StoneGnome: amigurumi

It’s cold and dark outside. So, have a happy hour with tea, a blanket, and a new little crochet project.

Striped Christmas Bauble Crochet Pattern

I've worked on Christmas bauble ornaments lately. The first pattern is now available below. Yeah!

Skills

The bauble is an intermediate/advanced project. If you are familiar with waistcoat stitches and slip stitches, the Christmas ball pattern is likely trouble-free and you can go straight to the yarn-hook suggestions and the pattern notes.

If the stitches - or the way they are used here - are fairly new to you, a little extra effort might be required to begin with. I promise you though, that getting to know the stitches better, is very well worth it.

Want more details about this way of working? Read: Tessa's Triangles - Hexagon Pattern

You should feel comfortable making uniform stitches of all kinds and it is also good to know how to adjust the tension of your work. - If not, read this one: How to Change and Control Your Tension

The Best Hook for Waistcoat Stitches

With waistcoat stitches, use a larger hook than usual for amigurumi and larger than the yarn label suggests.

A perfect hook has a head that is slightly smaller than the neck and is pointy or has a lip/nose that makes it easy to insert the hook between the legs of the previous stitch.

Read about wellformed waistcoat stitches here: Waistcoat Stitch and Stitch Patterns in Rounds.

Yarn-Hook Combos

I used:

Scheepjes Catona (Ravelry) 125m/50gr (138 yds/1.76oz)
hook size 4mm for the main parts plus a hook size 3mm for the final round (US G6 and D3, UK 8 and 11).

A Catona-bauble will then be almost 5cm (2") wide/tall.

Alternatively use regular cotton yarn for amigurumi with yardage 170m/50gr (186 yds/1.76oz) and hook size 3-3.5mm (US D3-E4, UK 10-9). For the final round use a slightly smaller hook for a nicer closing.

The Red Striped Bauble

The bauble is worked in rounds in a continuous spiral. (No joining with a slip stitch after each round).

Make not-tight stitches to make it easy to work with. Be thorough with the size of your chains. Adjust accordingly if needed, like when you change color.

Use the neck of the hook to determine the size of your stitches - and avoid tightening them after the loop leaves the hook. Otherwise, it might be difficult to make the following round.

Use 3-4 stitch markers or tiny stitch holders for the final round - And it's also nice to have a stitch marker or a long piece of yarn for marking the beginning of a round too.

Color changes are marked ‘-c’. Change color while pulling up the last loop of a stitch, so the new color is ready for the next stitch. For slip stitches, pick up the new color immediately.

Special stitches

Slip stitch decrease. Hook into the next two stitches in reverse order. Yarn-over and pull through all loops. For more info and a video, see Slip Stitch Tutorials - Part III.

Unfinished-ws. Insert the hook between the legs of a stitch, yarn-over and pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through one loop only. Keep the extra loop on the hook.

Abbreviations

ch = chain
sc = single crochet stitch
ws = waistcoat stitch
ws-c = Ws with a color change (see above)
slst/ slst-c = slip stitch / slip stitch with a color change
slst-blo = slip stitch in the Back Loop Only (blo)
slst-blo-dec = slip stitch decrease - in the back loop only
* * = Repeat instructions within * * all the way round
( ) x4 = Repeat instructions within the parentheses as many times as instructed.
[ ] = number of stitches in the round

Instructions

Start with red yarn.

Foundation
Make 6 loose sc in a Magic Ring. Pull the Magic Ring loosely together. [6]

1st Half of the Red Ball

* With red. 1 ws and 1 ws-c in the next sc,
ch-c 1 with the white (change color immediately). *
Repeat all the way. [18]
* With red. 1 ws in the ws,
1 ws-c in the next stitch.
With white; 1 slst-blo in the chain,
1 slst-blo-c in the ws *.
Start the next repeats in the CURRENT ws. Repeat all the way [24]
(Keep changing color so all ws are done with red yarn and all slst are done in white.)
* 1 ws in the current stitch,
1 ws-c in the next stitch,
1 slst-blo in each slst,
1 slst-blo-c in the ws * [30]
Repeat round 3. [36]
Repeat round 3. [42]

Tighten the Magic Ring and weave in the yarn end from the beginning of the work. - Or just tuck the loose end inside the bauble with or without a knot. (I didn't make a knot, mine are fine as they are just for decoration).

Start filling the bauble. Depending on your tension, yarn, and more, the white part might arch inward. Use this if you like - or fill the bauble firmly in the end, if you want a very round ball.

2nd Half of the Red Ball

Begin this round in the ‘current ws’ and make the repeats from the ‘next ws’.
* 1 ws in the ws,
1 ws-c in the next ws,
1 slst-blo in the next 4 slst,
1 slst-blo-c in the last slst * [42]
Repeat the previous round.
* 1 ws in the ws,
1 ws-c in the next ws,
1 slst-blo-dec,
1 slst-blo in the next 2 slst,
1 slst-blo-c in the last slst * [36]
* 1 ws in the ws,
1 ws-c in the next ws,
1 slst-blo-dec,
1 slst-blo in the next slst,
1 slst-blo-c in the last slst * [30]
* 1 ws in the ws,
1 ws-c in the next ws,
1 slst-blo-dec,
1 slst-blo-c * [24]
* 1 ws in the ws,
1 ws-c in the next ws,
1 slst-blo-dec-c in the slst. * [18]
* 1 ws in each ws * (Skip all slst). [12]

Final Round
Change to a hook 1 size smaller.

