Crocheted Gingerbread Man.

Happy Wednesday dear readers,

here we delve deeper into the preparations and today we thought of showing you this very easy project, to be realized with crochet and a bit of yarn.

Are you ready to dive into this magical world of gingerbread men and amaze everyone with a keychain, a place marker, or a gift package tie? We are.

We know well that in this period we are looking for easy and quick to realize ideas, this could be an economical idea for all those people who want to amaze their loved ones, imagine a nice box of sweets made by you packaged with this gingerbread.

Materials

For our little men, we used mustard-colored yarn and a red one, worked with a size 3 crochet hook.

• patty iggy crochet hook

Procedure

Here is a detailed tutorial to realize the crochet work described.

First part: Body of the little man.

Starting with Magic Ring:

• Form a magic ring.
• Inside the ring, work 2 chains (these will be the first double crochet).
• Work 10 double crochets inside the ring.
• Close the magic ring with a slip stitch.

First Chain Sequence:

• Without detaching the work, work 7 chains.
• Skip the last two chains and insert the hook in the third chain from the hook.
• Work a double crochet in this and in the next 4 chains (for a total of 5 double crochets).
• Skip a stitch and close in the next stitch with a slip stitch.

Second Chain Sequence:

• Work 7 chains.
• Skip the first two chains and work a double crochet in the third.
• Continue with 5 double crochets, one in each following stitch.
• Skip a stitch and close with a slip stitch.

Third Chain Sequence:

• Work 5 chains.
• Skip the first 2 chains and work a double crochet in the third, fourth, and fifth.
• Skip a stitch and close with a slip stitch.
• Also perform a slip stitch in the next stitch and the one after that.

Fourth Chain Sequence:

• Work 5 chains.
• Go back with 3 double crochets, one in each stitch, skipping the initial two chains.
• Cut the yarn and start the second part. The body of your little man is ready.

Second part: head of the little man.

• Start a new magic ring,
• work 12 double crochets,
• then close with a slip stitch.
• And the head of the little man is also ready.

Third part: bow.

Crochet Bow Tutorial

Starting with Magic Ring:

• Begin by forming a magic ring with red yarn.

First Chain Sequence:

• Inside the magic ring, work 3 chains.
• Close the chains with a double crochet inserting the hook into the magic ring.

Second Chain Sequence:

• Work 3 chains.
• Close these chains with a slip stitch inserting the hook into the magic ring.

Third Chain Sequence:

• Work another 3 chains.
• Perform a double crochet inserting the hook into the magic ring.

Fourth and Last Chain Sequence:

• Work 3 more chains.
• Close these chains with a slip stitch inserting the hook into the magic ring.
• Cut the yarn, leaving enough length to secure the bow.
• Pull the yarn through the last stitch and tighten to close the work.
• Your bow is now ready!

Project conclusion:

Join the three parts created, sewing in fairly hidden parts, and your little man is ready.

Why is this gingerbread man a symbol of Christmas?

While we were crocheting the project, a question naturally arose:

''But why is this gingerbread man a symbol of Christmas?''

We reveal some curiosities, here are some interesting facts.

According to some versions, it depends on the fact that ginger has warming properties and is therefore a perfect ingredient for a winter sweet. According to others, gingerbread was once considered a delicacy reserved for special occasions.

In the 17th and 18th century, some bakers began to specialize in its preparation and joined guilds to secure the exclusive right, which was indeed granted to them, except for the Christmas and Easter period.

The first cookies in the shape of little men are believed to date back to the second half of the sixteenth century, explains Carole Levin in her book “The Reign of Elizabeth I“. It was then that the queen asked the pastry chefs to depict foreign dignitaries and court people in the form of a biscuit, as a very special gift.

But Elizabeth I was not the only one crazy about gingerbread cookies. Witches and wizards of the time, explains Levin, prepared them as love tokens for girls. It was believed that if they could get the man they wanted to marry to eat the little man, he would fall in love with them.

Further contributing to their fame was the story of Saint Nicholas, published in 1875 in St. Nicholas Magazine. The story tells of two elderly people who wanted a child and, being unable to have one, decided to bake a biscuit in the shape of a little man. Once baked, the biscuit came to life and ran away, until a fox ate it.

We hope you can also recreate these fantastic little men and can't wait to see them, don't forget to share them with us on our social media.

See you soon.

Rosaria Tessiland®