60 Crocheted Snowflakes. Barbara Christopher

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      INTRODUCTION

      Crocheted snowflakes are a longtime favorite of mine. The almost infinite variety of possible designs makes them fun to crochet, and their delicate, lacy beauty makes them effective as Christmas tree ornaments, package tie-ons or lightcatchers. For inspiration for my snowflakes, I turned to Snow Crystals by W. A. Bentley and W. J. Humphreys (Dover 0-486-20287-9). This fascinating book has photographs of over 2000 actual snow crystals. For this book, I have selected sixty of these crystals and interpreted them as closely as possible in crochet.

      Despite the seeming intricacy of many of the designs, the snowflakes are surprisingly simple and quick to make. Almost all can be crocheted in an hour or less and none of them takes more than four rounds of crochet. The abbreviations used in the instructions are listed below.

      The snowflakes shown were all made using DMC Cebelia¹ cotton crochet thread. In order to have as wide a variety of sizes as possible, I used three different weights of this thread—sizes 10, 20 and 30. The size hook called for in each instruction is the size I used to make the snowflake. Since everyone crochets a little differently, you may find you need a larger or smaller hook to get the size shown. You may also decide that you want to make your snowflake larger or smaller. It is very easy to do this by simply changing the size of the thread and the hook you use. Just remember that the snowflake will look better if it is crocheted tightly.

      In order to give the snowflakes extra sparkle, I added Balger’s Metallic Blending Filament, White #100.² This filament is so fine that it will not change the size of the snowflake, yet it adds a hint of glitter. To use it, hold a strand of the blending filament together with the crochet thread and work with them as if they were a single thread.

      After your snowflake is crocheted, it must be blocked and starched. If it has become soiled, first wash it gently in warm water with a mild soap. Rinse it thoroughly and roll it in a towel to remove the excess moisture.

      There are several different solutions you can use to stiffen your snowflake. A thick solution of commercial boilable starch works very well, but don’t try to use spray or liquid starch—they won’t give the piece enough body. Old-fashioned sugar starch is a good, though somewhat messy, substitute for commercial starch. To make it, mix equal amounts of sugar and water in a small pan. Bring the mixture to a rapid boil, then let it cool to room temperature. Another possibility is to dilute white craft glue with an equal amount of water. There are also commercial lace stiffeners on the market, but I have never used them.

      To block your snowflake, trace the blocking guide³ onto tissue or tracing paper and extend the arms out to the finished size of the snowflake. Place the guide on a pinning board—a sheet of plastic foam, a fabric cutting board or a piece of pressed cardboard all work well.

      BLOCKING GUIDE