Make 1 ws in the first stitch and unfinished-ws the rest of the way. Every time you have 4 loops (max) on the hook, move 3 loops to a stitch marker /stitch holder (or just a piece of string). The loop you made last, keep that on the hook.

Cut a long yarn end. Pull the yarn end through all the loops on the hook and then all the loops on the stitch markers. Use a needle or a hook.

Fill the bauble - firmly for a round ball.

Tighten the yarn end and use a needle to secure it by going around in the last loops once more.

Insert the needle into the ball and let it come out from the middle of the 'star'.

Shape the Christmas bauble by hand if needed.

Have a Merry Crochet Christmas!

...Psst!

If you liked this, then try other projects using waistcoat stitches and slip stitches. You can find them under the theme Split Crochet.

The stitches are not used much with traditional patterns but are really fun to work with.

No comments

If you haven't met the cute Junior Egg already, let me introduce you now. He/she likes to sit in a nest of yarn - or hang from a twig or a tree. And the Junior Egg pattern is free!

Years ago, right before Easter, the kids and I played with paper and cardboard and we came up with an egg with legs because it was pretty easy to draw and cut out and glue.

We loved it! We thought the result was eggcellent. An egg with a lot of personality. So I thought. Why not make a crochet version?

Materials

Hook size 2-2.5mm (US 0-B1, UK 14-13)
Scissors
A long piece of scrap yarn to use a stitch marker
Filling

Yarn

Cotton yarn with yardage around 170m/50gr (186y/1.76oz)

A tiny bit of white and orange.

Spiral Note
The egg and leg are worked in a spiral. Working in a spiral means working in continuous rounds without ending each round with a slip stitch. Put your scrap yarn stitch marker in place, when a round is done, and continue with the next round immediately. The yarn stitch marker show what round you are working on.

Abbreviations (US terms)

ch = chain
sc = single crochet
inc = increase. Make two sc in the same stitch.
dec = decrease. Work 2 sc together.
() = repeat instructions between parentheses as many times as directed – OR throughout the round/row.
[] = the number of stitches in a round or row.

Junior Egg Pattern

Work in a spiral.

Begin with 5sc in a magic ring. Pull tight. [5]

Increase with 5 stitches in each round like this:

1 inc in each stitch all the way. [10]
(inc, 1 sc) 5 times. [15]
(sc, inc, sc) 5 times. [20]
(inc, 3 sc) 5 times. [25]
(2 sc, inc, 2 sc) 5 times. [30]
(inc, 5 sc) 5 times. [35]

Round 8-15. (8 rounds in total). Work straight up now – no increases. 1 sc in each stitch. [35]

For shaping the top of the egg, I recommend invisible decreases*: Insert the hook into the front loops of the next 2 stitches right after each other (do not yarn-over in between). Yarn-over and pull through two loops. Yarn-over and pull through the last loop.

*Don't make invisible decreases if you plan to turn the backside out like I sometimes to do.

1 sc, (dec, 15 sc) 2 times. [33]
(9 sc, dec) 3 times. [30]
(4 sc, dec, 4 sc) 3 times. [27]
(7 sc, dec) 3 times. [24]
(3 sc, dec, 3 sc) 3 times. [21]

Add fill. Add more fill after the next couple of rounds.

(5 sc, dec) 3 times. [18]
(2 sc, dec, 2 sc) 3 times. [15]
(1 sc, dec) 5 times. [10]

Remove your marker. The closing off is not worked in full rounds.

Closing Off the Egg

Cut a long yarn end. Expand the loop on the hook and pull until the yarn end is out and the work secured.

Attach a needle to the yarn end. Insert the needle into the front loop of every stitch all the way around (9 stitches). Pull tight and the hole closes.

Only if needed, secure the yarn again, by weaving it in and out a couple of times.

Use the yarn end for hanging the egg on a twig.

Related blog post: The Easter Bunny Egg pattern

Bunny Egg & Junior Egg

Leg

Work in a spiral.

Foundation option #1: Ch 5. Slip stitch it into a ring. [5]
Foundation option #2: Magic Ring with 5 sc. [5]

1-6) Sc all the way for 6 rounds.

7) Toe: Ch 4.

8) Use the back bumps of the chains. Skip the first and slip stitch into the next three.

9) Slip stitch into the middle of the foot through front and backside.

10) - 11) Repeat line 7-8.
12) Slip stitch into the left side of the foot.

13) - 14) Repeat line 7-8.
15) Slip stitch into the side of the foot again.

Finishing Off

Cut a long yarn end and pull the yarn end through the slip stitch.

Pull the yarn through the leg, so both yarn ends are at the top of the leg. (Find the nearest ’hole’ to pull it through. Use a needle or your hook).

Make another leg.

Sew the legs on the egg. Place them somewhat on the same side. ’Fold’ the legs, with the toes pointing forward and the ’knees’ slightly bend.