I had some yarn left over from making this Tooterphant. It is NOT my pattern. HERE is the link to the Etsy shop where you can purchase the crochet pattern. HERE is the link to my blog post where you can find more photos of the Tooterphant plus directions for adding felt eyes. 

Like I said, I had some of the yarn left over. Too little to make any project but too pretty to throw away! The yarn is King Cole Splash Double Knitting Yarn from Silsden, U.K. I bought mine a few years ago from an online shop in England. You may now be able to find some in the states, but not sure. It feels like a sock weight, but you can use any yarn scraps.

I also received this beautiful leather sculpted leaf ornament as a gift from the Etsy shop Mythical Designs. I didn’t want to just hang it up somewhere… so I decided to incorporate it into a necklace. Fairy has already got “dibs” on it to wear with her Autumn Fairy Costume this Halloween. Of course, you can use any medallion, beads or bobbles you may have to your necklace, or leave it plain.

  

You could also make your own leaf out of clay. You can find a tutorial for making Paper Clay Leaves Here.

So, let’s get started! First, collect your materials. The supply list is simple…

  • 1/4″ cotton roping
  • yarn – sock weight
  • tape
  • thread or embroidery floss
  • small piece of cardboard
  • bangles, beads or medallions 
  • scissors
  • tapestry needle

To manage the yarn while working on the necklace, cut a small rectangular piece of cardboard. Cut a small slit on either side of the short pieces. Tuck the end of the yarn in the slits.

Roll some yarn onto the cardboard.

If the thread starts to twist while you are working, simply place your working end in a slip and let the cardboard hang and let gravity untwirl the yarn for you.

Begin by cutting a piece of rope the length you want the plus an inch. NOTE: Unless you care to add clasps to the ends, make the necklaces long enough to slip over your head. IMPORTANT: If you are making these for young children, make sure you use a clasp that easily pops open so the necklace is not a strangulation threat.

I made 2 different necklaces. The first was a single length of rope that I added my leaf to. The other was quite long. I covered 1 long piece of rope. After I attached the ends, I looped the rope creating three loops. I then secured the 3 loops together, but more about that later!

To begin, hold a piece of the yarn against the rope about 3″ from the end. The working end of the yarn should be near the edge of the rope.

Begin wrapping the rope, about 1″ from the end. When wrapping the rope, make sure to wrap over the 2″ yarn tail. This will hold the end securely.

If you need to stop while wrapping, simply use a piece of tape to hold the yarn against the rope.

There are 2 ways to wrap the yarn. First, you can hold the attached end of the yarn around and around the rope. You will need to untwirl the yarn periodically. The second way, you can hold the unwrapped portion of the rope and the wrapped portion of the rope in your hands and twirl the rope, wrapping the rope. This stops the yarn from becoming tangled and goes much faster, but requires a bit of practice. Which ever method you use, just make sure the yarn completely covers the rope and that the yarn does not overlap itself.

If the finished or unfinished piece of roping gets in your way, you can use small fiber covers ponytail holders to tie up the ends.

Stop wrapping about 1″ from the other end.

Overlap the ends by 1″.

Using floss or thread tightly wrap the inch of unwrapped rope together. Do this tightly. You want to compress the rope so it is about the same width as the other rope.

Continue wrapping the joined section, and using a tapestry needle, inconspicuously, tie off the yarn, hiding the ends in the necklace.

If you have a long rope and want to shorten it to appear to be multiple strings, loop the rope until you like the way it looks. Remember, if you are not using clasps, it must be able to slip over your head. When you are satisfied, use another piece of yarn, and wrap about 1″ as explained in the general directions above.

If you want to add a medallion, position the joined section so it will be at the back of your neck, find the mid point, then sew your medallion to the necklace like a button, using small stitches and concealing your ends in the necklace. NOTE: If you medallion has a large enough ring, you may slip the medallion on the necklace before you join the two ends together. I chose to sew mine on incase I wanted to carefully remove the leaf for another use without damaging the necklace.

And there you have it! You may chose to add beads of other embellishments. You can tie multiple strings together. You can make bracelets. Or, make several long wrapped ropes and weave them together to make a belt. There are all sorts of possibilities. So, go off and be creative. If you make some, feel free to share photos or links to your online projects in our comments below or in our FORUMS.