More about snowflakes

In general, when I was on the hunt for snowflake patterns, I had a hard time for one reason.  Every day I would set a goal of 1 hour of hunting and copy and paste patterns into a Word document to spell check and print.  I kept them all.  They didn't survive in digital form after a computer crash.  But more importantly, I didn't keep track of my sources so I would not keep repeating.  Many didn't have pictures with the instructions that would copy and paste.  So I could not even check that way.  I started keeping that information very late in the game after I started crocheting.  Some of my sources are easy to find and are constantly being updated.  Others have been taken down for one reason or another.  Here are links to some I have used.

http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/directory/snowflakes.php

http://fabact.co/christmas/snowflakes/crochetsnowflakes.html

http://crochetcollection.blogspot.com/2008/02/free-crochet-snowflakes.html  This might be a new one given the 2008 date but the sites it references are for the most part ones I used, I think.

http://crochet.about.com/od/motifs/tp/Crochet_Snowflake_Patterns.htm


Two books I would not want to be without are 99 Snowflakes (Leisure Arts #3013) and 

Crochet 101 Snowflakes (American School of Needlework No. 1217) by Delsie Rhoades and Kathy Wesley (1995)

One of the more interesting things I learned about snowflakes is that when they form as water freezes, they are 6 sided figures.  The arms may break or not fully form but they are 6 sided all the same.  4, 5, 7, 8 sided figures are interesting and I did find some labeled as snowflakes.  I make quite a few too.  They are really neat but if you are a purist, you might want to skip them.  A couple I wish I had.  In particular is one that had 4 arms radiating from the center and the pattern called for each arm to be crocheted and break the thread and start anew in the next spot indicated in the pattern.  All fine and well but there must have been a mistake in the pattern or my reading of the pattern.  I had room for 4 1/2 arms and if I took them out and made them fit the space I had, it looked very wrong.  I didn't keep that flake.

Along the way, I learned I liked the flake patterns that were mostly chains for working but more solid looking for aesthetics.  Good old white school glue, waxed paper, foam core board and rust proof pins are essential for stiffening the flakes, if you like them like that.  More glue than water is essential to keeping mostly chained flakes looking their best (too much water in the mix and the droop sadly before the Christmas season is over).  There are groups for people who do nothing but crochet snowflakes.  Snowflakes can be joined together to form lacy place mats and tablecloths.  Smaller flakes make nice adornments for coats and fabric purses or headbands for girls.

Enjoy the links.  There are plenty out there.  There are even a few beading sites that have beaded snowflakes that are pretty neat.  Done in tiny size 10 or 11 seed beads in either white or silver or clear (or combination of those) they make nice earrings or a pendant for a chain.  You can also add beads to your flakes.  Pre-string or grab as you go and put them in where ever you think is a good spot.    I did a couple in baby blue beads and red beads.  After all these years, I still don't know if I like them.

Lastly, throw in a few icicles to keep things interesting.  There are a few patterns for them as well.  Enjoy!