An angel in a red Santa dress with cream wings and curly hair, hanging from a wooden ring, with two open lace coils twisting beneath her, one red and one cream. A star, a heart and a snowflake hang straight down the middle between them.
The double spiral is what makes this piece. Two separate coils attached half a turn apart so they wind past each other without ever touching. It reads as one continuous twist from a distance and as two ribbons up close. It is no harder than a single coil, it just needs the two attachment points set correctly, which I have spelled out below.
The bands are also open rather than solid. A row of mesh down the middle of each ribbon with firm edges either side, which keeps a piece this size from looking heavy.
What you’ll need
Size 3 crochet cotton or a light 4 ply cotton in red and cream, plus caramel for the hair and a skin tone for the face.
A 2.5 mm hook.
You’ll also want a wooden ring around 4 cm, polyester fibrefill, two 4 mm black safety eyes or black embroidery thread, about a metre and a half of 0.8 mm florist wire, and a tapestry needle.
Finished length is about 48 cm from the top of the ring to the bottom of the snowflake.
Abbreviations are US terms. ch is chain, sl st is slip stitch, sc is single crochet, hdc is half double crochet, dc is double crochet, inc is two stitches in one, dec is an invisible decrease, MR is magic ring, sp is space.
Part 1. Head
In your skin tone.
Round 1. 6 sc in MR (6) Round 2. Inc six times (12) Round 3. Sc, inc, repeated six times (18) Round 4. Sc twice, inc, repeated six times (24) Rounds 5 to 11. Sc around (24)
Eyes between rounds 8 and 9, five stitches apart. Low and wide set is what gives her that friendly face.
Round 12. Sc twice, dec, repeated six times (18) Round 13. Sc, dec, repeated six times (12). Stuff firmly. Round 14. Dec six times (6). Close.
Face. Pink French knot cheeks either side, a small curved smile in dark brown backstitch, and a tiny nose worked as two short vertical stitches. Add a white highlight dot to each eye if you embroidered them rather than using safety eyes.
Part 2. Curly hair
Worked as a cap first, then curls sewn around the edge.
Cap. In caramel, 6 sc in MR (6), inc six times (12), sc and inc repeated six times (18), sc twice and inc repeated six times (24), then sc for two rounds (24). Fasten off.
Pin it onto the head so the front edge sits in a soft curve above the eyes, and sew it down all the way round.
Curls, make about fourteen. Ch 8, then work 3 sc into the second chain from the hook and 3 sc into every chain across. Each one will twist into a tight ringlet on its own, which is exactly the point. Fasten off with a short tail.
Sew the curls around the sides and lower back of the cap, clustered thickly either side of the face and thinner at the back. Do not space them evenly. Real curls clump.
Part 3. Santa hat
In red, from the tip down. 4 sc in MR (4), sc for two rounds, then increase two stitches every round until you reach 26, working a plain round in between whenever the shaping starts to pull.
Change to cream. Work three rounds of sc (26). Fasten off.
Pom pom. In cream, 6 sc in MR, inc six times (12), sc around, dec six times, stuff and close. Sew to the tip.
Sit the hat on the head with the tip flopping to one side and the cream brim sitting just above the curls, then sew all the way round the brim.
Part 4. Dress
In red, worked from the neck down as a cone.
Round 1. 6 sc in MR (6) Round 2. Inc six times (12) Round 3. Sc, inc, repeated six times (18) Rounds 4 and 5. Sc around (18) Round 6. Sc twice, inc, repeated six times (24) Rounds 7 and 8. Sc around (24) Round 9. Sc three times, inc, repeated six times (30) Rounds 10 and 11. Sc around (30) Round 12. Sc four times, inc, repeated six times (36) Round 13. Sc around (36)
Change to cream for the hem. Rounds 14 and 15. Sc around (36). Fasten off.
Stuff the dress lightly, only enough to hold its shape. It should stay cone shaped and open at the bottom, not become a solid ball.
Sew the head onto the top of the dress.
Part 5. Arms
Make two. In red, 5 sc in MR (5), sc for five rounds (5). Change to your skin tone for two rounds (5). Fasten off, unstuffed.
Sew them to the sides at the top of the dress, angled forward and inward so the two hands meet in front of her chest.
Stitch the hands together where they touch, then tie a small cream bow from a 12 chain length and sew it over the join.
Part 6. Wings
Make two in cream, worked flat.
