Squirrel Picnic

Handmade with Love and Stuff


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Gingerbread Man Crochet Pattern

Gingerbread Man Free Crochet Pattern from Squirrel PicnicWho doesn’t love a gingerbread man? It was certainly my favorite cookie when I was growing up. My mom had cookie cutters for both a gingerbread man and a gingerbread woman. My favorite part of baking these cookies with my mom was to work the piping bag full of icing. It was so much fun to give the gingerbread woman crazy ringlets of hair and to decorate the gingerbread man with buttons or sometimes a tie.

Have fun decorating your gingerbread man. Use whatever you have on hand or come up with something entirely new. He doesn’t have to be a conventional cookie. Add a vest, chaps, and a handkerchief around his neck to make him a cowboy. Add an eye patch, peg leg, and striped shirt to make him a pirate. Give your gingerbread man a Speedo and six-pack abs. The skies the limit! Your gingerbread man can be anything he wants to be.

Finally, thread a ribbon through a stitch at the top of his head and your crochet gingerbread man will look right at home on your Christmas tree. He would also look quite sharp holding on to a bow on your present to someone special.

Visit the Great Cookie Countdown Page for the story behind this series and a complete directory of Christmas cookie ornaments.

Gingerbread Man Crochet Pattern

Difficulty rating 2

Gingerbread Man Free Crochet Pattern from Squirrel Picnic

Finished size: 5″ tall

Materials:

Worsted weight yarn in medium brown
(Vanna’s Choice by Lion Brand in Toffee)
Worsted weight yarn in white
Worsted weight yarn in red
Size D-3 (3.25 mm) crochet hook
Tapestry needle
Polyester Fiberfill
0.5 mm round white buttons for eyes
1.0 mm white beads or buttons for “buttons”

Gauge:

5 sts = 1″
5 rows = 1″

Instructions:

Make 2 (front and back)

Legs

Ch 3

Row 1: Sc in 2nd ch from hook. Sc in next sc, turn. (2)

Row 2: Ch 1, 2 sc in ea st across, turn. (4)

Row 3: Ch 1, sc in ea sc across, turn.

Rows 4-6: Rep row 3. FO.

Rep rows 1-6 to make second leg, but do not FO, turn.

Row 7 (join the legs and start the body): Ch 1, sc in ea of the next 3 scs, 2 sc in last sc. Pick up the first leg and 2 sc in first sc of first leg. Sc in ea sc across. Do not FO, turn. (10)

Gingerbread Man Free Crochet Pattern from Squirrel Picnic

Body

Row 8-11: Ch 1, sc in ea sc across, turn.

Row 12: Ch 1, sc2tog, sc in next 6 scs, sc2tog, turn. (8)

Row 13: Ch 1, sc in ea sc across, turn.

Row 14: Ch 1, sc2tog, sc in next 4 scs, sc2tog, turn. (6)

Row 15: Ch 1, sc in ea sc across. Do not FO.

Gingerbread Man Free Crochet Pattern from Squirrel Picnic

Arms

Row 1: Turn the body on its side and pull up a loop at the end of Row 15. (Not in two loops of the sc, but the post at the end.) Ch 1. Sc in the posts at the end of Rows 14, 13, and 12. Turn. (4)

Gingerbread Man Free Crochet Pattern from Squirrel Picnic

Row 2-6: Ch 1, sc in ea sc across, turn.

Row 7: Ch 1, sc, sc2tog, sc. FO.

Repeat for arm on opposite side, working in the posts at the beginning of rows 15, 14, 13, and 12. FO.

Head

Row 1: Miss  1st sc. Pull up a loop in the next sc and join with slst. 2 sc in same sc, sc in ea of next 2 scs, 2 sc in last sc, turn. (6)

Row 2: Ch 1, sc in ea sc across, turn.

Row 3: Ch 1, 2 sc in 1st sc, sc in next 4, 2 sc in last sc, turn. (8)

Row 4: Rep row 2.

Row 5: Ch 1, sc2tog, sc in next 4, sc2tog, turn. (6)

Row 6: Rep row 2.

Row 7: Ch 1, sc2tog, sc in next 2, sc2tog. FO

Work in all ends.

Assembly

Sew on the eyes and buttons and embroider the mouth.

Gingerbread Man Free Crochet Pattern from Squirrel Picnic

Arrange the two sides with wrong sides facing, making sure that the holes at the ends and beginnings of each row line up.

Insert your crochet hook into one of the holes along the edge (through both the front and back), pull up a loop of white yarn, and slst. Rep for the next hole and so on all the way around until you have about an inch or so left.

Gingerbread Man Free Crochet Pattern from Squirrel Picnic

Stuff the gingerbread man lightly.

Continue to sew the rest of the gingerbread man together using the slst method.

To end, insert your crochet hook up from the bottom, through the first slst and pull the last slst down to the back. FO.

Attach a ribbon, hook, or ring for hanging.

Gingerbread Man Free Crochet Pattern from Squirrel Picnic


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Announcing the Winner of the Great Cookie Giveaway

Podge: Could ya gimme a drum roll please, Hodge?

Hodge lifts his tiny little paws and thumps on the table as fast as he can.

Podge: And the winner of the one and only Squirrel Picnic Great Cookie Countdown to Christmas Giveaway of a half-dozen crochet cookies and a half-dozen yummy in the tummy one-of-a-kind cookies with—

Hodge: On with it already!

