Now to get into the spirit, why not take it that step further...
Make you very own Babble Christmas Wreath.
Here is how!
You will need:
Yarn - two colours I used 8 ply
String - not too chunky.
Styrofoam wreath.
Size 3.5 or 4 mm crochet hook.
Some strips of fabric.
Stuffing.
Hot glue gun, and lots and lots of refills for it.
To start- set aside two weeks and a huge amount of patience.
But it will be worth it! ...
I did count the Babbles, 115 in total. Whew...
I have made two sized babbles.
Small and Large.
As the string is rougher it will made those babbles a bit bigger,
but that adds to the texture.
This is in English crochet terms...
Small Babble:
Chain 2 making the first chain loose.
Row 1... 6 double crochet back into first chain.
Join with a slip stitch to first double crochet.
Row 2... 1 chain,
2 double crochet into each double crochet from Round 1.
Join with a slip stitch to first double crochet.
Row 3... 1 chain,
1 double crochet in each double crochet from previous Round.
Join with a slip stitch to first double crochet.
Row 4... Same as Round 3
Row 5... 1 chain, decrease row by:
Crocheting 2 double crochet together all the way around.
You will be left with 6 stitches in total.
Trim end and leave some yarn to sew the opening closed.
Stuff your babble with some stuffing and sew closed.
This will be the end that you will hot glue to the wreath so it
does look to shabby.
Large Babble:
Chain two making the first chain loose.
Row 1... 6 double crochet back into first chain.
Join with a slip stitch to first double crochet.
Row 2... 1 chain,
2 double crochet into each double crochet from Row 1.
Join with a slip stitch to first double crochet.
Row 3... 1chain,
( 1 double crochet in first stitch, 2 double crochet in next stitch.)
Repeat ( - ) to end.
Join with a slip stitch to first double crochet.
Row 4... 1 chain,
1 double crochet in each double crochet from previous Row.
Join with a slip stitch to first double crochet.
Row 5... Same as Row 4.
Row 6... Same as 4.
Row 7... 1 chain, decrease row by.
( 1 double crochet into first stitch,
double crochet the next 2 stitches together.)
Repeat ( - ) to end.
Row 8... 1 chain, decrease row by:
Crocheting 2 double crochet together all the way around.
You will be left with 6 stitches left.
Trim end and leave some yarn to sew the opening closed.
Stuff your babble with some stuffing and sew closed.
This will be the end that you will hot glue to the wreath so it
does look to shabby.
Now I have made a lots of Babbles for my wreath.
You could do a smaller wreath or use these Babbles as part
of some other festive display.
Now to prepare your Styrofoam wreath.
I have wrapped strips of fabric to my wreath
as I don't want the hot glue to make contact with the styrofoam.
You can hot glue the fabric together
but just overlap the fabric and glue into place.
I don't think that hot glue and styrofoam go together very well.
By covering it you have a nice base to start glueing
your Babbles onto.
You will use a lot of hot glue, I think I used about 20 sticks.
Now I wanted my wreath to look a bit tidy so a made a crocheted circle
to cover the back as well.
I did this by starting with 11 chain.
Miss 1 chain,
Double crocheting into the next 3 chain,
Half treble into next 3 chain,
Treble into the last 4 chain.
I then turned my work over and matched the same stitches.
Trebles in the trebles, Half trebles in the half trebles
and Double crochet in the Double crochet for the next row.
I continued this for 6 rows.
Every 7th row I did one plain treble row.
I just found that evened out the shape.
It will depend on how big your wreath is to how many rows in total.
I think mine is about 76 rows.
I sewed my circle together and hand stitched it to the babbles on either side.
I know that sounds like a lot of work.
But you don't really have to do that as you don't really see it.
So there you have it.
Your very own Babble Christmas Wreath.
I hope you enjoy making your own.
Don't forget to send me some photos of your finished wreaths.
As I always love seeing your work.
