crochet wreath

Let’s Celebrate Wreath – a crochet collaboration with Eleonora from Coastal Crochet

Image shows the Let's Celebrate wreath completed and hanging against a white wall.
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Ten years ago this summer, this little blog of mine turned 10 years old. Way back when I first started blogging about my life (which at that time was mainly spent in Gibraltar) under the name of ‘Postcard from Gibraltar’ and as I shared a few of my own crafty makes, the idea that anyone would actually find my posts and read them was a bit mid boggling. I also never imagined I would one day be brave enough to begin designing my own crochet patterns.

Way back in those early days, the main advice I came across for newbie bloggers was to read other people’s blogs and interact with the blogging community. When I did that, I discovered a blog which really appealed to me. It was called Coastal Crochet, and, like mine featured posts about family life (by the sea) and crochet makes. Over time, Coastal Crochet’s creator Eleonora and I would regularly correspond with each other through comments on each other’s posts and through social media.

Coastal Crochet Logo
Making Stitches Blog Logo

When Eleonora began her first crochet along ‘The Seaside Stashbusting Blanket’ I jumped straight in and joined along with many, many other crocheters around the world and I loved sharing my own progress through my blog and social media with the backdrop of Gibraltar or nearby Spain in my pictures. You can read the story of my Seaside Stashbusting Blanket here if you would like to find out about the inspiration behind my colour choices.

The first rows of my Seaside Stashbusting Blanket in January 2018
My completed Seaside Stashbusting Blanket at Sandy Bay, Gibraltar which had inspired my colour choices in October 2018

Fast forward a few years and, after a relocation back to the UK in 2020, a couple of years later, I met Eleonora in real life for the first time at Yarndale, it was so lovely to actually chat in person after so many years of ‘chatting’ online. Two years later, at Yarndale 2024, we met again and decided we would do something together to mark a decade of both of our blogs. This is it… the ‘Let’s Celebrate Wreath’.

Our first meeting at Yarndale 2022
Meeting again at Yarndale 2024

We thought it would be nice to mark our joint celebration with a project which would help others celebrate too.

In our house, we have ‘birthday bunting’ which we bring out every time a birthday is celebrated in the household. Without fail, the bunting goes up in the front window on the morning of the birthday and it remains there along with the birthday cards which have been received for a week. I used our family’s birthday bunting in this photo for my Making Stitches 2025 CAL Bonus Birthday square.

When we chatted our idea through, Eleonora and I thought, perhaps this Let’s Celebrate Wreath could become something like our birthday bunting and be put up whenever a birthday is celebrated – it certainly will be in our house!

As this is a true collaboration between Eleonora and myself, it’s been designed in partnership drawing from things we are both known for; the gingham effect of the Tunisian crochet comes from one of Eleonora’s blanket designs, the ‘Picnic on the Beach blanket’, the tiny string of bunting has also featured in a similar way on one of Eleonora’s previous designs for a Life Ring Wreath.

From my side of things, I have designed a number of amigurumi dolls and other things which I have shared both on this blog and in my Etsy pattern shop so I have created the pattern for the balloons and the birthday cake following the amigurmi technique of crocheting in the round.

In order to create your own Let’s Celebrate Wreath, you will need to visit Eleanora’s blog in order to find the pattern for the gingham wreath cover and the little string of bunting, you can find my pattern for the balloons and the birthday cake below.

Pattern to make the ‘Let’s Celebrate’ balloons Part of the Let’s Celebrate Wreath

By Eleonora Tully & Lindsay Weston

Materials

We used 4-ply yarn, ‘Scheepjes Catona’, as detailed below, but any 4-ply or DK weight yarns, especially cottons, can be used to achieve similar results.

Scheepjes Catona (100% cotton, 50g / 125m), Royal Orange (189), Lemon (280), Emerald Green (515), Powder Blue (384)

  • 2.5mm (US C/2) hook
  • A small amount of soft toy filling
  • A stitch marker is useful to mark the first stitch of each round

Tension

Tension is not critical for this project.