Podge: Oh, all right. The winner is…

free logo - http://www.sparklee.com

Congratulations, Nicky (of niiz designs). Please send your mailing address to squirrelpicnic(at)gmail(dot)com to claim your prize. If the prize isn’t claimed by Monday at 9:00 a.m. MST, Hodge and Podge and I will have to go through this whole bit again lest the cookies spoil or Hodge eats them all himself.

Thanks to everyone who participated. I wish I could give you all cookies!

P.S. To choose a winner, I numbered each comment 1 through 17, then let the magic elves at random.org choose the winner. Nicky was #4.

And the winner is number 4


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A Christmas Story Leg Lamp Crochet Pattern

Christmas Story Leg LampWhen I was deciding on which Christmas cookies to crochet for this series, I googled “popular American Christmas cookies,” and believe it or not, the Christmas Story Leg Lamp cookie came up. How awesome is it that they now sell cookie cutters in the shape of the iconic leg lamp from the famous movie?

I just had to crochet this, and now you can too! Displayed on a plate or hanging on your tree, these cookies are sure to catch the attention of everyone in the room. It’s a major award!

Visit the Great Cookie Countdown Page for the story behind this series and a complete directory of Christmas cookie ornaments.

A Christmas Story Leg Lamp Cookie Crochet Pattern… Continue reading


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The Great Cookie Giveaway!

Chocolate Chip CookiesWe’re rounding out Squirrel Picnic’s very first year, and I just want to take a moment to offer my sincere appreciation. Your enthusiasm and support means the world to me, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for stopping by the picnic and making it such a fun and positive place. I couldn’t do it without you!

To thank you for all the love, and since we’ve been talking about cookies a lot lately, I offer the Great Cookie Giveaway.

The rules are simple. Answer the following question in the comments below for your chance to win a half-dozen completely edible and incredibly yummy cookies from the experimental baker Becky McKay AND a half-dozen crochet chocolate chip cookies from me!* I’ll let the random number generator choose the lucky contestant. Then at noon MST on Friday, December 6, I’ll announce the winner. Okay, here’s your question…Chocolate Chip

 What is your favorite kind of cookie?

Pretty easy, huh? One comment per person, please. Don’t worry, there’s no wrong answer and no answer will be considered better than any other. The winner will be chosen totally at random. So have fun everyone! I can’t wait to send out these cookies.

*For our friends outside the United States, unfortunately most international shipping laws prohibit the mailing of food, so I won’t be able to send you the edible portion of this prize, but I’ll add a variety of other crochet goodies instead.


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Candy Cane Sugar Cookie Crochet Pattern

Crochet Candy Cane CookiesDo you remember making “snakes” (either with clay or dough) when you were a kid? Kids love rolling the dough on the table or between their hands until a snake appears, seemingly by magic. Many things can be made with these “snakes.” There’s coffee mugs if you’re using clay and pretzels if you’re using dough, but we’re talking Christmas here, so we’ll concentrate on my personal favorite use of a dough snake… the candy cane sugar cookie.

To re-create this classic Christmas cookie in yarn, I would need to make two long snakes in red and white. That was easy – just make I-cords! But then came the question of how to twist them together. I deliberated over adding wire or sewing the two strands together, until my husband provided a great solution – torsion! This tutorial will show you how by twisting one cord really tight and tying it to the other, the two cords become entwined and stay that way. (But don’t ask me to explain the physics. I like to believe it’s just magic.)

Visit the Great Cookie Countdown Page for the story behind this series and a complete directory of Christmas cookie ornaments.

Candy Cane Cookie

Difficulty rating 2

Candy CaneFinished size: 5” tall

Materials:

D-3 (3.25 mm) crochet hook or size 3 double-pointed knitting needles
Small amount of worsted-weight yarn in red (Caron Simply Soft Autumn Red)
Small amount of worsted-weight yearn in off white (Caron Simply Soft Bone)
2 twist ties
Tapestry needle

Instructions:

Make two 4-ch (or 4-st) I-cords 7” long, leaving long tails on the ends of the red cord.

Candy Cane I-CordsThere are several ways to make an I-cord. You could knit them, crochet them with just a hook, or crochet them with a hook and a tapestry needle.

Twist the red cord 18-20 times. Align both cords and bind them together at each end with a twist tie, maintaining the twist in the red cord while doing so.

Candy Cane All Tied Up

The twisted cord will automatically entwine with the other.

Candy Cane Tied Up

Sew each end together, covering the ends with several stitches.

Candy Cane Sewn Together

Shape into a candy cane and hang on your tree or display on a cookie platter.

Candy Cane Ornament


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Wreath Spritz Cookie Crochet Pattern

Wreath Spritz Crochet Cookie PatternIt’s time for the second cookie in our Great Cookie Countdown: the spritz! Spritz are a vanilla-flavored butter cookie from Germany and Scandinavia. “Spritz” or “sprintzen” in German means “to squirt,” which describes how the cookie is made. The dough is loaded into a cookie press and a trigger is pulled to squirt the dough through a metal template at the end of the barrel, which molds the cookie into a decorative shape, such as a wreath, flower, or star.

Crocheting in the back loop for every row creates a beautiful rib pattern that imitates the design of a spritz wreath. Traditionally these cookies are red, green, white, or beige, but feel free to use whatever color strikes your fancy. Add some sprinkles if you like by sewing on seed beads.

Visit the Great Cookie Countdown Page for the story behind this series and a complete directory of Christmas cookie ornaments.

Spritz Wreath Cookie Crochet Pattern… Continue reading