Snowflake Monday

I began today's join-as-you-go hand-dyed avocado pit thread snowflake shawl back in 2019, one motif at a time, during daily train work commutes. The project progressed wildly when I worked on it while Lizard went through physical therapy after total knee replacement in December of that year. Once the pandemic crash-landed, I got even more motifs done during PT because I had to wait in the car while Lizard was with his physical therapist.

Back then, that PT office was down to one therapist, and only one patient was allowed in at a time. This project undoubtedly fermented in a ton of salt water because so many tears were shed during the first half of 2020.

The project didn't get finished that year because we learned just four months after PT was complete that Lizard would have to go through yet another surgery. What is it about emergency back surgery in my family?!? Life was totally upended for months, and this project got buried and forgotten for quite a while.

I took the project along during one of our 2022 visits to Lizard's mom but didn't have the frame of mind or patience to reverse engineer the pattern, which had not been written at that point. I was quite disappointed in not being able to finish then because I thought it would take only a week of solid work! (I did finish the edging on my snowflake skirt that trip, so crochet time still found a way to triumph magnificently.)

2023's crochet temperature project inspired me to get going on my unfinished join-as-you-go motif projects; if I could do one motif a day every single day, perhaps I could do two or three. I went gangbusters on my Autumn Harvest Flower shawl back in April 2023 when I first decided to challenge myself with one more motif per day. I originally intended for today's pattern to be published the Monday after Thanksgiving 2023.

Today's shawl took a bit longer to make real progress because I got so excited about finishing the flower project (which, sadly, still sits in the WIP pile), I devoted more time to it. I finally forced myself to sit down and count stitches and guess at chain spaces for this project to make the next motif back in 2023 (the shawl probably was about half done at that point) and write the pattern as soon as I figured it out so I wouldn't get stuck again should life take another unexpected twist or turn. After setting a new goal of one motif a day in January of last year, life took yet another unexpected twisty turny traumatic detour.

I had to set this project (and Harvest Flower) aside again in April of last year, and I didn't touch either again until three weeks ago.

I hope you can see why I love this project SO much, even though it took a lot longer (and a lot more brain power) than I could have expected. The pattern, to me, isn't really all that difficult, and someone else probably could have figured it out in a heartbeat without a bit of stress. Yet perhaps that's another reason why I love this project so much. The thread-dyeing literally took YEARS. I began experimenting with solar dyeing with avocado pits and skins in 2013!!! Would today's shawl be anywhere near as special if I had whipped it out in the blink of an eye without a second thought?

And then... oh, boy... There's another whole chapter of this story! I actually worked up a white version of the original motif and added a few rounds to transform it into a more beautiful snowflake.

That snowflake sat at the bottom of my crochet bag since at least December of 2019, unstiffened, unphotographed, and using its super powers to tease me all these years into thinking it was done, pattern included. Oh, heavens, now I have to reverse engineer this baby!!! (At least I found it!!!) I knew I'd made a prototype snowflake. I searched all eight of my undonated stiffened snowflake boxes three times in 2023!!! (And almost all of my finished snowflakes have been donated to Operation Ornaments now. So the original flake is hopefully in the home of someone who appreciates a hand-crafted snowflake.)

I searched both my personal computers, my online photo gallery and my phone for any hint of a pattern or photo, which, of course, I had never recorded in any shape or form because it had not been stiffened. Yes, I could have designed a new flake based on the join-as-you-go motif, and I may yet do that one day. But for now, can you imagine if today's snowflake had been lost forever?!?

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes and/or projects you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the patterns. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 5.5 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Overripe Snowflake Instructions

Make magic ring.

Round 1: [Pc in ring, ch 10, 1 sc in 7th ch from hook, ch 3] 6 times; sl st in top of starting pc.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 2: [In next ch 3 sp work (2 sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc), in next ch 6 loop work (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc), in next ch 3 sp work (1 dc, 1 hdc, 2 sc)] 6 times; sl st in top back of Round 1 starting pc.

Round 3: Ch 9 (counts as 1 tr and ch 6, 1 dc in 6th ch from hook, [in next ch 3 sp work (1 dc, ch 3, 1 dc), 1 dc in each of next 3 dc), in next ch 3 sp work (1 dc, ch 3, 1 dc), 1 trtr in top back of next Round 1 pc, ch 3*, in 3rd loop of trtr work (1 dc, ch 3, 1 dc) (shown below)] 6 times, ending * on final repeat; 1 dc in 4th ch of starting ch 9, ch 1, 1 dc in 6th ch of starting ch 9.

Round 4: Ch 5 (counts as 1 dc and [ch 3), 1 sc in 3rd ch from hook, 1 dc in next ch 3 sp, 3 dc in next ch 3 sp, sk next 2 dc, in next dc work (5 tr, ch 3, 1 sc in 3rd ch from hook, 5 tr), 3 dc in next ch 3 sp, 1 dc in next ch 3 sp] 6 times, omitting last dc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 5; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

Finished Size: 2.75 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, optional water soluble school glue

Overripe Join-As-You-Go Motif Instructions

First Motif

Round 1: [Pc in ring, ch 10, 1 sc in 7th ch from hook, ch 3] 6 times; sl st in top of starting pc.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 2: [In next ch 3 sp work (2 sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc), in next ch 6 loop work (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc), in next ch 3 sp work (1 dc, 1 hdc, 2 sc)] 6 times; sl st in top back of Round 1 starting pc; bind off. Weave in ends.

NOTE: I'm writing the joining instructions this time for just two motifs. For third and fourth motif joinings, repeat joining instructions below on each point to be joined and reduce number of repeats to number of remaining points. Please see Harvest Flower Flake join-as-you-go instructions to get an idea of how joining multiple points works.

Second Motif

Round 1: [Pc in ring, ch 10, 1 sc in 7th ch from hook, ch 3] 6 times; sl st in top of starting pc.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 2: In next ch 3 sp work (1 sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc), in next ch 6 loop work (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc), in next ch 3 sp work (1 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc), in next ch 3 sp work (1 sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc), in next ch 6 loop work (3 dc, ch 1, 1 dc in corresponding ch 3 tip of First Motif (see photo below), ch 1, 3 dc, ch 1, 1 dc in next ch 3 tip of First Motif, ch 1, 3 dc), in next ch 3 sp work (1 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc), [in next ch 3 sp work (1 sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc), in next ch 6 loop work (3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc, ch 3, 3 dc), in next ch 3 sp work (1 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc)] 4 times; sl st in top back of Round 1 starting pc; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: I dabbed a tiny drop of school glue (the kind that washes out) on the back of each motif center and rubbed in, leaving no rough edges and allowing to dry thoroughly, to hopefully protect the magic ring during washings (which will be minimized and done by hand with gentle soap if ever). I've had rug magic rings disassemble in the wash. I now run a sewing machine straight stitch with matching thread all the way around the center of all in-in-the-round yarn motifs, multiple yarn-strand wearables, rugs, and selvedge crochet projects such as rugs to reinforce that magic ring start. Obviously, you can't sew the centers of thread projects, which is why I've taken to dabbing a bit of glue on the centers of my worked-in-the-round projects.

Assembled motifs may be blocked if desired. I was able to finger-shape my project with just a few little pulls and stretches. I found four mistakes when I laid the finished project out flat for the first time, so had to resort to snowflake surgery once again. I wrestled with the idea of a border all the way around but ultimately decided I can live with the curl-prone spokes because I think they are so visually attractive. What do you think?

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