Christmas Ornament Crochet-a-long Week 2 Little White Swan

While rummaging through my yarn stash a few days ago, I spotted a small ball of leftover sparkly white acrylic.  I made a mental note to use that for either snowflakes or stars for my tree this year.

But when I spied this little white swan on Pinterest I immediately knew that this is what that remnant of yarn was meant for!

Here is the link for the free pattern!       http://littlegreen.typepad.com/romansock/

This little bird works up fairly quickly.  I had the body and neck finished within an hour.  However, I ran into some serious frustration with the wings and ended up 'winging' it so to speak as I just could not figure out the pattern.  It's probably my own fault since a diagram of the stitches was included as well as the written instructions and pictures.  I have never been good at reading and understanding diagrams.  So I do not fault the pattern.  But I was still able to make the wings look OK.   

I think this little swan will look fantastic on my whimsy tree, especially when the lights hit the sparkles.

I would love to know what you think of this little swan and if you are taking part in my little crochet-a-long Christmas ornament  project.

Blessings!
Reny

Sleeping Apple Worm, Week 1 Crocheted Christmas Ornament

After struggling with the sizing of this little guy, he actually worked up fairly well!   I did make a few simple changes here and there to the pattern, but left the main points intact.  I found the leaf and the edging to be a bit tedious, so I improvised on those.  My little worn only has 2 arms rather than the 4 on the pattern.   And the entire project is still a bit larger than I had hoped, but remaking it smaller is not going to happen right now.  If I make this pattern again, I will definitely choose a thinner thread for a smaller result.

All in all I think he turned out quite adorable and a fitting 'first' in this crochet-a-long,   Now to choose next weeks ornament.  Any suggestions?

Blessings!

Reny

Christmas Crochet-a-long Sleeping Apple Worm pattern update

I know this post is right on the heels of my previous post, but after purchasing this pattern and reading it I realized that the materials are different than what we in the US normally think of.  The worsted weight yarn in this pattern appears to be more the diameter of what I commonly call 'crochet thread'.  The hook sizes recommended are more in line with thread as well.

However, part of my goal in this crochet-a-long is to use up some of my yarn stash.  So, to do this project and still come out with an ornament sized apple and worm I needed to make a few adjustments or go buy crochet thread in several different colors.

I happen to have on hand some beautiful Cleo cotton yarn, (which is about a sport weight yarn) in an array of vibrant, bright colors that would be perfect for this project, except it is too heavy for the hook sizes and would make an enormous finished project if I used an appropriate hook for the Cleo yarn.

But, where there is a will, there is a way!  By separating the plies of the Cleo yarn I get strands that are about the equivalent of what I need for this project!  This will add some extra time to the making of it, but will save me a considerable amount of cash while I am still decreasing my stash!  For me, that's a 'win, win.'

Hope this helps someone out there with a similar dilemma.
Blessings!
Reny