Measurements

The finished balloons are approximately 75mm long and 45mm wide.

Pattern notes

The balloons are worked in the round using the amigurumi technique of crochet. It is useful to mark the first stitch of every round with a stitch marker and move it as each round is completed. Once they are all finished, they can be sewn onto the wreath base (the pattern for which can be found at coastalcrochet.com). Please use the photos as a guide for where to position and sew the decorations onto the wreath base.

Abbreviations in UK terms:

ch: chain

dc: double crochet

dc2tog: double crochet 2 stitches together

mc: Magic Circle/Magic Ring

mm: millimetres

rep: repeat

st(s): stitch(es)

To work:

Using a 2.5mm hook and yarn make a MC

Round 1 Work 6dc into the MC. Pull ring tight. (6dc)

Round 2 2dc in every st around. (12dc)

Round 3 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next st) rep around. (18dc)

Round 4 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 8 sts) rep. (20dc)

Round 5 (1dc in next st, 2dc in next st, 1dc in next 8 sts) rep. (22dc)

Round 6 (1dc in next 2 sts, 2dc in next st, 1dc in next 8 sts) rep. (24dc)

Round 7 (1dc into next 3 sts, 2dc in next st, 1dc in next 8 sts) rep. (26dc)

Rounds 8 & 9 1dc in every st around. (26dc)

Round 10 (1dc in next 4 sts, 2dc in next st, 1dc in next 8 sts) rep. (28dc)

Rounds 11 & 12 1dc in every st around. (28dc)

Round 13 (1dc in next 4 sts, dc2tog, 1dc in next 8 sts) rep. (26dc)

Round 14 1dc in every st around. (26dc)

Round 15 (1dc in next 3 sts, dc2tog, 1dc in next 8 sts) rep. (24dc)

Round 16 (1dc in next 4 sts, dc2tog) rep around. (20dc)

Round 17 (1dc in next 3 sts, dc2tog) rep around. (16dc)

Round 18 (1dc in next 2 sts, dc2tog) rep around. (12dc)

At this point, stuff the balloon. Don’t stuff it too firmly though as you want it to be oval rather than round when viewed from the top, so it lies nicely against the wreath when it’s attached.

Round 19 dc2tog around. (6dc)

Round 20 1dc into every st around. (6dc)

Round 21 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next st) rep around. (9dc).

Fasten off with a slst and break yarn. Sew in the end. 

Make 4 balloons for the wreath, one in each colour. 

Round 3 complete
Round 9 complete
About to begin Round 19

Pattern to make the ‘Let’s Celebrate’ birthday cake

Image of amigurumi birthday cake

Materials

We used 4-ply yarn, ‘Scheepjes Catona’, as detailed below, but any 4-ply or DK weight yarns, especially cottons, can be used to achieve similar results.

Scheepjes Catona (100% cotton, 50g / 125m), Snow White (106), Hot Red (115), Lemon (280), Powder Blue (384), Camel (502)

  • 2.5mm (US C/2) hook
  • A small amount of soft toy filling
  • A stitch marker is useful to mark the first stitch of each round

Pattern notes

The cake is worked in the round using the amigurumi technique of crochet. It is useful to mark the first stitch of every round with a stitch marker and move it as each round is completed. You will need to make all the components of the cake (the top, the base, the candle and the flame before joining the cake top to the cake base).

Once it’s complete, it can be sewn onto the wreath base (the pattern for which can be found at coastalcrochet.com). Please use the photos as a guide for where to position and sew the decorations onto the wreath base.

