May I introduce the Christmas Holly Wreath!
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
I thought I would create something a little out of the box today. I’m sure many of you have seen those mesh style wreaths all over the place, but have you seen one in crochet? Well, it’s about time that you did!
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Believe it or not, this wreath is a breeze to make! I made the entire thing in one day. Essentially, you are only making a scarf type of panel with the super easy shell stitch and 10 small rectangles worked in half double crochets. That’s it!
Once you get rolling, even the assembly is fast and simple. You could easily make one of these wreaths as a last minute gift or for that hard to shop for person on your list!
Hang it in your home, office, church, classroom, etc. Decorate the Christmas Holly Wreath any way that you please. I bought the wooden words at A.C. Moore and painted them myself with a paint brush and some acrylic paints that I already had. The bow was just ribbon that I tied into a bow shape, but you could definitely purchase a pre-made bow if that is easier for you.
The Christmas Holly Wreath is built upon a 12″ wire wreath form that you can purchase at any craft store or here at Amazon. The finished product has a 13″ diameter — not a huge wreath, but large enough for a door or window.
The wreath body takes approximately six ounces of the seven that come in a standard sized skein of Red Heart Super Saver. The Rectangles take about one ounce of each of the secondary colors. I recommend the Red Heart brand yarn for this project because of its slight stiffness that helps the “bubbles” keep their shape.
***I haven’t tried this with any other brand of yarn, so I can’t honestly say if it will be too loose or soft to use another brand. If you try it, please let me know how it turns out in the comments below!
Add this project to your Ravelry queue here…
Christmas Holly Wreath
Materials Used:
- 6 oz. of Red Heart Super Saver in Aran – 7 oz/198 g – 364 yds/333 m
- 1 oz. of Red Heart Super Saver in Burgundy – 7 oz/198 g – 364 yds/333 m
- 1 oz. of Red Heart Super Saver in Medium Thyme – 7 oz/198 g – 364 yds/333 m
- Or any medium weight size 4 yarn.
- I/9 (5.25 mm) crochet hook — My favorite hooks! I use them daily!
- 12” wire wreath frame
- Ribbon or bow
- 2 wooden words “Hope” and “Love” – I painted them myself. Purchased at A.C. Moore.
- 14 – 6” lengths of white pipe cleaners (7 regular pipe cleaners cut in half)
- Scissors
- Sewing needle and thread/hot glue gun for attaching accessories
- Tapestry needle
Finished Size Approximately:
13” diameter
Gauge:
2 ½ shell stitches and 8 rows in a 4” (10cm) square.
Special Stitches:
Shell Stitch
Five double crochets in one stitch.
Bottom Loop
Flip your chain upside down. They are the loops on the bottom.
Abbreviations:
FC – foundation chain
st(s) – stitch(es)
ch(s) – chain(s)
sc – single crochet
hdc – half double crochet
dc – double crochet
Notes:
- I recommend using Red Heart or another similar yarn. The slight stiffness of the yarn helps this wreath keep its shape no matter how many times you smash it. Simply insert your fingers into the back of the “bubble” to adjust the shape.
*** American crochet terms used throughout.
Instructions:
Main Wreath Body Fabric
Make 1 with Aran
FC: Ch 25
Row 1: In 4th ch from hook, 2 dc. Skip 2 chs, sc in next ch, *skip 2 chs, 5 dc in next ch, skip 2 chs, sc in next ch* Repeat from * to * across. Turn. (3½ shells, 4 sc)
Row 2: Ch 3, 2 dc in same st the ch 3 comes out of, *sc in 3rd dc of shell st, 5 dc in sc from previous row* Repeat from * to * across. Sc in 3rd ch of turning ch. Turn. (3½ shells, 4 sc)
Row 3 – Row 118: Repeat Row 2
Finish off.
Rolled Rectangles
Make 5 with Burgundy and make 5 with Medium Thyme
FC: Ch 11
Row 1: Work in Bottom Loops of FC. In 2nd ch from hook, hdc. Hdc in every ch across. Turn. (10 hdc)
Row 2 – Row 12: Ch 1 (does not count as hdc), hdc in same st ch 1 comes out of, hdc in next 9 sts. Turn. (10 hdc)
Finish off. Weave in ends.
Attaching Main Body Fabric
Cut each of your pipe cleaners in half using scissors for approximately 6” lengths. You can also use a tapestry needle and yarn for this part, but the pipe cleaners allow you to untwist and move sections if needed without cutting yarn.
Take one end (it doesn’t matter which end) of your main body fabric (the one that looks like a scarf) and fold the end accordion style where you have three bumps as shown in the photo below.
Note: Make sure you start your fold where the ends of the fabric on the sides will be touching the frame, not facing upward. This will give it the rounded “bubble” shape.
Gently insert one pipe cleaner through all of six thicknesses of the fabric as shown in the photo above. Be careful! The wire from the pipe cleaner does snag your stitches if you try to go too quickly. If it does snag, just back the pipe cleaner up and try again. Use your crochet hook to tuck any snags back into the fabric.
Take the two ends of the pipe cleaner and wrap them around the two center wire rings of the wreath frame. From behind the wreath, twist the ties to secure. See photo below.
***Count 8 rows along the fabric. In the 9th row, fold your fabric accordion style again as you did before. Insert your pipe cleaner through the folded 9th row and wrap around the two center wire rings of the wreath frame.***
As you continue to make your “bubbles”, don’t worry about spacing on the wreath frame too much, since the pipe cleaners will slide along the frame. Just try to keep them fairly even as you work around.
Continue to repeat from *** to *** the entire way around the wreath. When you reach the end, repeat the process, but you don’t have to attach the two ends of the fabric together. Simply attach your final pipe cleaner to the two center rings of the wreath frame and slide the two fabric ends together.
Using your fingers, slide and space the “bubbles” evenly around the frame. Insert your fingers into the backs of the “bubbles” to adjust their fullness if needed.
Attaching Burgundy and Medium Thyme Rectangles
Take one rectangle and lay it flat on a surface. Beginning in any corner, roll the rectangle up as shown in the photos below. Using a tapestry needle and yarn, secure the corner of the wrapped rectangle to the body of the roll as shown in the 4th photo below. Don’t finish off yet.
Wrap the yarn around the center of the roll twice, pull tightly and tie the first part of a knot. Cut, leaving 5” – 6” tails.
Along the outer ring of the wreath frame and between two “bubbles”, tie the roll tightly to the ring using a knot. If you leave it like this, it will be floppy. Using a tapestry needle and the long tails from your knot, stitch the roll to the main fabric (one tail for each side of the roll) to secure. As little as one tack stitch on either end will keep it in place.
Tip: I inserted my needle up into the roll and then into the main fabric and then brought it back down and out the back of the wreath frame. I repeated this with the other side of the roll and then I tied the two ends together behind the wreath frame.
Repeat this process with the other rectangles (3 green, 3 red). I alternated the red and green along the outside ring with two “bubbles” in between each roll. (One had 3 “bubbles” in between…I made that location where my bow went.) On the interior ring of the wreath frame, I attached four more rectangles in the same manner, alternating their colors. You can add more or less rectangles as desired.
Attach any other accessories as desired. I used a sewing needle and thread to attach the two wooden words and my bow, but hot glue would have worked as well.
Merry Christmas!
I hope you’ve enjoyed the Christmas Holly Wreath pattern!
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