Nontraditional Advent Candles

Advent is a special time of year, marked by the anticipation of the coming of Christmas. For many families, the lighting of the advent wreath is a beloved tradition that adds to the excitement of the season. The advent wreath is typically made up of four candles, each representing a week of the season leading up to Christmas. However, not everyone has access to an advent wreath or may prefer a different approach to celebrating the season.

Kristin from Simply Klassic came up with a unique and rustic twist on the traditional advent wreath by creating a candle setup without the use of a wreath. The setup features four pillar candles arranged on a bed of greenery and pinecones. The simplicity of the setup is what makes it so charming, and the use of natural materials adds to the cozy and rustic feel.

What’s great about this setup is that it’s versatile and can be tailored to fit any home decor style. You can use candles of different sizes, colors, and scents to suit your personal taste. The greenery and pinecones can be swapped out for other seasonal decorations like holly, berries, or even ornaments.

If you’re looking for a new and unique way to celebrate the season, this advent candle setup is a great place to start. It’s easy to put together, and the materials can be found at your local craft store or even in your backyard. Simply light a new candle each week leading up to Christmas, and enjoy the warmth and coziness it brings to your home.

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Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier.

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project.

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible.

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge.

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects.

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy.

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project.

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Xandy Peters]

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