Abbreviations in UK terms:

BBL: This is a 4tr bobble stitch [yo, insert hook in st, yo, pull up loop, yo, draw through 2 loops on hook] 4 times (you will then have 5 loops on your hook) yo and draw through all the loops on the hook]

blo: blo

ch: chain

dc: double crochet

dc2tog: double crochet 2 stitches together

flo: front loop only

fyo: final yarn over 

mc: Magic Circle/Magic Ring

mm: millimetres

rep: repeat

st(s): stitch(es)

yo: yarn over

To make the cake base:

Using 2.5mm hook and Camel yarn, make a MC

Round 1 Work 6dc into the MC. Pull ring tight. (6dc)

Round 2 2dc in every st around. (12dc)

Round 3 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next st) rep around. (18dc)

Round 4 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 2 sts) rep around. (24dc)

Round 5 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 3 sts) rep around. (30dc)

Round 6 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 4 sts) rep around. (36dc)

Round 7 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 5 sts) rep around. (42dc)

Round 8 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 6 sts) rep around. (48dc)

Round 9 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 7 sts) rep around. (54dc)

Round 10 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 8 sts) rep around. (60dc)

Round 11 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 9 sts) rep around. (66dc)

Round 12 Working in blo, 1dc in every st around. (66dc)

(From now on the st count for the rounds will remain at 66dc.)

Round 13 1dc in every st around.

Rounds 14 & 15 Rep Round 13 but change to Hot Red in fyo of Round 15

End of Round 11
Round 16 in progress
Creating the first bobble of cream in Round 17
Bobble 1 complete in Round 17
Round 17 in progress

Round 16 Working in blo, 1dc in every st around, changing to Snow White in fyo of Round 16.

Round 17 Working in the blo, (1BBL in 1st st, 1ch, miss the next st) rep around (on this occasion slst into the top of the 1st BBL). Change to Camel in fyo of Round 17. (33BBL)

Finishing Round 17
Beginning Round 18
Round 23 in progress
Cake base completed at end of Round 27

Round 18 1dc into the top of every BBL & into every 1ch space between the BBLs. (66dc)

Rounds 19 – 24 Rep Rounds 13 to 18.

Rounds 25 – 27 1dc in every st around. Fasten off and break yarn.

To make the cake top:

Making Bobbles in Round 4A
Round 4A completed

Using Snow White yarn make a MC

Round 1 Work 6dc into the MC. Pull ring tight. (6dc)

Round 2 2dc in every st around. (12dc)

Round 3 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next st) rep around. (18dc)

Round 4A Working in the flo, (BBL in first st, slst into next st) rep around. (9 BBL)

Working into the blo for Round 4B
Round 4B completed

Round 4B Working in the blo, (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 2 sts) rep around. (24dc)

Round 5 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 3 sts) rep around. (30dc)

Round 6 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 4 sts) rep around. (36dc)

Round 7 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 5 sts) rep around. (42dc)

Rounds 8 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 6 sts) rep around. (48dc)

Round 9 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 7 sts) rep around. (54dc)

Round 10 (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 8 sts) rep around. (60dc)

Round 11A Working in the flo, (BBL in first st, slst into next st) rep around. Fasten off and break yarn. (30 BBL) 

Round 11B Join Camel yarn and working into the blo, (2dc in 1st st, 1dc in next 9 sts) rep around. (66dc) 

Do not break yarn as you will be using it to crochet the top to the base once the candle has been added to the centre of the cake top.

Candle & flame
Candle & flame joined and candle stuffed
Candle ready to be added to the cake top

To make the candle:

Using Powder Blue yarn, make a MC

Round 1 Work 6dc into the MC. Pull ring tight. (6dc)

Round 2 Working in the blo, (2dc in next st, 1dc in next 2 sts) rep. (8dc)

Rounds 3 – 12 1dc into every st around. Fasten off and break yarn leaving a tail to sew it to the cake top. 

To make the candle flame:

Using Lemon yarn, make a MC

Round 1 Work 3dc and 1tr into the MC, then 2ch & slst into the 1st ch to form a picot, work 1tr and 3dc into the MC. Pull the ring tight. Fasten off and break yarn leaving a tail to sew the flame to the top of the candle. (6dc, 2tr & 1 picot).

