Phew, I did it, Chanukah is tonight and I did get around to crocheting little gelt (coins) bags for my young ones. Truthfully giving gelt is really the Chanukah tradition of yore, the idea of giving presents only really snuck in on account of the Dec. 25th holiday, so I realized that the first night of Chanukah would not be complete without these little bags to hold the chocolate coins we traditionally give every Chanukah. (The rest of the year my kids are somewhat chocolate deprived, so they really look forward to this one!)
Given that I was a little pressed for time, I made some chunky, scrap buster versions of my crocheted pouches from last year. You can follow the instructions from last year, (with another example here) or to make bags like these, grab a size K hook, two strands of yarn (in my case the blue versions were a variegated strand and an aqua strand crocheted together, the pink version uses combos of solid colors) and crochet as follows:
Crochet a chain of 4 and join with a slip stitch.
- Round 1: Chain 2 (serves as the first double crochet) and then crochet 12 double crochet stitches into the circle.
- Round 2: Chain 1, Single crochet 2 stitches into every double crochet from the previous round.
- Round 3: Chain 1, working in the back loop only, single crochet one stitch into every stitch from the previous round.
- Round 4: Working in both loops single crochet around and join with a slip stitch to the first stitch of the previous round.
- Rounds 5-16:
- Round 17: Chain 2, double crochet in each stitch from the previous round, this is the row to insert the drawstring.
- Round 18-20:
- Round 21: Slip stitch around for a really nice finish, as seen in the pink pouch.
- To finish, weave a ribbon or chord through the stitched on round 17 and tie with a bow. I used some yarn called "ruffles" which I happened to have on hand. More about that later.
Fill your little handmade pouches with some chocolate coins and some small prizes, and there will be smiles all around, promise! Wishing you all a joyous Chanukah, and not to worry if you don't have time today to crochet some little pouches, well you've got a whole week to think about it!
And by the way, a reader with an educational site called school sparks wrote to me to tell me about her educational Chanukah work sheets, which you can find here......maybe a great way to keep the little ones busy as you sneak off to do some crocheting?
