Every year one of the knit and crochet groups I attend has a Christmas meal with a secret crafty santa. Every makes and swaps a christmas ornament that has been handcrafted. You don't know who you are making for or who you are getting a present from, it is all in the luck of the draw on the night. Every year I am amazed by the talents of my friends and it really is one of the highlights of my Christmas.
This year I was really struggling for inspiration. In previous years I have made little stockings, snowmen, and snowflakes, all very traditional ornaments. I did a Ravelry search on ornaments and my eye was caught by a weeping angel from the tv series Doctor Who. I am a big Who fan (yes I do dream about going travelling with a mad man in a blue box) and I know many of my friends also like the series.
So I had a dilema - was a weeping angel Christmassy enough? Angels are Christmassy, but a weeping angel that the Doctor calls "the deadliest, most powerful, most malevolent life-form ever produced"? Probably not the most traditional of Christmas angels. They do have another tie to Christmas though, as one of the highlights of my Christmas day (along with opening my stocking of presents from Santa Cthulhu) is the Doctor Who Christmas special (6.15pm on BBC One). So an angel that appears on a show that has a Christmas special - yep, that was Christmassy enough for me.
The pattern I used was Weeping Angel by Irene McCormick, a free pattern on Ravelry. I used Rowan Tweed yarn in colourway Buckden which looks really good as a marble substitute. It is a very easy pattern to make and I love the little details like her hairbun.
To make sure the Christmas theme was strong enough, I also added a jaunty little santa hat. For this I used a 3mm hook and Sublime Yarns Extra Fine Merino Wool DK in colours white and red.
The pattern for the jaunty santa hat:
- With the white yarn, chain 25, slip stitch (ss) in the first chain to create a loop.
- Round 1: Chain 1, double crochet (dc) (single crochet in US terms) in each st, slip stitch in the first dc to close. [25 sts]. Break white yarn.
- Round 2: With the red yarn, dc in each st around. From this point onwards work in a spiral amigurumi style.
- Round 3: Repeat round 2.
- Round 4: *Dc 3, double crochet 2 together (dc2tog); repeat from * to end. [20 sts]
- Round 5: Repeat round 4.
- Round 6: *Dc 2, dc2tog; repeat from * to end. [15 sts]
- Round 7: Repeat round 6.
- Round 8: *Dc 1, dc2tog; repeat from * to end. [10 sts]
- Round 9: Repeat round 8.
- Round 10: *Dc2tog; rep from * to end. [5 sts]
- Round 11: Repeat round 10. Break red yarn.
- Round 12: With white yarn, 2 dc in each st. [10 sts]
- Stuff with a small amount of toy stuffing
- Round 13: *Dc2tog; repeat from * to end. [5 sts]
- Round 14: Dc2tog, dc 1, dc2tog. [3 sts]. Break white yarn and thread through remaining sts, pulling tight to close.
- Weave in all ends and place jaunty hat on top of your weeping angel.
So what did I get for my secret crafty santa present? I received this lovely flower decoration with a cute poinsettia button and ribbon that was made by my friend Sammy and now hangs on my Christmas tree. Thanks Sammy!
This photo shows the amazing range of gifts crafted for the Crafty Secret Santa - there were socks, christmas trees, button wreaths, christmas puddings and even a Christmouse!
The big question is how do we beat that next year???