Amazing how fast this year has gone and here we are approaching another Christmas!!  And, if you are like me, I always seem to be making gifts at the last minute too.  I just love giving handmade gifts even if they are really small like a simple bowl to put your rings in or hold those small items that seem to gather on your dresser or counters.  At the current time, I’ve been crocheting fun, quick neck warmers to wrap and place under the tree.  Here are some pictures and directions to help you make some of those last minute gifts too!! Double Crochet Cross Stitch/HDC The first picture shows my extra long scarf that is perfect for several wraps around your neck.  For this one, I used a lovely Oink Pigment yarn (Helix) and a Size H crochet hook.  The skein of yarn had 400 yards and I used all of it to complete this design.  I started off by making a HDC foundation crocheting 22 stitches. Round 1:  Turn, chain 3, *skip first stitch, make a double crochet in next stitch, then cross over and make another DC in the stitch that you just skipped.  Repeat from * until to reach the last stitch and then make 1 double crochet.  Here’s a great site for the New Stitch A Day cross double crochet stitch – you will complete a total of 10 cross over stitches using 20 stitches. Round 2:  Next row turn, chain 3 (counts as a stitch) make 21 HDC stitches for a total of 22 stitches across. Now repeat rounds 1 and 2 until you reach the desired length of your scarf. Remember, to end you scarf with Round 2.   Chunky Cowl/HDC For this pattern, I basically followed a cool design that I found on one of my favorite sites, Hopeful Honey with just a few changes.  I used a great Heartland yarn, Thick and Quick by Lion Brand (super bulky/category 6) for this cowl and a Size N crochet hook. Total yardage was 125 yards and I used the whole skein.  If you want your cowl to be a little bigger or longer, you might want to use 2 skeins of this awesome yarn.  So warm and soft to wrap up in.  I began with a HDC foundation stitch (55 stitches, like pattern directions).  Then followed the directions but I only completed 14 rows and the last row I completed 55 HDC in each stitch.  This Basic Chunky Cowl pattern works up super quick too.   Scalloped Edge Scarf I used my scalloped edge pattern but this time I started off with 21 stitches (multiples of 3) and had 6 scallops along the bottom and top edges.  I found a cute yarn by Red Heart called Gumdrop (color Smoothie) that I loved – nice bright, cheery colors and thought this would be perfect for a child’s scarf.  This yarn had 204 yards (worsted weight/category 4) and I crocheted this with a Size H hook. Came out soft and cuddly.  If you want this a little longer,  follow the pattern beginning with 15 stitches and use a Size G hook.   Again, I  just crocheted using up the entire skein of yarn to complete this fun, colorful scarf.  Now I need to go and get some more yarn to make a matching beanie 🙂 Enjoy these quick and easy patterns and hopefully they will help you complete those last minute gifts too!!

HAPPY CREATING!!

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