Fun Holiday Crochet with the Best Christmas Yarn!

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As you know I’ve been crocheting cat blankets for our local shelter. I just finished one and then thought – let me do a Christmas one next!

So I grabbed my red and green yarn and made a start… and promptly ran out of red. So of course I HAD to go to Spotlight to get more… I mean, I didn’t have a choice, right?!

For those of you who don’t live in Australia, Spotlight is a big store where you can buy all sorts of homewares, bedding, fabric, craft supplies and yarn. The quality is mostly good, but I don’t tend to buy fabric for quilting from them because I have had trouble in the past with it shrinking too much. They have a huge range of fabric for dressmaking, curtains and homewares as well, not to mention threads, notions, sewing machines and craft tools. It really is our main one stop shop for everything to do with crafts.

When I got there I found the red yarn I needed but also saw that they had 50% off their Jolly Joy Christmas yarn!!!! 

So exciting… I had to buy some of course! I got two balls each of red and green… so pretty and Christmassy!

I really like it – it is super soft and quite nice to work with. The silver thread that goes through the yarn does get caught sometimes, but it’s not too bad.

I just noticed on the website that they also have tinsel yarn – sadly there was none of that in stock at our local Spotlight, I probably need to look out for it early in the holiday season next year. 

Homemade Christmas Decor

​I do like to have handmade decorations that make our own Christmas decor unique each year. I know I have a few quilts already, but the idea of making some crocheted Christmas decorations has been in the back of my mind for a little while. 

In particular, I’d like to make a crocheted throw, and some candle mats. 

I am not an expert in crochet by any means, so I need easy patterns. Making a granny square throw seems to be a good option, so that is one thing I will be making with this lovely yarn. But before I start that, I thought I’d make a smaller project – a candle mat.

A Crocheted Christmas Candle Mat

​When thinking about how I was going to make a candle mat I remembered a granny circle tutorial that Lori Holt has on her youtube channel. It is a base pattern that she uses to then make other things from like cushion covers, blankets, and… doilies!

So I hunted it up again and decided that I was going to make one of her “easy crochet doilies”.

I watched the video through from beginning to end to see if it really was “easy” enough for me and I think it is. I am a visual learner, so I think that I can do it by following along and stopping the video when I need to.

Having decided that I wanted to make that, I of course had to go BACK to Spotlight to buy a few extra colors because it needs more than just red and green!!!

​I added yellow, blue and a sort of aqua to my little pile. 

The third color there is another type – Kringle Sparkle – and it seems a little thinner than the Twist yarn, but I think it will work.

Lori Holt uses cotton yarn, but this is an acrylic/polyester blend. I don’t think it will be a problem. Obviously the size of the doily will be different but that doesn’t matter. I think it will be fun!

​Oh, because I crochet loose, I always use a smaller crochet hook than they advise on the ball of yarn.

I am planning on making a few of Lori Holt’s doilies with my cotton yarn because it is a great way to use up yarn scraps. But that will be my next project for next year. Right now I am making the most of it being Christmas time and surrounding myself not just with holiday decor, but with holiday yarn!!

Some Crochet Tips

I made a start on the doily following Lori’s video.

Right off the bat I made a change – she starts her circle with five single crochets, but I like I said I crochet fairly loose so my center hole looked a bit too big. I took one single crochet off to make the loop only four singles and that worked a lot better for me.

My Tip: Don’t be afraid of changing patterns if they don’t suit your style of crochet!

Lori’s Tips:

​I love the way Lori adds tips in with her tutorials. 

One useful tip was to weave in the ends as you go… something I tend not to do and then end up with having to do it at the end of the project. Lori shows an easy way to weave in the ends and I am being a good girl and doing that with this doily.

Another tip was her way of handling color changes – I usually use a slip stitch, but she has a different way where she does a single crochet. It’s too hard to explain, you need to watch the video.

One last tip in the granny circle video was using stitch markers to keep track of which side of the project is the right side. I often get confused which the right or wrong side is, so this tip was very helpful. I’d definitely recommend watching her granny circle tutorial.

Crochet Patterns Galore

I am starting my Christmas crocheting with Lori’s easy doily, but there are of course lots of patterns and tutorials on the web that are actual Christmas ones.

I found three blogs that have heaps of links to Christmas crochet projects. They are all free patterns and related to Christmas. 

25 Free Crochet Christmas Decor Patterns by Sarah Maker

35 Best Free Christmas Crochet Patterns to Make This Year by Make & Do Crew

and 

18 Free Christmas Crochet Patterns for Holiday Crafting by Cream of the Crop Crochet

So many projects to choose from! I know that I won’t get a chance to make many of these before Christmas, but maybe next year I could have a goal of crocheting a few Christmas items each month because they would make lovely Christmas gifts. Most of them are small so they shouldn’t take too long to make, and I do like things that I can get done quickly.

There are also lots of projects in those blog posts that would be quick and easy to make as a last-minute gift, so go check them out!

Well, I’ve made the first circle for the doily, and now I am keen to get started on the next round and color! So I am going to hit publish now and see you back here on Friday for more Home Matters Inspiration!

Oh, one more thing! Don’t forget we have a Christmas Tree Decor Linky Party as well! Take a photo of some of your special Christmas tree decorations and share them with us please!