To assemble the cake:

First of all, sew the flame onto the top of the candle and attach it firmly, weave in the ends of the Lemon yarn. Then stuff the candle firmly with toy filling. This is a bit fiddly but if you have a long thin implement to help force the stuffing in that is helpful (a chopstick is great for this purpose!).

Once the candle is stuffed firmly, sew it securely to the centre of the cake top. Once it is securely in place, it’s time to attach the cake top to the cake base. This can be done by sewing it together, but I prefer to crochet it on working through both the edge of the cake top and top the last round of the cake base, as it’s really neat.

Candle stuffed and attached to cake top
Crocheting the cake top onto the cake base (wrong sides together)
Finishing the join

Take the cake base and the cake top wrong sides together and put the hook through the first st of Round 11B on the cake top and then one of the sts of the final round on the cake base and work 1dc into it. Then proceed to make 1dc into every st around working through both the cake top and the cake base. Once you are two thirds of the way round, this is a good time to stop and fill the cake with toy filling. You don’t want to over stuff it as that will result in a rounded bottom to your cake, but you need enough stuffing for it to hold its shape. You can always add a bit more just before you close the hole, so if you are usure, carry on crocheting the top onto the base and stop when you still have a few stitches to go and you can still decide to add a bit more filling. 

When you are happy with the shape and size of the cake and you have completed the join, fasten off and break your yarn, weaving in the end. Your cake is now complete and ready to be sewn onto your ‘Let’s Celebrate Wreath’!

Once you have completed your cake, balloons and bunting, pin them onto your wreath base. When you are happy with the position of the different elements, sew them firmly in place.

Image shows the Let's Celebrate wreath completed and hanging against a white wall.

And there you have it, complete with the bunting & the wreath base pattern as detailed on Eleonora’s Coastal Crochet blog, you have your very own ‘Let’s Celebrate’ wreath!

We really hope you enjoy making it and that it brings many years of enjoyment to your home!

The latest episode of the Making Stitches Podcast features a chat between myself and Eleonora about this project and how we have become friends over the past 10 years thanks to our blogs. You can find a link to the episode show notes here.

Image shows the Let's Celebrate Wreath held up in front of a view of the English Channel on a beautiful sunny summer's day

Isn’t this photo Eleonora has taken beside the sea of our Let’s Celebrate wreath stunning?

If you make a Let’s Celebrate wreath and share it on social media, please tag myself @making_stitches_blog and Eleonora @coastalcrochet in your posts so we can both see yours!

Thank you so much for your interest in our crochet collaboration, I really hope you enjoy making a Let’s Celebrate wreath that you and your loved ones can enjoy for many years to come!

Happy hooking!

Lindsay x

Sunday Sevens #64 1.1.17

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Happy New Year! Is it really only a week ago that we were celebrating Christmas? It feels like much longer!

Christmas Day Lunch


Mr Postcard reprised his role as Christmas Day chef and was so proud of his turkey, I was called into the kitchen to take a photo for Sunday Sevens! It was delicious.

We had a lovely day at home, joined by my parents. We were all very lucky and got lots of lovely things. Among my favourites were a new lens for my camera from Mr Postcard – watch out for loads more Postcard from Gibraltar sunsets… and some lovely fluffy yarn and an Amigurumi book from my little brother.

This year’s Christmas makes


I can share a few of my festive makes,  now they have been gifted. I was asked by a friend to make a mermaid blanket for her daughter. I made a couple of ring cushions ahead of two weddings next year and the wreath was a request for my Mum.

Polar bear swim


Boxing Day for us was dominated by turkey leftovers and the Catalan Bay Polar Bear Swim. If you haven’t already, you can read all about it in my post here. I’m so glad I did it – I was wavering until about two hours before hand and I just thought what the heck, life’s short and one day I may look back and regret not doing it.

