About Tricia

I am Tricia. Momma of nine, homeschooler, artist, foodie and maker of all kinds of things. It's a pleasure to share here our family homesteading adventures, the things we make, and what inspires our days. Read more about my family and work here. Thanks for visiting!

Author Archive | Tricia

A Christmas pickle…crochet pattern

By on December 21, 2011 in crochet, Handmade, Handmade Christmas Challenge, Holidays

Today I am working on sugar cookies (recipe long overdo will be posted tomorrow), cooking up presents in the kitchen and working on some ornaments.

My children are big on traditions, just as the daily rhythm of our lives keeps their world feeling just as it should, the rhythm of our traditions does the same.  They however are not big on changes to our traditions but this year I am pulling a fast one on them.  For a few years I have wanted to add the tradition of hiding a Christmas pickle in the tree.   It is the last ornament to be put in the tree on Christmas Eve and the first child to find it in the morning gets a little extra surprise.  I am thinking that would be a little handmade toy or a sweet.

 The tradition of hiding a pickle is a medieval tale of two Spanish boys traveling home from boarding school for the holidays. When they stopped at an inn for the night, the innkeeper, a mean and evil man, stuffed the boys into a pickle barrel. That evening, St. Nicholas stopped at the same inn, became aware of the boys’ plight, tapped the pickle barrel with his staff, and the boys were magically freed.

I could not find a pattern that looked like a pickle much to me so I made this one and though it does not look exactly like a pickle it works for me.  I have not tested it so if you find any mistakes please let me know.  You can make one of these in about 20 minutes so perfect for last minute new traditions : )

Christmas pickle pattern

I used a chunky wool blend yarn and a size I crochet hook.  You also need a stitch marker to mark the beginning of each row.

Row 1: Make a magic ring, 5 sc in ring

Row 2: 2 sc in each st around

Row 3 to 8:  1 sc in each st around

Row 9:  sk 1st st, sc in next st, sk next st, sc in next st, 2 sc in next st, sc around to last st, 2 sc in last st of row

Row 10:  repeat row 9

Row 11 to 14: sc in each st around, stuff with wool or fiberfill, bits of yarn or whatever

Row 15: sk next st, sc in next, repeat around

Row 16: repeat row 15 until the hole at the top is closed, ch 8, sl st to next st.  Fasten off and weave in end.  Hide your ornament until Christmas Eve then hide is really well in the tree and don’t forget to have a little something to give the child who finds it.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)
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Rush

By on December 20, 2011 in Yarn Along

Right now I am doing exactly what I said I would not be doing back in October… working like a mad woman to finish Christmas presents.  I am still working on my 3 daughters Waldorf dolls,  they will hopefully and probably be done 2 seconds before they are given to my little ones.  I hope to share pictures with you after the big day.

The next few days around here will be busy, busy, busy.  Tomorrow I will be making some salted caramel apple butter to give as gifts in between sewing projects.  We will begin getting all the decorations together to put up the tree on Christmas eve.  Oh and yes, if you caught that, we do not put up our tree until Christmas Eve.  We prepare our hearts during advent for the birth of Our Lord and so we do not do very much Christmaswise.  We do watch our favorite Christmas movies but that is about it.  This is just the way our family does it, if you celebrate differently, please share!  I love to hear how others celebrate this time of year.  We usually also do a Jesse tree but this year it just did not happen and that is OK.   

I am yarning along again this week with Ginny at Small Things. I am done with all the knitting that I had planned.  I only need to weave in the ends of this one last cowl and ear warmer for my niece (Marv, if you are watching do not continue!).  This was super easy to make in the round and did not take much yarn at all.  I used a wool blend to make it easy for her parents to clean them.

I have a pile of projects I really wanted to do and still hope to sneak a few in before Christmas and I have decided that if they don’t get them done in time I will still make them because Christmas has really just begun.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or follow me by email at the top right hand of the screen to have future posts sent to you. Tricia (Crunchy Catholic Momma)

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