Crocheted marzipan cake

You will need:

* 4mm crochet hook

* brown yarn

* green yarn (or pink, white, yellow or purple)

Pattern:

With 4mm hook and dark brown yarn,

6 sc in ring

Increase around - 12

*1 sc, inc* six times - 18

*2 sc, inc* six times - 24

Sc around in back loops only

Sc around 3 rounds

Change to green yarn (or whatever marzipan color you choose)

Sc around 8 rounds

Change to brown yarn

Sc around 3 rounds

Work in back loops only: *2 sc, dec* six times - 18

*1 sc, dec* six times - 12

*1 sc, dec* four times - 9

Stuff the cake!

Break yarn, weave end through the remaining stitches and pull tight to close hole.

Chain stitch between the color changes (or slip stitch before you finish crocheting). Weave in all ends. Done :)

Crocheted saffron bun

You will need:

* 3.5mm crochet hook

* some brownish yellow yarn

* a scrap of brown yarn

Pattern for saffron bun:

With 3.5mm hook and yellow yarn,

6 sc in ring

Increase in every stitch - 12

Sc around for 21cm/8 inches

Stuff if you haven't already (it's best to stuff as you go)

Decrease in every stitch - 6

Break yarn, leave a long end for sewing

Fold the bun into the S shape, secure with a few stitches. Embroider the raisins with brown yarn, and the bun is done :)

Crocheted chocolate candy

Both of these candies are made with a 4mm crochet hook over the same basic ball pattern. The first is crocheted with two strands of yarn, one dark brown and one beige. The other is crocheted with two strands of dark brown. Change the colors and decorate them in different ways, and you have lots of different candy treats. The wrappers are also the same, but with different colors. One strand of wool/acrylic yarn and one strand of shiny metallic.

Candy pattern:

Ball:

With 4mm hook and two strands of yarn (the color of your choice),

6 sc in ring

Increase around - 12 sts

*1 sc, inc* six times - 18 sts

Sc around 4 rounds

*1 sc, dec* six times - 12 sts

Stuff firmly

Decrease around - 6 sts

Break yarn, weave end through the front loops of the stitches, pull tight to close up the hole. Weave in all ends. Embroider decorations if you wish, or sew on beads for sprinkles.

Wrapping paper:

With 4mm hook and two strands of yarn,

7 sc in ring

Increase around - 14 sts

*1 sc, inc* seven times - 21

Sc around in BLO

Sc around

*2 sc, inc* seven times - 28

*chain 3, sc in next* around for wavy edge (sl st in last st for a neater finish if you want)

Finish off...

Weave in ends, place candy ball in wrapper, and you're done :)

Crocheted Christmas pudding

You will need:

* 4mm crochet hook

* 3.5mm crochet hook

* brown yarn

* off-white yarn

* green yarn or felt

* three red beads

Pattern for Christmas pudding:

Pudding:

With 4mm hook and two strands of brown yarn,

6 sc in ring

Increase around - 12

*1 sc, inc* six times - 18

*2 sc, inc* six times - 24

Sc around 3 rounds

*3 sc, inc* six times - 30

Sc around 3 rounds

Finish off...

Bottom:

With 4mm hook and two strands of brown yarn,

6 sc in ring

Increase around - 12

*1 sc, inc* six times - 18

*2 sc, inc* six times - 24

*3 sc, inc* six times - 30

Finish off...

Sauce:

With 4mm hook and two strands of off-white yarn,

6 sc in ring

Increase around - 12

*1 sc, inc* six times - 18

*2 sc, inc* six times - 24

Sc around

Wavy edge:

Dc, trc inc, dc, hdc, sc, chain 4, **3 sc in 2nd chain from hook, sc to end of chain**, 2 sc in prev round, hdc, dc inc, hdc, sc, chain 6, repeat from ** to **, 2 sc in prev round, chain 3, repeat from ** to **, 2 sc in prev round, hdc, dc inc, hdc, sc, hdc, dc inc, hdc, sc, chain 5, repeat from ** to **, sl st in last stitch

Finish off...

Leaves (make 2):

With 3.5mm hook and one strand of green yarn,

Chain 10

Sl st in 2nd chain from hook, hdc, dc, trc, chain 1, sl st in front loops of trc, trc, dc, hdc, dc, chain 1, sl st in front loops of dc, (hdc, 2 sc, chain 1, sl st in front loops of sc, sc, hdc) in last stitch of the foundation chain.

