Crochet for Christmas: 12 Days of Christmas: Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree....

UPDATE 2021: This series has been a popular one for me and as the crafting season gets started I wanted to invite you to explore the 12-days of Holiday/Christmas patterns. Look at what is included…simply read below for the free blog links to all 12 days.

UPDATE: Get the ridiculously low priced 12 Days of Christmas Pattern in a Downloadable PDF right here. You can ALL 12 Days of Christmas for one super low price. Merry Christmas! This first link is for my Etsy, but I have now added the bundle in my Ravelry

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas – in my office anyway – no kidding! I have my Christmas crochet supplies and collection all over my office and being that I am a generally neat and tidy person it is making me whacky!! So, I am working my fingers off trying to get it all made up and moved out of my house. So, today I commence to getting it done!

Day 1 – see links to the other days at the bottom.

This is only the first installment of my “12 days of Christmas” blog post….I hope to bring you a new pattern every day for the next 12 days and will update this post accordingly. If you don’t see a new post then I have probably been buried under the rubble in my office =D

I WILL BE OFFERING 1 PDF AFTER I AM DONE with my 12 Days of Christmas Patterns available for purchase so that you can have all of the patterns in one place and easy to print – so, pin this and come back later if you are interested in that.

These patterns are intended for personal use only. This pattern -and all my patterns- are offered for free or a small fee to help support my family so please do not redistribute, sell, copy or use them in any way not in accordance with fairness.

You may sell products made from this pattern, but please give me credit as the designer. Please do not use my photos as your own work, but you may use my photos to reference back to my blog, Etsy, Pinterest, IG or FB, but please link back to me.

If you find any problems with this pattern/these patterns please let me know and if you have any problems with any of it feel free to message me and ask for support.

Kristi Bergin-Smith and The Burgundy Basket, 2019. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to me, Kristi Bergin-Smith and The Burgundy Basket with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

This post does contain affiliate links. I will get a small percentage from any purchase made through my page here, but your price remains the same. I appreciate any purchase made through my page as I can continue to offer free patterns here on my blog.

I want to say thank you for all who stop by to support my patterns and my blog. I have chosen to NOT do ads on my blog and truly offer FREE patterns, but please – if you love my patterns and want to say a little thank you- or just have some good small business karma support points- a purchase now and then or a visit to any of my affiliate links really helps. It keeps this blog going so I can continue to offer free patterns for all to enjoy. I also purchase a pattern now and then or visit an affiliate link from my favorite blogs and designers. Thank you

Materials:

Assorted. I have written most of these patterns with “stash busting” in mind. I have a huge assortment of old yarn and odds and ends yarns from a vast collection of mostly thrifted bags of yarn. Most all of what I am using is 4-ply worsted weight yarns like Red Heart Super Saver. I will note any changes and give you the best idea I can on what to use to make each pattern.

I will have a full list of all products used for each pattern at the start of that pattern.

-Hooks : Hook sizes will vary greatly for all of these patterns. I will note at the start of each pattern the hook/hooks that I have used.

Here are some products that I use and may help you complete this project.

Tree 1: Beginner Crochet. Only chain stitches and slip stitches used.

Pics of my stash from my office:

These are my favorite stash/project bags. I keep a few loaded at all times with a full tote of essentials for emergency “gotta run out” trips.

For this first tree you will need 2 strands of green yarn. I have held two strands together for this example and used my K/6.5mm hook.

One of the skeins of yarn was Red Heart Classic 3.5 oz/100g. This old skein must have been made before they started putting yardage on the rolls. I paired another strand of green that had no wrapper and used the full skein of the 3/5oz RH yarn. It is a small skein. Do not be afraid on this pattern of running out of yarn because the last step with the loops is easily adjusted.

I’ve also used 23” cardboard tree cone form from Hobby Lobby. These are typically expensive at about $9.99 each, but I bought my stash AFTER the holidays last year and got them 50% off – so, tip: buy in January for next Christmas.

You will also need your hot glue gun and maybe some liquid glue. You can use only your hot glue gun, but I found it went a bit quicker if I did one row in hot glue and let it dry and then squirted on a bunch of liquid glue for several rows and wound them on and then set those rows in place by securing my work with more hot glue – this way every few rows you will have liquid glue drying between the rows of set up hot glue.

An embroider needle might be helpful as well.

Okay, let’s get started on your first tree:

With your two strands of yarn and K hook, chain, chain, chain and keep on chaining….chain, chain, chain. I did not start attaching my chain to the tree form until was sure it would reach at least half way – YOU WILL NOT CUT YOUR YARN AT ALL SO, when you get to the place where you want to start adhering the chain to your form just pull up your loop so you have plenty of spare and go back to chaining when you get ready.

Attach the beginning of your starting chain to the very bottom of the form. I used my two starting tails to tie the bottom row together after I made sure it was snug.

After this first row was secure, I streamed a bit of liquid glue above that starting line and ran some more rows around. You want to work slow enough that you keep your chain positioned right side up and pull nice and firm, but not over tight as you go around. If you are using liquid glue with hot glue as I have, put your finger over the work after a few rows and hold tight while you run a stream of hot glue and secure the next bit of green chain to hold it all tight. If you don’t do this your chain may “bounce back” as it dries and be loose.

So, do a few rows in liquid glue, hold firm with finger, do a row in hot glue to set and secure and repeat. Alternatively, you can just hot glue all the way around. Just make sure to work in small sections and hold your chain so that the right side stays facing out and doesn’t twist. Pull firm, but not over tight.

WooHOOO! Now, you have the base of your first Christmas tree. Now, you may decide to stop here. You might like how this looks just find and honestly if you use two very different colors of green or a green and metallic yarn or even add a strand of fun fur this might be decorative enough for you and you can stop here.

You can even stop here and wind a strand of small led/battery operated lights on this. You can even stop here and add some beaded garland, ornaments, words, “snow” etc. The possibilities from this “base” tree are endless!! So, now. Stay here or move on to the loops. If you choose to stop here just cut your yarn and hide those tails.

But, if you are moving on to the loops DO NOT CUT. After you have done all the way up around the top start with a chain 10. Slip stitch at the base of your chain 10 and repeat. Chain 10. Slip stitch at the base of the chain 10 and repeat – repeat – repeat – it will seem like you will repeat forever! I kept on going until I ran out of yarn. You can choose to end early and have wide spaces between the loops. This is all up to you. You may even decide that you want bigger or smaller chains than a chain 10. Play with it and see what you like.

After you get done with all your loops start winding. I wound at first a bit loose so I could space out and then tighten my loops evenly. After getting them all on my tree I started at the top and pull them snug all the way around and repositioned them evenly. I didn’t need to secure this loop chain with any sort of adhesive – the loop chain was pulled tight enough that it stuck just fine to the other yarn underneath.

The last step for me was to give the whole tree a good steam bath. Steaming my work is a personal preference, but what it does for 4-ply yarn – especially old 4-ply yarn – is freshen it up and soften it a bit. It helps relax the fibers a little and it just looks so much nicer. If you have never steamed your work before with an acrylic yarn you will be so surprised at the difference.

This is the steamer I use when I am working on a project that I am not able to lay on my ironing board. You can also read more about steaming your work on THIS POST.