Crochet, rosé & Dirty Dancing 


So in the space of a few days, we lost two people who played a big part in my formative years (and those of countless others) albeit via the silver screen and the radio airwaves. I think an awful lot of people from my generation really felt the loss of George Michael and Carrie Fisher this week. Sometimes only crochet, wine and Dirty Dancing on the telly will do… Thank you Channel 5 – I really needed that.

Legotastic 


Despite all the new toys which appeared in this house over Christmas, the trusty box of Lego featured heavily over the last week. We have had vehicle races and competitions and all sorts of creative fun. The lounge floor was awash with those sharp little bricks but it was a small price to pay for fraternal harmony (for a few hours) and a break from TV and gadget screens.

Beach walk


We revisited Catalan Bay on Thursday afternoon to stretch our legs. It was somewhat quieter than it had been on Monday… and I resisted the temptation to jump into the crashing waves and stayed on the sand. 😉

Shopping in Spain


On Friday we took a drive up the Costa del Sol coast for a brief shopping trip and lunch. We were away from the Rock for less than 6 hours but we enjoyed our mini-mini break!

New Year’s Eve Med Stepping


Yesterday, I ventured up the Med Steps for the first time in weeks. What a change those weeks have meant for the vegetation and wildlife up there. There were loads of delicate white narcissi lining the paths and on the roof of this old army look out post. There was also a lot of these wild clematis type of plants…


It was so pretty up there. The beautiful flowers took my mind off the fact I was out of breath!

One last sunset of 2016

I know I have gone way over the normal seven photos for a Sunday Sevens post, but there has been such a lot going on this week. As Gibraltar was gearing up for a big night of celebrations (see photo below) we headed home for a quiet celebration. Here’s a couple of shots of the last sunset of 2016 as seen in Gibraltar – can you see a sliver of moon among the clouds?


This photo shows the lights in Morocco across the Strait of Gibraltar from here we live. It’s slightly blurry (apologies for that) but it gives you a sense of just how close we are.

I do hope that you have a wonderful new year and that 2017 is a happy and healthy one for you. Thank you for taking the time to read this and for all the lovely comments I’ve received over the past year, it’s so nice to know that there are actually people out there (apart from my Mum and Dad) who want to read what I have to write. Thank you!

Sunday Sevens is a weekly blog series created by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins blog.

Summer craft challenge 2016 Part 5

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Day 29 : Saturday 6th August 


Making circles while sitting outside the Red Lion at South Green in Southwold. We drank Adnams Spindrift out of plastic glasses in the evening sun, the perfect end to a sunny summer day. 

Day 30 : Sunday 7th August


Another Adnam’s beer to accompany my circle making on Sunday evening. I am on holiday and I’m supporting the local brewery so I think it’s a good thing… food miles and all that 😉 Slowly does it with this blanket…

Day 31 : Monday 8th August


Making the most of a few spare moments before heading out for dinner by squaring a few circles.

Day 32 : Tuesday 9th August


Early morning on the beach and we were lucky to have much of it to ourselves. While a major feat of civil engineering was begun (a sand fort with double walls) I set about on my first pink circles for my current blanket project.


Back at home with a cup of tea in the late afternoon, once the cloud rolled in and made the beach a bit too cool the cross stitch beach huts made another appearance. 

Day 33 : Wednesday 10th August


Making a few more Fondant Pink circles while sitting in the driveway of our holiday cottage waiting for Little Postcards to wake from their hire car slumbers… Silence was golden but it didn’t last too long 😉

Day 34 : Thursday 11th August


A spot of evening crochet before heading to bed 🙂

Day 35 : Friday 12th August


Time for a colour change on a picnic in Rendlesham Forest.

