Kiwi Christmas Ornament Swap...Crochet Christmas Puddings

I posted all my Kiwi Christmas Ornament Swap decorations last week and they should have all safely arrived with their recipients now so it should be safe to share what I sent without ruining any surprises!

I made a batch of Crocheted Christmas Puddings (just like the one I made for the NZ Handmade Swap). I ended up making 9 in total - one for Jocelyn (for the NZ Handmade Swap), one each for the 7 swappers in my KCOS group and one to keep!

It's fair to say I was a little Christmas pudding crazy for a while there :-)

Here's a close-up complete with little fingers trying to grab at it...

I used this tutorial for the puddings just like my crochet balls except I think I may have invented a stitch. I thought I was doing single stitches but I was adding an extra yarn over and it made the stitches a little bigger! I cut out white felt for the icing and used some little red wooden beads for the berries. I tried to invent my own holly leaves but failed miserable so googled instead and ended up using this tutorial for the holly leaves. Had I found this tutorial before I started I could have used it for everything.

But to be honest I like that I put different tutorials and some of my own ideas together so these are original Katie Christmas Puds!

Many thanks to Dione at Sew Funky for organising the swap.

You can see the ornaments I have received in this swap so far here and here. And I will post the others as I receive them.