merino to start. It will make a lovely, downy blanket. As for joining the pieces, I think you’ll have to seam each one together unfortunately. It’s a pain, but the blanket will be so beautiful!
Best of luck!
Adam
Are you still stocking Blue Sky?
Hello Judy,
Thank you for reaching out! The only Blue Sky yarn we are currently stocking is their Worsted Cotton.
Happy kitting!
-Marilla
I’m stuck on the beginning popcorn. Chain 3 and make 3 double crochets into same space. What does “same space” mean?
Hi Jessica,
Thanks for writing in! The “same space” means one stitch. Normally, you would work one stitch into each stitch, but at this point in the pattern you’ll be working 3 stitches into one stitch! Hope this helps clarify things!
All the best,
Lili