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The Nutcracker Ballet
September means it’s time for Nutcracker rehearsals. I have two dancers—JMoney and GKatt—and The Nutcracker has been a big part of our fall season for years. I can probably hum the entire ballet for you. Shall I give it a go? No? If you’re sure . . . 😉 The above photo is JMoney as the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Because of our involvement in The Nutcracker, it was no surprise that when I decided to design a Christmas afghan pattern, The Nutcracker was what came to mind. This afghan is for all who love ballet, all who collect nutcrackers, and for all who can’t dance this year because the arts are on hiatus due to COVID. 🙁 I miss ballet! Here is GKatt as an Arabian Prince.
The Nutcracker Suite Crochet Along
This pattern has been so fun to design! There are so many memorable characters in the ballet, and I had to do justice to as many of them as I could.
This crochet along will feature 9 FREE blocks:
- The Nutcracker Prince
- Snow
- Chinese Dragon
- The Rat King
- Arabian Coffee
- Clara
- Spanish Chocolate
- Toy Trumpet
- Waltz of the Flowers
One block will be released each week starting next Monday. We’ll start with the ballet’s namesake: the Nutcracker Prince. How could we not?
To finish up your afghan see The Nutcracker Suite C2C Crochet Afghan—Joining and Edging.
Want to personalize your blanket? Make it larger? The Nutcracker Suite Premium Pattern includes printable PDFs of all of the free blocks plus 6 additional EXCLUSIVE blocks! Mix and match or crochet them all!
Additional blocks include:
- Christmas Candle
- Sleigh
- Drosselmeyer
- Gingerbread Man
- Land of the Sweets
- Angel
Because I had such a hard time choosing which blocks to include, I used all of the free blocks, as well as the Candle (I love, love, love this block!), the Sleigh, and Drosselmeyer blocks from the premium version to create the sample blanket. Yarn usage will reflect the 12-block afghan.
The Nutcracker Suite Afghan Crochet Method
I used the standard Corner to Corner (C2C) crochet technique for this afghan. Feel free to use the mini C2C technique if you prefer, though your blanket will end up smaller. I crochet with worsted weight yarn and I use an H hook for a tighter weave.
To brush up on C2C crochet, click over to my Crochet Videos page.
The Nutcracker Suite Afghan Materials and Instructions
Again, the instructions are for a 12-block afghan using the The Nutcracker Prince, Candle, Snow, Sleigh, Chinese Dragon, The Rat King, Arabian Coffee, Clara, Spanish Chocolate, Drosselmeyer, Toy Trumpet, and Waltz of the Flowers blocks.
IMPORTANT: I weighed all my yarn before and after crocheting to give you the best approximation for the amount used. Please remember, differences in stitching tension, chosen blocks, the number of blocks crocheted, and the brand of yarn selected will yield different results.
Materials
~ Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice Yarn 3.5 oz skeins in the following colors (rounded up to nearest ounce):
- Scarlet (26 oz)
- Kelly Green (17 oz)
- Colonial Blue (18 oz)
- Mustard (10 oz)
- White (15 oz)
- Black (3 oz)
- Chocolate (4 oz)
- Honey (3 oz)
- Navy (1 oz)
- Terracotta (1 oz)
- Silver Grey (6 oz)
- Charcoal Grey (1 oz)
- Dusty Purple (1 oz)
- Beige (3 oz)
~ Size H Crochet Hook or size needed to achieve gauge (see Gauge for C2C Afghans)
~ Yarn Needle
~ Thread Scissors
Get your hooks ready and start humming along, we start next Monday with the Nutcracker Prince Block!
Enjoy!
~Lucinda
