Christmas Bell Ornament

I am continuing my Christmas ornament project. This bell pattern came from Leisure Arts Christmas Ornaments to Crochet#512. I liked this pattern because it was the first I had seen that actually had a bell that would allow the ornament to make noise. Since I will be across the country, noisy ornaments are hardly an issue. Seriously though, as a child I was always confused by bells that never made a noise. We had many metal bell shaped ornaments that were empty on the inside. It seemed odd.




The pattern confused me because it crochets the bell to a certain length and then pushes a portion of the length inside the bell to make the bell hold its shape. When I read the directions, I had no idea what the designer had in mind. I walked away, came back, played with it and came up with a workable solution. I still do not know if I followed the designer's method, but it worked for me and it allowed for a nice jingling when I added the jingle bell I had on hand. I did change the top of the bell. Instead of adding a crochet loop at the top, I used the yarn I had sewed the jingle bell to the crochet bell to crochet a loop that a metal hanger can be added to later. It just seemed like an easier solution to the problem. I will need to make a few more of these before Christmas.

For those of you who arrived here looking for free Christmas patterns please feel free to visit the Christmas Knit and Crochet Page or the Christmas Ornament Page for free patterns. If you are looking for Plastic Canvas themed Christmas Projects please see the Plastic Canvas Christmas Page.

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Filet Crochet Directions and Patterns

I often look at the site meter data to see what people are searching for when they arrive here to find out what I need to add to the sites patterns and tutorials. Sometimes what people want in free patterns and information is not readily available. However, other times I know I have seen resources and just not taken the time to put them on a page. Many of these pages start small and grow once I have a page to put items on that I find while searching for unrelated items.



Directions:

Crochet Designs

Haas Design Tutorials

Patty's Filet Primer

Smart Crochet Tutorial

Starting Chain for Filet Crochet

Video on Getting Started

Patterns:

Bird

Bless this House

Crochet Pattern Central

Dolphin

Dolphin 2

Dragonfly

Eagle

Hearts Filet Bookmark

Home in Reach

Home Sweet Home

Squirrel

Sweet Dreams

Tiger

Windmill

Wolf

If you arrived here looking for Free Coaster or Doily Patterns please see the Free Coaster and Doily Page.

Picture Credit: noricum flickr.com noricum flickr.com

Crochet Frying Pan

Those who have been reading this blog know I have been working on creating crochet food and kitchen items for Christmas. This has been a fun and challenging project. Even my husband has gotten involved cutting cardboard to make the pieces that require more support. While some pieces have been more successful than others, the frying pan ranks in the success column.




This pattern comes from Annie's Attic's It's Play Time. I found the crochet directions to make the parts of the pan to be very straight forward and easy to follow. However, the assembly directions left much to be desired. This was one of those patterns that says, now sew it together. The one hint it did give was that you should single crochet the cardboard and the circle used to cover the cardboard to the bottom of the pan creating a hole to slide the crochet covered ruler into the opening creating a pan handle. My instinct would have been to put the carboard in the bottom of the pan and sew it down. However that would have created a problem in adding the handle. I also had to work out my wrong side/right side issues with which side should be showing. Now a more experienced or even intelligent crocheter may not have had these struggles. I have only been at this for a little over a year.




When I finally had it all together and started taking pictures it was worth the several times I pulled the bottom off and started over. This is a cute toy and one that will function as well as its plastic alternatives. I am pleased that this works as a pretend cooking option. It is hard to know with crochet toys if there will be enough support as I discovered making the spatula. I have design improvements for a non-slotted spatula option I plan to make before Christmas that I will post if I finish.

If you arrived here looking for free toy patterns please see the following pages:

Crochet Amigurumi Animals and Stuffed Animal Free Patterns

Knit Amigurumi and Stuffed Toys

Crochet and Knit Amigurumi and Other Dolls

Knit and Crochet Toys

Dinosaurs and Dragons

Hello Kitty

Crochet and Knit Puppets

Teddy Bear Patterns and Clothes

Knit and Crochet Food Patterns Great for Play Food


Pictures may not be used without permission.