Paperclip Ice Skates Ornament!

I love paperclip ice skates.  I do.  I love that they look old fashioned and vintage and they remind me of some that my grandma hung on her tree when I was a kid.

I really liked THIS pattern by Suzetta Williams (it's free, and her site is cute!), and it inspired my own version of paperclip ice skates.  Mine look a little more like the ones I remember from my grandma's tree, and they are so ridiculously quick to make I think I'm going to use them as present toppers this year too! 

I got my jumbo paperclips at my local Dollar Tree, 80 for $1.  Score!

PAPERCLIP ICE SKATES ORNAMENT (or present topper)

approx 1" tall

Supplies:

MC - skate color - small amount of worsted weight yarn (I used Red Heart Super Saver acrylic yarn, and Patons 100% wool yarn and both looked awesome.  Acrylic will last for a lifetime or two, if passing these down for several generations is important to you...)

CC - cuff color - very small amount of worsted weight yarn 

2 jumbo paperclips

R1: Using MC, attach yarn to jumbo paperclip and make 7 sc along the top edge of the clip (7 st)

R2: ch 1, skip first st, 6 hdc (6 st)

R3: ch 1, 4 sc, skip last 2 st (4 st)

R4: ch 1, 4 sc, change color to CC

R5: ch1, 4 sc (4 st)

R6: ch1, 4 sc, chain 8 

Fasten off, leaving a 4" tail for tying later. Weave in all of the other loose ends.

Make another skate, this time substituting:

R6: ch 1, 4 sc, chain 5 (so your skates hang at different lengths and you can see both of them when they hang on the tree)

Tie your two skates together as close to the chain stitches as possible.  Leave a 2" gap and make another knot.  Trim excess yarn ends from the top.

(optional) If you want to add a bow to the skates you can use a very small amount of CC (cuff color? LOL!) and thread it through the first stitch of R5.  Tie your bow and adjust it so it faces out when your skates hang. ;D

I also made an ice skate bookmark, by chaining 40 at the end of R6 and tying a matching pom pom to it.  It is so cute!!  I think I'm going to make some to go in all of the books I give this year... probably not for the guys... LOL!!

(Just as a heads up, if you like sci-fi and fiction this short story collection is really good.  Also, my dad - Illustrator James J. Eads - did an illustration for one of the stories.  Woot!)

xoxo