Crocheted Christmas Snowflakes

Christmas memories and traditions are different for each of us.

For me, my favorite part of Christmas is decorating the tree with my grandmother’s crocheted snowflakes.

Mary Mae Lydick Norenberg

My Grandma Mae was born May 1, 1910 to Susan Roy and Horace “H.S” Lydick. She spent most of her life in and around Cass Lake, Minnesota. In 1933, she married Otto Norenberg.

As a young girl, I preferred to spend quiet hours with Grandma Mae. I cut paperdolls from her McCalls magazines, practiced embroidery stitches on fabric scraps and sewed my first clothes by hand. Every minute of undisturbed crafting time with her was a delight.

Grandma Mae was an accomplished seamstress. She made custom clothing to fit her petite frame. For my Barbie, she sewed elegant gowns and real-fur coats. When my brother was young, she sewed head-to-toe cosplay outfits for him to dress up as either Batman or Robin.

Grandma was also a skilled needleworker. She hand-hemmed and embroidered Irish linen baptism towels for Trinity Lutheran Church. Many of her home décor items were embellished with her wool threadwork. Helping me stay fashionable, Grandma crocheted skirts and vests. With yarn scraps, she made afghans and Christmas stockings.

I recall that Grandma always had a take-along project. Toting her supplies in a 5-quart ice cream pail, she took advantage of time away from home to make small items. In the late 1970s, she began crocheting snowflakes.

Crocheted Christmas Snowflakes

Grandma made snowflakes all year long. She donated hundreds to her Church Auxiliary Bazaar. Annually, she gifted many to family and friends.

One by one, Grandma crocheted each snowflake with size 10 cotton thread. When she had a veritable snowdrift of soft snowflakes completed, she made a batch of her special stiffening agent (cooked and cooled Argo Laundry starch). Each delicate creation was dipped in the solution, prodded into its snowflake-shape, meticulously pinned to a padded board and left to dry in the summer sun.

This year, I placed over 3-dozen different snowflakes on my Christmas tree. They range in size from the two, tiny 5-pointed stars (1.5 inches) to the largest 6-inch snowflakes. Most of them are traditional, 6-pointed creations. See if you can find the unusual snowflakes with 11 or 13 points.

Library Display

In 1983 the Cass Lake Library asked Grandma Mae to create a holiday display using her crocheted handicrafts. She decorated the library’s tree with snowflakes, angels, miniature stockings, candy canes, bells, granny-square cones and tiny wreaths.

Mae Norenberg, December 1983¹Church, Irene Lydick. Photo of Mae (Lydick) Norenberg, December 1983. Digital copy made by Karrie Blees.

What is your favorite part of Christmas?

Is it a delicious meal or a festive treat?
Is it visiting with faraway friends and family?
Is it shopping for the perfect gift?
Is it the first dusting of snow? (Unless you’ve recently moved to Florida.)

SOURCES

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  Church, Irene Lydick. Photo of Mae (Lydick) Norenberg, December 1983. Digital copy made by Karrie Blees.