The Christmas Decorations are well and truly squirrelled away for another year and to help chase away the post-Christmas blues, I’ve written up a new pattern to share with those of you who either aren’t at all happy to have had to say goodbye to all things Christmassy just yet, or who are already eagerly planning ahead to next year. Or even for those of you that (let’s all sing together now…) wish it could be Christmas everyday!

The honest truth is that I had every intention of posting this pattern sometime last December but the pre- Christmas rush, a dose of the winter sniffles and a painful cricked neck all coerced to set me slightly off track and suddenly the whole festive season seemed to run along faster than I could keep up with it. Well, better late than never, as they say.

So, without further ado, here’s my pretty, potted, rosy cheek spotted, Penny the Pine Tree, who’ll be happy to add a touch of greenery to your desk whatever the time of year. Are you all ready for an out of season Christmas fix? Yes? Great!

First of all, here are the materials and notions you’re going to need.

Size D (3.25mm) crochet hook.
DK yarn in Green, Light Pink, Dark Pink and Red.
Polyester toy stuffing.
2 x 6mm black plastic safety eyes.
Small piece of pink felt.
Yarn needle.
Stitch marker.
Fabric glue.

And here’s the pattern. (Scroll down to the ‘download’ button at the bottom of this page for a printable version)

(Please note: I prefer to use US crochet terms in my patterns. If you are more familiar with UK terms a handy stitch conversion chart can be found at the bottom of my Free Patterns page along with an explanation of the abbreviations used.)

Size: Penny is approximately 7″ (18 cm) tall from base of pot to top of star.

Plant Pot

Make 1 piece, starting at base. Working in continuous spiral rounds.
With Dark Pink yarn make 2 ch.
Rnd 1: 6 sc in second ch from hook. (6 sts)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each of next 6 st. (12 sts)
Rnd 3: [sc in next st, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (18 sts)
Rnd 4: [sc in each of next 2 st, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (24 sts)
Rnd 5: [sc in each of next 3 st, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (30 sts)
Rnd 6: working in back loops only: Sc in each st around.
Rnd 7-8: sc in each st around. (2 rounds)
Rnd 9: [sc in each of next 9 st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times. (33 sts)
Rnd 10: sc in each st around.
Rnd 11: [sc in each of next 10 st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times. (36 sts)
Change to Light Pink yarn.
Rnd 12-14: sc in each st around. (3 rounds)
Change to Dark Pink yarn.
Rnd 15-18: sc in each st around. (4 rounds)
Rnd 19: Working in back loops only: Sc in each st around.
Rnd 20: [sc in each of next 4 st, dec] 6 times. (30 sts)
Rnd 21: [sc in each of next 3 st, dec] 6 times. (24 sts)
Rnd 22: [sc in each of next 2 st, dec] 6 times. (18 sts)
Stuff Plant Pot.
Rnd 23: [sc in next st, dec] 6 times. (12 sts)
Rnd 24: dec 6 times. (6 sts)
Fasten off, leaving a long yarn tail for finishing. Thread yarn tail onto yarn needle, pick up front loop only of remaining 6 stitches. Pull tight to close the hole. Insert yarn needle down center of plant pot, coming out at the center of the base.

Re-insert yarn needle one stitch apart from where it came out, finally emerging at the top center.

Pull gently on the yarn to form dimples in the top and bottom. This will help your tree to stand up straight by flattening the base.

Fasten off securely at the top and weave in the yarn end.

Star

Make 2 pieces for each star, starting at center. Working in continuous spiral rounds.
With Light Pink yarn make 2 ch.
Rnd 1: 5 sc in second ch from hook. (5 sts)
Rnd 2: working in back loops only: [slst in next st, 3 ch, slst in second ch from hook, hdc in next ch, slst in same st as first slst] 5 times.
Fasten off. Weave in the yarn end on first star. Leave long yarn tail on second star for sewing. With right sides facing outwards, whipstitch the edges of both stars together.

Pine Tree

Make 1 piece, starting at tip. Working in continuous spiral rounds.
With Green yarn make 2 ch.
Rnd 1: 3 sc in second ch from hook. (3 sts)
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each of next 3 st. (6 sts)
Rnd 3: [sc in next st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times. (9 sts)
Rnd 4: [sc in each of next 2 st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times. (12 sts)
Rnd 5: [sc in each of next 3 st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times. (15 sts)
Rnd 6: sc in each st around.
Rnd 7: [sc in each of next 4 st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times. (18 sts)
Rnd 8: sc in each st around.
Rnd 9: [sc in each of next 5 st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times. (21 sts)
Rnd 10: sc in each st around.
Rnd 11: [sc in each of next 6 st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times. (24 sts)
Rnd 12: sc in each st around.
Rnd 13: [sc in each of next 7 st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times. (27 sts)
Rnd 14: sc in each st around.
Rnd 15: [sc in each of next 8 st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times. (30 sts)
Rnd 16: sc in each st around.
Rnd 17: [sc in each of next 9 st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times. (33 sts)
Rnd 18: sc in each st around.
Rnd 19: [sc in each of next 10 st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times. (36 sts)
Rnd 20: sc in each st around.
Rnd 21: [sc in each of next 11 st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times. (39 sts)
Rnd 22: sc in each st around.
Rnd 23: [sc in each of next 12 st, 2 sc in next st] 3 times. (42 sts)
Insert safety eyes between Rnds 13 and 14 spacing them 5 stitches apart.
Rnd 24: working in back loops only: sc in each st around.
Rnd 25: working in back loops only: [sc in each of next 5 st, dec] 6 times. (36 sts)
Rnd 26: working in back loops only: sc in each st around.
Rnd 27: [sc in each of next 4 st, dec] 6 times. (30 sts)
Rnd 28: [sc in each of next 3 st, dec] 6 times. (24 sts)
Rnd 29: [sc in each of next 2 st, dec] 6 times. (18 sts)
Stuff Tree.
Rnd 30: [sc in next  st, dec] 6 times. (12 sts)
Rnd 31: dec 6 times. (6 sts)
Fasten off, leaving a long yarn tail for finishing. Thread yarn tail onto yarn needle, pick up front loop only of remaining 6 stitches. Pull tight to close the hole. Fasten off and weave in the yarn end.

Frill

Holding tree upside down, pull up a loop of Green yarn in first leftover front loop from Rnd 24, (sc, hdc, dc) in next st, (dc, hdc, sc) in next st, slst in next st, [slst in next st, (sc, hdc, dc) in next st, (dc, hdc, sc) in next st, Slst in next  29 times.

Fasten off, leaving a long yarn tail for sewing. Now all the leftover back loops from Rnds 24-26 will have stitches in them.

Sew Rnd 26 of Tree to Rnd 19 of Plant Pot. Make all stitches on top of pot neatly behind the leftover loops from Rnd 19.

Weave in the yarn ends and sew the Star to the top of the Tree.

Cut out two tiny felt circles and glue them just below the eyes. Last of all, embroider a small V shape for the mouth using a strand of red yarn and you’re done.

Of course, if pink is not your style then this little pine tree will look just as fabulous dressed up in any other colours you prefer. To prove the point, here’s Penny with two of her other potty pals.

And here she is trying on her bling ready for the next Christmas party.

Wowzers. That’s a knockout, fancy pants outfit! She’s sure to be the Belle of the Ball and I’m going to know exactly who to ask if I need to borrow a pin or two.

A very merry un-Christmas to you all!