Handmade Holidays - Double Lucceted Treble Clef Ornament

Wilson wanted to make a Christmas gift for his violin teacher. We decided to make a treble clef ornament. Originally, we were going to crochet, but Wilson had the idea to use the double lucet so that we could string a piece of wire down inside of our cord. Double lucet from Sister Maide.

Once the lucetted cord was done, we strung a piece of wire through the inside until it touched the knotted end. We cut the wire, took the loops off of the double lucet, and then tightened up and tied the open end. With a weaving needle, Wilson wove in the ends. Carefully, we bent the wired cord into a treble clef shape, and then added a metal hook.  The project took a couple of hours.  We used yarn and wire leftover from previous projects. The violin teacher loved the gift!

Geo-Crochet = Geometry and Crochet

A fun way to learn geometry is through handwork. Crocheting basic shapes leads to discussions and observations about numbers, patterns, fractions, and so much more!

We started with some lovely alpaca yarn that came straight from Upstream Alpacas. They handspun and dyed the yarns from their own alpacas.

Our 5th grader Wilson then wound each skein into a ball.

We played with geoblocks, figuring out which shapes can be used to form other shapes, such as using 6 triangles to make a hexagon.

Wilson then learned how to crochet granny triangles. He had made granny squares before, so he understood the concept of starting with a circle to create another shape.

The rainbow-colored triangles were done!  Now, time to crochet edging and lay out the triangles.

One thing that we learned, is that the triangle points wanted to curve. Wilson made sure to single crochet three times into each corner.

The triangles were sewn up with leftover yarn.

The 6 triangles, when sewn together, curled up a bit, looking like a circle.

Wilson blocked the triangles using water, a foam board, and push pins to encourage the yarn to hold a hexagonal shape.

The end result is a beautiful, rainbow hexagon! We use it in our homeschooling bookcase and place special calendar gnomes on top.