A Christmas Wreath – Holly Pattern

I’m still here, just incase you thought I might have disappeared again! It as been crazily busy at T&T HQ the last few weeks but that isn’t the whole reason that I have been quiet – Instagram also has a part to play! I’ve discovered it in the last month and need to admit that I am totally addicted to hundreds of little pieces of creative magic that are living within my phone at this very moment. If you haven’t investigated it yet – it’s almost as addictive as Pinterest! You can find me at https://instagram.com/tinyandtoad/.

Last time I popped in for a chat, I shared details of my wreath competition the prize being this year’s version of my very first crochet wreath:

I have received so many compliments on what, I must admit, is my absolutely favourite creation that I decided to time how long it would take for me to hook a replica with a view to making them for sale in my Etsy shop. I guessed at around the 10 hour mark and I was wrong but, sadly, not wrong enough to make it viable for me to make and sell any more of these Christmassy treats.

Here, then, is my Christmas Wreath v.2 (I  wish I could remember how I made the original bow!):

…these are all of the component parts…:

…and this is the timer on my phone as I pressed stop for the last time:

Time and handmade are words which do not fit easily into the same sentence because creativity cannot be measured in minutes, seconds or hours but rather in passion. For the creative me, the need to create something that I perceive to be beautiful is the driving force in everything that I make and time is secondary. For the me that just opened an Etsy shop, time matters and this is a make that just takes a bit too much of it.

I’ve decided tho that that isn’t going to be the end of my Christmas Wreaths, and that the best way to achieve that is to share the pattern. So, without further ado, here is my Holly Pattern.

T&T Christmas Holly

The pattern is written in UK terms

I used a 4mm hook and Stylecraft Special DK in meadow and khaki.

You will find this easier if you hook the foundation chain in fairly loose stitches as you are going to need to crochet into the chain from both sides – you are going to be crocheting around the end of the chain

Stitches used:

Chain (ch) Slip Stitch (sl st)

Double Crochet (dc) Half Treble Crochet (htr)

Foundation Row: Chain 10

Sl st into the first ch from the hook, working along the foundation chain dc, dc, htr, htr, htr, htr, dc, dc, and sl st in  in last ch.

You should now have something that looks like this:

Now ch1 to take you around the end before you start working back down the other loop of the foundation chain.

Start with a sl st into the other loop of the last ch worked as below:

Working back along the foundation chain, now dc, dc, htr, htr, htr, htr, dc, dc and sl st into the last ch. Do not join.

Now to make the stem.

Ch4 and sl st into second ch from your hook, sl st into the remaining two ch and you should now have a leaf shape like this:

…but holly isn’t holly without prickles!

So, let’s add those. You are going to work a second row around the edge of the leaf.

Sl st into both the sl st and first dc from previous row.

To make the prickle, ch3 and sl st into the second ch from the hook. Dc into remaining ch and sl st into next stitch on previous row (dc). Repeat another 3 times until you have created 4 prickles and reached the end of the first side:

(You need to sl st and ch3 to make the prickle in the following stitches:First htr, Third htr and Second dc. And sl st only into the stitches between these).

The prickle on the end of the holly leaf is made by making a sl st into the back loop of the ch that you made to go around the end of the leaf on the previous row. This prickle is worked slightly differently, so ch3 again and sl st into second ch from hook but, this time, htr into next ch.

To work back down the other side, sl st into the sl st from previous row. *Sl st into first dc from previous row and ch3. Now create the prickle as before (sl st into second ch from hook and dc into remaining chain) and sl st into second dc from previous row. Repeat from * three times down the side until you have four prickles (sl st and ch3 into the following stitches – first htr, third htr, first dc).

The last stitch is a sl st into sl st from previous row.

Fast off and darn in the ends.

From me to you, an early Merry Christmas!

Please feel free to contact me if you need any help with the pattern.

Thanks for reading!

T&T