Woooooooooooohoooooooooooooo I am SOosososososososooooooo excited to be sharing this project with you today, I have been leaping about with happiness all morning at the sight of my finished wreath hanging on the door. I finished it last night at 10pm after a marathon of hard core, fiddly stitching. The stitching on of 100+ little bits was a real mare and it was a good job I was so obsessed with getting it done or else I might have given up. But hey, it’s done now, and if I say so myself it is rather fabulous.
I was trying to remember when I started this project? Two weeks ago? Three weeks ago maybe? It was towards the end of November when I began working on the stripy cover, you can read about the beginnings of the wreath here.
I did much of my wreath making in the evenings once the Little People were in bed. Sometimes I would sit downstairs at the table, but more often I would take myself upstairs and snuggle up in bed to work on the colourful rows. Crocheting in bed has to be one of the happiest and most comforting things ever-ever. Pure pleasure.
This is how the cover looked when I had finished it. I have been asked a number of times for the pattern, but there is no pattern as such. I simply made a chain that fit comfortably around the polystyrene ring (it was roughly 32 stitches), then worked up straight rows of Double Crochet. I varied the width of the stripes and chose the colours at random. The yarn is quite thick (it’s Bamboo Ewe by Stitch Nation) worked on a 5mm hook and as you can see, I wasn’t really paying enough attention was I?! Can you see how it narrrows towards the middle? That was due to me missing a couple of stitches at the end of some rows, and it was a while before I realised what was going on. To rectify it, I simply added in a couple of increases in subsequent rows so that it widened out again. Good job I wasn’t making a scarf isn’t it?! Also note the long tail ends left at the end of each colour change….I left them deliberately as they would be used for stitching up the rows later.
I couldn’t resist having a little play at this point, I was already quite giddy about it and couldn’t wait to get going with the decorative bit.
This is the back of the wreath after I had finished sewing it up. The seam runs around the middle of the reverse side, and as I mentioned earlier, each stripe was stitched up using the tail end of yarn left in place for this purpose. Even though the back won’t be visible when it’s hung, I somehow felt I wanted to make it as neat as possible. It’s a little messy, but not too bad.
I found a split ring (the sort you use for keys) in the bowl-of-useful-little-objects in the hallway, and managed to thread it through the crochet on the back to use as a hanger.
This is how it looked when the cover was all finished. Much the same as when I made myMay Rose wreath, I did really love the stripes as they were :: simple and unadorned. But the Adornment simply had to happen. This was always going to be a fully encrusted concoction of woolly delights!
The decorative making was already well under way by this stage, and in my mind I had a good idea of how I wanted it to look. You may remember me sharing the glorious wreaths made by Maartje of Silly Old Suitcase….well that was my inspiration and I was hugely excited by the business of creating my very own decorative bits and bobs. Over the past few weeks I have been hooking up a decorative storm, and this is what I came up with………
Triple Layer Flowers (pattern here)
Double Layer flowers (pattern here), with spotty buttons and little ribbon tails.
Little Balls (pattern here)
Teeny Tiny Stars (pattern here), with star button centres.
Jolly Holly (pattern here)
And of course pom poms (read about the making of them here)
I also gathered together some lovely additional bits :: colourful ric rac, sparkly berries, baubles, buttons and bells.
Five days ago I finally began the business of slowly pinning it all into place. Such fun!
I pinned on everything I had made (which was a lot), and was suddenly quite shocked to find that the wreath was only half full! Yikes!! Not enough stuff!! Need to make more!!!
So I spent two whole evenings frantically hooking up extra flowers, jolly holly and little balls, as well as making more pom poms. I had become rather obsessed with this wreath, and so desperately wanted to see it finished.
I have to tell you, it was really hard work stitching everything in place, and was not in the least bit enjoyable. It took a further two whole evenings to complete, and it made me veeeery grumpy. My fingers hurt. I said some bad words. But at 10pm last night, the last bell was stitched into place and it was finished. Finished!! I was so happy!
There is such a lot of happiness, love and excitement in this creation of mine. It is everything I had hoped it would be, and yet it is also so very much more.
Can I show you?
Can I share my colourful-crazy-bonkers Christmas Wreath with you?
Here…
it…
comes…………………………………………………………………
♥
Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ I ♥ L ♥ O ♥ V ♥ E ♥ I T ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know it’s a bit bonkers and very over the top. But I love it so much!
I especially love the Little Bird nestled at the bottom. This is a smaller, fatter version of the Bower Bird that I designed, and it’s a great success I think. I know many of you are waiting for this pattern, and I promise you it will be coming very, very soon (hopefully in the next day or two – the photos are already done, I just need to pull it all together and write it all out).
At the moment, the wreath is hung on my kitchen door and my heart jolts every time I clap eyes on it. I had fully intended for it to hang on my front door, but when I mentioned it to friends they were horrified at the thought of it getting wet/dirty or something untoward happening to it. So now I’m thinking it will look lovely hanging above my fireplace where I can gaze adoringly at it day after day.
Christmas Wreath, I Love you!!!!