And finally…


Do you remember the crochet wreath I was working on last week? Well it’s finished and has arrived at its new home so I can reveal it in all it’s glory now. I think it turned out ok 🙂


Summer craft challenge 2016 Part 4

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Day 22 : Saturday 30th July


A woodland walk and a picnic in the countryside on Saturday meant portable crafting was required. After lunch, while the Little Postcards played football I made some little crochet flowers.

Day 23 : Sunday 31st July


Slowly but surely a little bit of progress is happening on my summer holiday cross stitch picture. A little bit each evening in front of the TV seems to be working so far.

Day 24 : Monday 1st August


Can you see a little green & white stripes beach hut appearing. I’m really enjoying this cross stitch picture so far…

Day 25 : Tuesday 2nd August


I’ve been working on this crochet wreath as a birthday present. I had originally chosen pale pink to go along side the fuschia shade against the pearly cream wreath but it was lacking something. A quick trip to the wool shop in the afternoon solved the problem… a variegated yarn. 

It will live in a pale blue bedroom when it’s completed so I wanted a hint of blue but not too much as I don’t want it to clash with the walls!

Day 26 : Wednesday 3rd August 


Just adding the finishing touches to the crochet wreath. I will reveal all shortly…

Day 27 : Thursday 4th August


My last few woolly hearts for Yarndale were finished off and parceled up ready to be posted to Skipton. If you aren’t aware of the 7000 challenge check out @bonnies_little_crafts on Instagram. This lovely lady’s trying to make and collect 7000 woolly hearts to give to visitors to the Yarndale festival in September this year.

Day 28 : Friday 5th August


Today began a little too early with crochet on the platform of Manchester Oxford Road station just after 8am waiting for the train to take us to the next destination on our holiday. We waved goodbye to the north of England and hello to the East. 

A new destination seemed as good a reason as any to begin a new project. This one’s a blanket using square the circle squares. I used a very clear pattern called Bullseye by Little Tin Bird but instead of changing the colours on each round I kept the square to just two colours.

Summer Craft Challenge 2016 Part 3

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Day 15 : Saturday 23rd July 


A new project and a new location… Saturday was our first full day in Manchester and the first day of our ‘summer holiday’. As all loose ends had been darned in on my ongoing WIP before I left Gibraltar, it was time I cracked open a new ball of yarn and got cracking on my next project. This is another gift, but I have almost two weeks to complete it so no pressure 🙂

Day 16 : Sunday 24th July


Sunday’s crafting session was a family affair. I continued with my crochet I started the day before and two of the Little Postcards began their summer sewing projects. One is of landmarks in London worked in cross stitch, the other is a football tapestry worked in long stitch.  

Day 17 : Monday 25th July


Flower making on a cross country train to visit special friends who used to live in Gibraltar 🙂 …. Who now live in:

Spotted this gorgeous crochet sign in the restaurant we are dinner in – isn’t it gorgeous? 🙂 It has pride of place at the top of a community notice board.

Day 18 : Tuesday 26th July

We had such a busy day out having fun with friends that the only crafting I managed was just before bedtime. I sewed these two little flowers together which I had crocheted on our train trip the day before. Not much to show I’m afraid but a brilliant day was had by all, Mums and children alike 🙂

Day 19 : Wednesday 27th July


Another train journey – this one taking us back up north to Manchester meant time for leaves to go with all those flowers made on the southbound journey. Once the leaves were complete, this little pile of #woollyheartsforyarndale got their ends darned in and a few buttons attached. They’ll be winging their way to Skipton very soon 🙂

Day 20 : Thursday 28th July


My wreath base is complete. I just need to add the flowers & leaves.

Day 21 : Friday 29th July


I cracked open my summer holiday cross stitch picture today. It’s a lovely summery beach scene, so the big question is – will I finish it be the end of the summer? Or more likely by the end of the decade? I’m a bit slow at cross stitch as a rule, time will tell… I have never stitched on coloured Aida before and I found stitching blue thread on blue material made my eyes a bit funny even in bright daylight. The jury’s out on whether it’ll be a success or not. 