You are now working on the other side of the leaf:

Dc, chain, 1, sl st in front loops of dc, hdc, dc, trc, chain 1, sl st in front loops of trc, trc, dc, hdc, sl st in last stitch

Finish off...

Assembly:

Attach the leaves to the white sauce, sew on the beads as shown on the picture. Sew the sauce to the pudding. Stuff the pudding, attach the bottom, weave in all ends, and it's ready to be enjoyed :)

Onion-shaped mushroom

You will need:

* 3.5mm crochet hook

* off-white yarn

* dark brown yarn

Hat:

With 3.5mm hook and dark brown yarn,

6 sc in ring

2: *sc 1, inc* three times - 9 sts

3-4: sc around

5: *2 sc, inc* three times - 12 sts

6: *1 sc, inc* six times - 18 sts

7: *2 sc, inc* six times - 24 sts

8: *3 sc, inc* six times - 30 sts

9: *4 sc, inc* six times - 36 sts

10: sc around

11: *5 sc, inc* six times - 42 sts

12-15: sc around

16: *5 sc, dec* six times - 36 sts

17: *4 sc, dec* six times - 30 sts

18: *3 sc, dec* six times - 24 sts

BLO: *dc inc, sc* around

Finish off...

Foot:

With 3.5mm hook and off-white yarn,

6 sc in ring

2: 6 inc - 12 sts

3: *1 sc, inc* six times - 18 sts

4: sc around

5: *2 sc, inc* six times - 24 sts

6: sc around

7: *3 sc, inc* six times - 30

8-11: sc around

12: 3 sc, dec, *2 sc, dec* three times, 13 sc - 26 sts

13: sc around

14: 6 sc, dec, 4 sc, dec, 12 sc - 24 sts

15: sc around

16: *2 sc, dec* six times - 18 sts

17: sc around

18: *4 sc, dec* three times - 15 sts

19-20: sc around

21: *3 sc, dec* three times - 12 sts

22: sc around

23: *1 sc, inc* six times in FLO - 18 sts

24: *2 sc, inc* six times in BLO - 24 sts

Finish off, leave a long end for sewing...

Assembly:

Stuff the foot, sew it to the hat through the back loops of both the hat and the foot using the off-white yarn. Stuff the hat before you close the hole. Weave in all ends.

Skinny mushroom

You will need:
*3.5mm crochet hook

* red/wine-red yarn

* off-white yarn

* a scrap of beige yarn for spots

Hat:

With 3.5mm hook and red yarn,

6 sc in ring

2: *1 sc, inc* three times - 9 sts

3: sc around

4: *2 sc, inc* three times - 12 sts

5: sc around

6: *3 sc, inc* three times - 15 sts

7: sc around

8: *4 sc, inc* three times - 18 sts

9: sc around

10: *5 sc, inc* three times - 21 sts

11: sc around

12: *6 sc, inc* three times - 24 sts

13-14: sc around

15: *3 sc, inc* six times - 30 sts

16: sc around

17: *4 sc, inc* six times - 36 sts

18-19: sc around

20: *4 sc, dec* six times - 30 sts

21: *3 sc, dec* six times - 24 sts

BLO: *3 dc in same, skip 1, sc* around

Finish off...

Embroider spots (French knots) on the hat with beige yarn

Foot:

With 3.5mm hook and off-white yarn,

6 sc in ring

2: 6 inc - 12 sts

3: *3 sc, inc* - 15 sts

4: *4 sc, inc* - 18 sts

5-9: sc around

10: *1 sc, dec* three times, 9 sc - 15 sts

11-13: sc around

14: *3 sc, dec* three times - 12 sts

15-24: sc around

25: *1 sc, inc* six times in FLO - 18 sts

26: *2 sc, inc* six times in BLO - 24 sts

Finish off, leave a long end for sewing...

Assembly:

Stuff the foot, sew it to the hat through the back loops of both the hat and the foot using the off-white yarn. Stuff the hat before you close the hole. Weave in all ends.

