New, although old fashioned looking, Christmas ornament pattern of hearts and hoops that you can combine in many ways.

I’ve been making these little Christmas hearts for years, and the first version of these I published in my very first Crochet book, Þóra Heklbók, back in 2011. Since then I have often made these in different sizes, to make little garlands, but I always just winged it. Now I’ve finally written down my little Yule Heart in 4 different sizes and added this nice little extra of a decorative hoop to place them into. You all know how I love making decorations with bangles! Both the Yule hearts and hoops work grand on their own too.

Yarn & hook:

You can use any fine weight cotton yarn and a hook that fits it. You need little quantities of yarn for this project, just 1 or 2 balls will do fine for starters.

I recommend using mercerized cotton and take care it has a good tight twist! For example, I like using Bianca from Marks & Kattens with a 2 mm hook. You can also go for Scheepjes Catona, which is slightly thicker, and a 2.5 mm hook. For extra tiny and cute Yule hearts you can use Maxi Sweat Treat from Scheepjes and a 1.5 mm hook.

If you want to put your hearts in a hoop, the tiny heart will fit for that in Catona, using a 2.5 mm hook. Then it’s extra cute to make them in very fine yarn then and make either the medium or large heart! Any yarn that will fit a 1.5 hook should work. For example, I used Maxi Sweat Treat from Scheepjes and a 1.5 mm hook.

Other supplies:

You will also need something to stiffen your hearts and hoops, I use Stiffy or Mod Podge. I show you how to do this at the end of the Hearts and Hoops video tutorial.

And then there are all the gold and silver threads you can play with!! For the extra fine bits, I’ve used both Camellia from YarnArt and Petunia form Ice Yarns, both I like working with. But do check out your local yarn shop and see what they have in store for you!
You can use all these types of yarn for your hoops as well, I think it’s prettier to use approximately the same weight of yarn for a set of hoops & hearts that go together.

Gauge:
There is no gauge really for this pattern, just take care to have a rather good tight tension for the hearts.

Abbreviations (US terms):

ST = stitch/stitches
CH = chain stitch
SS = slip stitch
SC = single crochet
HDC = half double crochet
DC = double crochet
XDC = extended double crochet
HDC 2tog = 2 half double crochet stitches worked together
DC 2tog = 2 double crochet stitches worked together
CH SP = chain space. This is the space below a chain stitch made in the previous row.
DC SP = double crochet space. This is the space between two DC’s made in the previous row.

Sizes:

The Yule hearts come in 4 different sizes, tiny, small, medium and large. Their final sizes vary on the weight of yarn you use.
In Maxi Sweet Treat with a 1.5 mm hook mine measure: 2.5 cm, 3 cm, 4 cm and 5 cm. In Catona and a 2.5 mm hook mine measure: 4.5 cm - 5 cm – 7 cm – 9 cm.

The hoops I use here are repurposed bangles I find at thrift shops. They usually measure 7 cm, but that can vary a bit. You can use any size of hoops you like; great big ones would be grand for a door decoration.

General Instructions

The hoops are worked in the round, obviously! And the first round is worked around the hoops themselves. The hearts are also worked in the round, after row 1, starting at the center.

video tutorial coming soon on my YouTube channel!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCLETbuS9Y_v1o2BpSjj-oA