Christmas Countdown

This cool countdown thingy is a result of a plea to a crochet mailing list for a pattern for a Christmas Countdown pattern that she was looking for. I have no idea what the one she was looking for looked like so I came up with my own. I hope you like it. There are 24 little pockets in it just the right size for little candy kisses or little tootie roll candies. Another great thing that could go into the little pockets would be those chocolate gold coins. :) You could also put tiny erasers or even a pair of earrings in some of the pockets for the little kids in your home.

Designed By Julie A. Bolduc

Materials Needed:
1 3oz skein Red Heart's Baby Sport Pompadour yarn in white.
Small amount Red Heart's Cherry Red worsted weight yarn
24 tiny candies
Size G or 4mm aluminum crochet hook
Yarn Needle

Gauge 7dc=2"
Yarn Thickness 3mm
Finished Size=6"x14"
Skill Level Easy

Special Stitch Used Double Treble (dtr)
Work as for treble stitch but wrap yarn around hook 3 times instead of 2.

Instructions
With White
ROW 1: Ch21. Sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each ch across. Ch3, turn.

ROW 2: Sk the very first sc. Dc in each of the next 3 sc. (In front lps only, 2dc in next sc, dc in each of the next 2 sc, 2dc in next sc.) Dc in each of the next 4 sc. Rep bet (). Dc in each of the next 4 sc. Ch3, turn.

ROW 3: Sk first dc. Dc in each of the next 3 dc. (Working in the back lps of row 1 work 1 dtr in each of the next 4 sc in front of the 6 dc.) Sk the 6 dc that were worked in the front lps. Dc in each of the next 4 dc. Rep bet (). Sk the 6 dc that were worked in the front lps. Dc in each of the next 3 dc and in top of ch3. Ch3, turn.

ROW 4: Sk first dc. Dc in each of the next 3 dc. (Working in front lps only, 2dc in next dtr, dc in each of the next 2 dtr, 2dc in next dtr.) Dc in each of the next 4 dc. Rep bet (). Dc in each of the next 3 dc. Dc intop of ch3. Ch3, turn.

ROWs 5-25: Repeat rows 3 & 4 until you reach row 25. Then ch1, turn.

ROW 26: Sc first dc and in each st across. Fasten off and weave ends into work.

Perimeter
Join red in top left corner on front side. Work sc, ch2, sc in each corner. Work 2sc in each row down left side. Work 1 sc in each st across bottom. Work 2sc in each row up right side. Work 1 sc in each st across top. Join w/slst to first sc. Fasten off and weave ends into work.

You can embelish this Christmas countdown any way you like. You may want to hang mini ornaments from the bottom corner and put a small bow at the top. I suggest hanging this up using little tacks in the wall and hanging the top corners on these tacks.

Designed on Wednesday, November 04, 1998. Copyright © 1998 by Just Plain Fun, Stratton, Maine f115004