Cute crocheted Christmas trees

The Christmas trees are made of several cones in different sizes, each crocheted from the tip and outwards. Start all cones as follows: Make a magic ring and work 5 double crochets (dc). Leave the yarn tail on the outside of the cone and use it as a stitch marker at the start and end of each round (rd). Close the ring with 1 dc.

Start with Col 1 for the small tree. Rd 1: Work 4 half treble crochets (htr), then 2 htr in the next stitch (st) (6 sts). Rd 2: *1 htr, 2 htr into the next st*, repeat from * to * to end of rd (9 sts). Rd 3: *2 htr, 2 htr into the next st*, repeat from * to * to end of rd (12 sts). Rd 4: *1 htr, 2 htr into the next st*, repeat from * to * to end of rd (18 sts). Rd 5: *2 htr, 2 htr into the next st*, repeat from * to * to end of rd, 1 dc, 1 slip stitch (ss) (24 sts). Break off yarn and put the first cone to one side.

Start cone 2 in the same way and work rds 1-4 as described for cone 1. Rd 5: *2 htr, 2 htr into the next st*, repeat from * to * to end of rd (24 sts). Rd 6: *1 htr, 2 htr into the next st*, repeat from * to * to end of rd, 1 dc, 1 ss (36 sts). Break off yarn and put the second cone to one side.

Start cone 3 in the same way and work rds 1-5 as described for cone 2. Rd 6: *2 htr, 2 htr into the next st*, repeat from * to * to end of rd (32 sts). Rd 7: *2 htr, 2 htr into the next st*, repeat from * to * to end of rd, 2 htr, 1 dc, 1 ss (42 sts). Break off yarn and put the third cone to one side. The little tree ends here. Now start again using Col 2 and cone 1 to make the big tree.

Start cone 4 in the same way and work rds 1-6 as described for cone 3. Rd 7: *2 htr, 2 htr into the next st*, repeat from * to * to end of rd, 2 htr (42 sts). Rd 8: 3 htr, *5 htr, 2 htr into the next st*, repeat from * to * to end of rd, 2 htr, 1 dc, 1 ss (49 sts). Break off yarn and put the fourth cone to one side.

Start cone 5 in the same way and work rds 1-6 as described for cone 3. Rd 7: *3 htr, 2 htr into the next st*, repeat from * to * to end of rd (40 sts). Rd 8: *3 htr, 2 htr into the next st*, repeat from * to * to end of rd (50 sts). Rd 9: *3 htr, 2 htr into the next st*, repeat from * to * to end of rd, 2 htr, 1 dc, 1 ss (62 sts). Break off yarn and put the fifth cone to one side.

Using Col 3, start with a magic ring in the same way as for the cones. SMALL TREE Rd 1: 4 htr, 2 htr into the next st (6 sts). Rd 2: 2 htr into every st (12 sts). Rds 3-5: 12 htr. Rd 6: 2 htr into every st, 1 dc, 1 ss (25 sts). Break off yarn and put the tree base to one side. LARGE TREE Rd 1: 4 htr, 2 htr into the next st (6 sts). Rd 2: 2 htr into every st (12 sts). Rds 3-6: 12 htr. Rd 7: 2 htr into every st, 1 dc, 1 ss (25 sts).

Pull the loose end at the tip of all the cones through to the inside. Weave in other tails. Now assemble the cones by dragging the loose end of cone 1 through the top of cone 2. There are now two tails hanging from cone 2. Now pull both tails through cone 3 and so on until all the tails hang out from the base. Tie a knot in the yarn and snip off the tails. Assemble the large tree in the same way. Put a little stuffing in the tree base for extra stability.