Ch 14. Row 1, sc in the second ch from the hook and in each ch across (13).
Row 2. Turn, ch 1, sc in the first 8 stitches, hdc in the next 2, dc in the next 2, then 5 dc into the last stitch to turn the point (17).
Row 3. Turn and work sc back along the whole edge (17).
Row 4. Work sl st, ch 2, sl st into the same stitch, repeated into every second stitch, all the way around the entire outer edge. Fasten off.
Make the second wing as a mirror image by working the shaping at the opposite end of row 2.
Sew both wings to the back of the dress at shoulder height, angled upwards and outwards.
Part 7. The two spirals
Make one in red and one in cream. They are identical apart from colour.
Ch 80. Keep the chain relaxed.
Row 1. Ch 2, then work 2 dc into the third chain from the hook and 2 dc into every chain across. Do not fasten off.
Row 2. This is the mesh row. Turn, ch 4, skip one stitch, dc in the next, then ch 1, skip one stitch, dc in the next, repeated all the way across. The work will be coiling by now, so follow the curve rather than fighting it.
Row 3. Turn and work sc into every stitch and every ch space across, which closes the outer edge and stops the mesh stretching. Fasten off.
You now have a band with a solid edge, a row of open squares down the middle and another solid edge. That openwork is what keeps two coils on one small ornament from looking like a heavy tangle.
Thread florist wire through the base of the stitches along the row 1 edge of each coil, folding both ends over and tucking them back inside.
Part 8. Star, heart and snowflake
Star. In cream, 6 sc in MR (6), inc six times (12), sc and inc repeated six times (18). For the points, sl st in the next stitch, work sc, hdc, dc, ch 2, sl st in the second ch from the hook, dc, hdc, sc into the next stitch, then sl st in the next. Repeat four more times. Make two and join them with sc through both layers, stuffing lightly.
Heart. In red, into a magic ring work 3 dc, 3 tr, 1 tr, ch 2, 1 tr, 3 tr, 3 dc, then ch 2 and sl st to close. Pull the ring tight. Make two and join with sc through both layers, working 3 sc into the bottom point and pulling the cleft in tight, stuffing lightly.
Snowflake. In cream, MR, ch 1, 12 sc into the ring, sl st to join. Next round, ch 3, skip one sc, sl st in the next, repeated around for six loops. For each arm, ch 7, sl st in the second ch from the hook, sc in the next 2 ch, ch 3, sl st in the second ch from the hook, sc in the next ch, sl st back into the stem, sc in the remaining chains, then sl st into the next loop. Stiffen it flat and let it dry.
Putting it together
Get the two spiral attachment points right and everything else follows.
Sew the top of the red coil to the underside of the dress hem at what you will treat as the front. Then sew the top of the cream coil to the underside of the hem directly opposite, at the back. Half a turn apart is the whole trick. Attached side by side, the two coils sit on top of each other and look like a mistake. Attached opposite, they wind past each other all the way down.
Give both coils the same handedness when you set them with the wire, so they twist the same way. Then adjust the spacing so the red band always sits in the gap between two cream turns.
Now the centre cord. Chain 34 in red and slip stitch back along it. Attach the top to the middle of the underside of the dress so it hangs straight down the channel between the two coils without touching either.
Sew the star to it near the top, the heart in the middle and the snowflake at the bottom, spacing them so each one sits in an open gap rather than behind a band.
Finally, cover the wooden ring by working sc closely around it in red until it is fully wrapped. Make a hanging cord by chaining 20 in red, slip stitching back along it, and use it to join the ring to the top of the hat.
Hang it and leave it a day before finishing the ends. The two coils always want one more adjustment once they are carrying their own weight.
Notes and variations
A white and gold version with a plain crown instead of a Santa hat turns her into a proper Christmas angel rather than a Mrs Claus.
Swap the hanging charms for three stars, or three hearts, for a quieter version.
Make her without the doll at all. Two interlocking lace coils with a star at the top is a lovely ornament on its own and takes a fraction of the time.
For a car mirror version, shorten both coils to 50 chains.
Questions I get asked
Why do my two coils tangle instead of interlocking? Either they are attached too close together at the top, or they twist in opposite directions. Check both, and reset the wire on one of them if the handedness is wrong.
Why does the mesh row stretch out? You skipped row 3. The final sc row is what locks the open squares at their proper width.
Can I skip the wire? On two coils this close together, no. They will lean into each other and the space between them is the whole design.