Wild flowers of the Med Steps

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You will have noticed that of late, the Med Steps have featured very heavily in my blog posts, mainly because I’ve spent quite a lot of time climbing them recently. The one thing which has really left an impression on me, apart from the aching muscles, is just how beautiful it looks at the moment with all the wild flowers in bloom. I believe in these last few weeks I have been lucky enough to see them at their absolute peak. The poppies, candytufts, and countless other flowers which have fleetingly made their presence known and brightened up my walks.

I have been taking lots of photos of them to share with those of you who haven’t seen them for real, and I had intended to do a blog post all about them, so here it is. 

The only problem is, I don’t know much about wild flowers and the idea of researching their names etc left me cold (it would most probably make the most boring blog post anyway), so that would just leave along stream of photos of random flowers (also boring). I thought long and hard about how I could bring them to life and capture their magic both for you and for me.


 

Then I came up with an idea, (a slightly strange idea perhaps) to try to recreate the flowers in yarn. I have a book of flower patterns 100 Flowers to Knit & Crochet by Lesley Stanfield and the internet is full of ideas and patterns for crocheting all sorts of wierd and wonderful things so I started investigating. Wow, the world was my oyster, there was so much potential out there that I thought I could really do this. 

But what would I make? A blanket? No, the last one took over a year to make – I’d lose interest. A bag? No, it would soon get battered and spoiled as I used it, plus, it may look a bit odd for everyday use. Then inspiration hit…Remember I made a wreath at Christmas?

Last summer, when I was in England and blessed with lots of fantastic craft supply shops to frequent, I bought two polystyrene wreaths but so far I’d only used one. Inspired by the beautiful wreaths made by Lucy of Attic 24, I thought what if I covered it in crochet to represent the Rock of Gibraltar? There’s the greenery of the steps, the sky and sea and then add the crocheted wildflowers to that? Oh my, that’s it! I have got loads of creative ideas fizz popping in my head now, I need to get cracking.

So first things first, how on earth do I chose which flowers to include? Well Gibraltar’s National Flower, the candytuft is an obvious choice.

Then we have the poppies, with their papery thin petals nodding gently in the sea breeze. They are so delicate and yet stunning against the other greenery of the Upper Rock.

There’s a fair amount of lavender too, and that’s one of my all time favourite plants. The fragrance is so calming and comforting.

So it’s time to get started. I began with crocheting the cover for the polystyrene wreath in shades of green, grey and blue.

And here it is…

It looks a little bare don’t you think? Time to decorate… first a daisy?

Next a thistle…


I made a couple of sprigs of lavender using this pattern.          

There are some really dainty wild sweet pea kind of plants up there at the moment:


We can’t forget the poppies (this one I had to knit):

So to one of Gibraltar’s national flowers… The Candytuft. Could I find a pattern for one anywhere? Could I heck. I had to ‘invent’ one. Based on a pattern in my flower book but with a candytuft twist:


And of course, I can’t forget the little critters who enjoy the wild flowers too…

The butterfly came from the flower book and the bumble bee was made using this pattern from Attic 24. One of my favourite critters in this part of the world though is the lizards, I used this free Ellie Skene Ravelry pattern to make Gordon the gecko:

Next it was time to assemble the wreath…

I played about with the arrangement for a while and added a dandelion, a buttercup and various different shaped leaves before sewing them into place. Are you ready? Here goes :


Time for a few gratuitous close ups ;-)… The wildlife:

Florals:

Perhaps the world’s first ever crocheted Gibraltar Candytuft!:

I’m pleased with how it turned out, it’s currently hanging on the back of my front door. It brightens up my hall and reminds me of the many hours I’ve spent walking past the gorgeous wild flowers of the Med Steps and the fun I had making it. I now promise I’ll stop banging on about the Med Steps for a little while, I know I’m getting boring ;-).

Thanks for stopping by!