Chubby mushroom

You will need:

* 3.5mm crochet hook

* red yarn

*off-white yarn

* a scrap of white yarn

Pattern:

Hat:

With 3.5mm hook and red yarn,

6 sc in ring

Increase around - 12

*1 sc, inc* six times - 18

*2 sc, inc* six times - 24

*3 sc, inc* six times - 30

Sc around

*4 sc, inc* six times - 36

Sc around 3 rounds

*5 sc, inc* six times - 42

Sc around

*6 sc, inc* six times - 48

Sc around 2 rounds

*6 sc, dec* six times - 42

In front loops only: *dc inc, skip 1, sc* around

Finish off...

Embroider spots (French knots) on the hat with white yarn

Foot:
With off-white yarn,

6 sc in ring

Increase around - 12

*1 sc, inc* six times - 18

*2 sc, inc* six times - 24

*3 sc, inc* six times - 30

Sc around

*4 sc, inc* six times - 36

Sc around 3 rounds

*2 sc, dec* six times, 12 sc - 30

Sc around

*3 sc, dec* six times - 24

Sc around 2 rounds

Sc around in back loops only

*6 sc, dec* three times - 21

Sc around

*5 sc, dec* three times - 18

Sc around

In front loops only: *2 sc, inc* six times - 24

Work remaining rounds in back loops only:

*3 sc, inc* six times - 30

*4 sc, inc* six times - 36

*5 sc, inc* six times - 42

Finish off, leave a long end for sewing...

Frilly thing:

Attach off-white yarn in the first round worked in the back loops,

Chain 3, 2 dc, dc inc, *3 dc, dc inc* around, sl st in top of the chain 3

Finish off...

Stuff the foot, sew it to the hat in the available back loops on the hat. Stuff the hat firmly before the hole gets too small :) Weave in all ends.

Knitted & felted Christmas tree cone

This is meant to be a small thing, but the pattern is easily converted to make any size you want! Fill it with nuts or candy or leave it as is is, it makes a cute ornament either way :)

You will need:

* pair of 6.5mm knitting needles

* 4mm crochet hook (optional)

* small amount of red pure wool yarn

* scrap of white eyelash/fuzzy yarn

Pattern:

Cast on 8 stitches with red yarn

Knit 2 rows of stocking stitch

*Increase, knit to end of row, increase in last stitch - 10 sts

Purl

Knit

Purl*

Repeat from * to * until you have 18 stitches

Cast off with white fuzzy yarn, leave a long end of red yarn for the handle

Finishing:

Sew up the cone. With the red yarn end, chain 20 and slip stitch in the edge of the cone to make the loop. Weave in all ends. Felt in washing machine (40-60 degrees C) along with a pair of jeans (or a towel of similar color). Shape the cone when wet, leave to dry. Tamtadam :)

Crocheted & felted napkin ring

This is a very simple, but cute design. My example is made in red with Christmas in mind, but you can make them in any colors to match the seasons :)

You will need:

*pure wool yarn

*4mm crochet hook

Pattern:

Chain 27, slip stitch in the first chain to form a ring

Chain 2, hdc in every stitch around, - 28

Repeat first round five more times (6 rounds total)

*Chain 3, 2 dc in same space, 3 dc in every stitch around, join with a slip stitch in top of the chain 3

Break yarn, fasten off

Attach yarn to the other side of the ring, repeat from *

Weave in all ends before felting

Felting:

Felt in washing machine on a normal cycle (40-60 degrees C) and a small amount of mild detergent (no bleach), and less water if you have the option. Pull into shape when the rings are wet, leave to dry. All done :)

Tiny knitted santa hat

Flattened out the hat measures about 5cm across and 8cm from top to bottom. It sort of bends backwards a bit, but it is stretchable. Attach a loop of yarn to the top of the hat to make it into an ornament :)

Here is what you need if you want to make your own:

* a pair of 3.5mm knitting needles

* small amount of red yarn (wool or acrylic)

* a scrap of white fuzzy or eyelash yarn

Pattern:

Cast on 25 stitches with white

Knit 2 rows

Change to red yarn

Knit 2 rows of stocking stitch, start with a knit row

*K1, decrease (knit 2 stitches together), knit until 3 stitches remain, decrease, k1

Purl*

Repeat the last two rows until only 4 stitches remain (from * to *)

Change to white yarn

Knit

Increase in every stitch (knit front and back of all stitches) - 8 sts

Repeat the last row - 16 sts

Knit

Decrease until end - 8 sts

Break yarn, pull end through remaining stitches, pull tight and shape the top into a ball

Sew the hat together with the seam at the back, weave in all ends, and you're done! :)