A plain white openwork coil with no topper and no figure, just snowflakes and stars hanging off it at every turn, in varying sizes and at varying lengths. It is the quietest thing I make and it is the one that gets left up longest, because it reads as winter rather than as Christmas and nobody feels the need to take it down in January.
There is nothing to build here beyond the coil and two small motifs repeated. If you have made the blue star hanging, this is the same lace technique with everything else stripped away.
What you’ll need
Size 3 crochet cotton, all in white or a soft off white.
A 2 mm hook.
You’ll also want fabric stiffener, a length of dowel or a thick marker pen to shape the coil around, rustproof pins, small pearl or white glass beads, cream cord for hanging, and a tapestry needle.
Finished length is about 55 cm.
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, MR is magic ring.
Part 1. The lace coil
Worked as open mesh, which is what lets it curl this freely with nothing holding it but stiffener.
Ch 110.
Row 1. Ch 4, then dc into the fourth chain from the hook, then ch 1, skip one chain, dc into the next, repeated all the way across. Do not fasten off. It will already be twisting as you finish the row, because the open ch 1 spaces let the fabric turn far more easily than solid stitches would.
Row 2. Turn and work dc into each dc with ch 1 between, keeping the open squares stacked directly above the ones on the row below.
Row 3. Turn and work sl st, ch 2, sl st into the same stitch, repeated into every second stitch, all the way along the outer edge, for the scalloped trim. Fasten off.
Keep your tension relaxed on row 1 in particular. Pulling it tight closes the mesh down and the coil stiffens into something closer to solid fabric, which changes how it hangs.
There is no wire in this piece. Soak the whole coil in fabric stiffener, wind it gently around your dowel or marker pen, and leave it to dry there completely before doing anything else. Stiffened mesh holds a shape on its own, and wire threaded through open lace tends to show through the gaps.
Part 2. Snowflakes, make eight
In white. MR, ch 1, work 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, working into a ch 3 loop, 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. Repeat for all six arms and fasten off.
Make four at this size and four slightly smaller, worked the same way but with the arm chains two stitches shorter throughout. The mix of sizes is what stops the garland looking like a printed repeat.
Stiffen every one flat and pin it to dry before you touch it again. A floppy snowflake on a lace coil disappears completely, since there is nothing stiff nearby to hold it in shape by contrast.
Part 3. Stars, make six
In white. 5 sc in MR (5), inc five times (10). For the points, sl st in the next stitch, then work sc, hdc, dc, ch 2, sl st in the second ch from the hook, dc, hdc, sc all into the next stitch, then sl st in the following stitch. Repeat four more times for a five point star. Fasten off.
These can stay unstiffened. A little softness in the stars against the crisp snowflakes reads as intentional variety rather than as a mistake.
Part 4. Beading
Sew a small pearl or glass bead to the centre of each snowflake and each star. It is a small thing and it is most of why these catch light the way they do in the photo.
Putting it together
Once the coil is stiffened, dried and unwound from the dowel, lay it out and decide roughly where each charm will hang before you attach anything.
Cut fourteen lengths of white thread, varying from 2 cm to 8 cm, for the snowflakes and stars together.
Attach each charm by hooking its thread directly through a mesh square of the coil rather than sewing it to the solid edge. Because the ground is open lace, this holds perfectly well and the attachment point disappears into the pattern.
Alternate snowflakes and stars as you work down rather than grouping them, and alternate which side of the coil each one hangs from. Vary the lengths so neighbouring charms sit at different heights.
Make the hanging cord by chaining 45 in white and slip stitching back along it. Attach it to the very top of the coil, threading a bead onto it partway up if you want a little more sparkle at the top.
Hang it up and adjust a few of the charm positions once you can see the whole thing hanging under its own weight.
Notes and variations
Add a thread of fine silver metallic through the stiffening stage by holding it together with the white cotton on row 3 only, which gives the scalloped edge a faint glimmer without changing the colour.
Make it shorter, around 60 chains, for a single window pane rather than a full window.
A pale grey version instead of white reads as more contemporary and suits a plain wall as well as a window.
Hang three at different lengths together for a fuller display.
Questions I get asked
Why won’t my coil hold its curl? Not enough stiffener, or it dried lying flat rather than wound around the dowel. It has to dry in the shape you want it to keep.
Can I use wire instead of stiffening? You can, but it will show through the open mesh in a way that looks like a fault line. Stiffening is the better answer for lace specifically.
Why do my charms look lost against the coil? They probably need stiffening too. A soft snowflake has no definition against open lace, since there’s no solid fabric nearby to throw it into relief.
How long does it take? About four hours plus overnight drying, which makes this one of the quickest pieces in the whole collection despite how delicate it looks.