Strength & Empathy Snowflakes; Snowfall 2025 CAL Contemplations, Day 1

Today’s snowflakes for the Crochet A-Long / Make A-long are the Strength and Empathy Snowflakes. The Strength snowflake pattern is free below. The Empathy Snowflake pattern is exclusive to the eBook available on Ravelry and Etsy.

If you purchase the eBook you will get all 12 patterns right away.

Related Links

• Visit the Ravelry page for the Strength Snowflake and add it to your queue.
• Visit the Ravelry page for the Empathy Snowflake and purchase the eBook.
• Visit the Etsy Shop to purchase the eBook.
• Main information Page Snowfall CAL 2025: Contemplations

Pattern Support

Video Tutorials: Complete video tutorials will be available on my YouTube Channel for Strength, Respect, Attitude, Health, and Self-Control. They will be available when they are ready.

Strength Video Tutorial: Right handed / Left handed

Jessica Wifall’s Crochet Studio: This is the group where I will be hosting this year’s Snowflake CAL/MAL. Joining the group is not required to participate but it is a great place to ask questions of me and the community and share your creations and works in progress.

Materials

1.2-3.5g per snowflake of Scheepjes Maxi Sweet Treat (100% Mercerised Cotton; 25g/140m)

OR Scheepjes Maxi Sugar Rush (100% Mercerised Cotton; 100g/560m)

Sweet Treats and Sugar Rush are the same thread just in different quantities. I have the larger quantity in white.

1.5mm crochet hook for thread or the crochet hook size that works best for you and your materials

Materials to stiffen snowflakes (See Instructions Here)

You can check for a Scheepjes Retailer in your area, or you can use my affiliate link below. Shopping through this link earns me a small commission to support my design work at no additional cost to you. Thank You!

Scheepjes Yarn On Amazon

Gauge and Measurements

Gauge is not critical for this project, the size of your snowflakes will be affected by your thread size, crochet hook, and tension.  The samples I made with the listed materials are between 3.25-5 inches (5-12.5 cm). 

The Contemplations

Each snowflake in this set is named after a life skill or attribute. Today’s snowflakes and today’s contemplations are Strength and Empathy.

Strength is represented by one of my more solid, substantial snowflake designs. I would like to reach for strength in both body and mind: the energy to explore and do all the things I want to do, and the courage to face challenges and keep going, even when things feel hard or scary.

The Empathy snowflake has an open, rounded design, echoing the meaning behind its name. Empathy is the effort to understand someone else’s emotions and perspectives. When we take the time to see from another viewpoint, we grow in understanding. Even without agreement, understanding another viewpoint is always valuable.

I paired Strength and Empathy because they complement each other well. Strength helps us face challenges, do what’s right, and persevere through hard moments. Empathy reminds us of our purpose, keeps us grounded, and helps us stay connected to others. Together, they give us both resilience and perspective.

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Crochet Abbreviations

US terms used throughout.

• BLO Back Loop Only
• ch chain
• ch-1 sp(s) chain 1 space(s): number denotes number of chains in chain space
• ch-sp(s) chain space(s)
• ss slip stitch(es)
• sc single crochet
• hdc half double crochet
• dc double crochet
• 2dc-cl 2 treble crochet cluster: * YO, insert hook in st/sp indicated, YO, pull up loop, YO, draw through 2 loops; repeat from * once more in same st/sp (3 loops on hook), YO, draw through all loops
• tr treble crochet
• 2tr-cl 2 treble crochet cluster: * YO twice, insert hook in st/sp indicated, YO, pull up loop, (YO, draw through 2 loops) two times; repeat from * once more in same st/sp (3 loops on hook), YO, draw through all loops
• dtr double treble crochet: YO 3 times, insert hook in st/sp indicated, YO, pull up loop, (YO, draw through 2 loops) 4 times
• dtrtr double triple treble crochet: YO 5 times, insert hook in st/sp indicated, YO, pull up loop, (YO, draw through 2 loops) 6 times
• sk skip(ped)
• st(s) stitch(es)
• YO yarn over

Repeat Formats

*…….; rep from * once more/twice more/3 more times

Work instructions after * and then repeat that section as specified.

(…….) twice/3 times

Work instructions between brackets the total number of times stated.

Pattern Notes

Double Magic Ring: just like a normal Magic Ring with the exception of wrapping the yarn twice at the beginning instead of once.  If preferred, a standard Magic Ring can be used instead.

Back Bump: the back bump is behind the front and back loop of the chain. This is sometimes referred to as the third loop.

Stiffening Snowflakes: these have been designed to be firmly stiffened, instructions are included on pages 10-13.

Pattern Support

Video Tutorials: Complete video tutorials are available on my YouTube Channel for Strength, Respect, Attitude, Health, and Self-Control.

Jessica Wifall’s Crochet Studio: come join my Facebook group to ask questions, share your work and get extra information.  

Copyright

Copyright © 2025 by Jessica Wifall.  All rights reserved.

Please do not sell, redistribute, or edit this pattern in anyway.  You may sell the finished products but please credit me as the designer of the pattern.

Tips for Reading these Patterns

Where does that stitch go?  When the location that the stitch goes is not specified it always goes in the next stitch of the prior round.  For example: “3sc” means make 1sc in each of the next 3 stitches.  

The next round doesn’t always start where the prior round began.  This is written into the pattern, so don’t panic.  However, it explains why some rounds may end with instructions such as “ch1, 1sc in first hdc [counts as last ch2- sp]”, this is how we are able to start the next round in the middle of a ch-sp without cutting the thread. 

Strength Snowflake Instructions

Approximately 3.75in/9.5cm

Make a Double Magic Ring

Round 1: ch1, in magic ring: 1sc, ch3 [counts as first tr], (ch2, 1tr) 11 times, sc in the third ch of first tr [this counts as last ch2-sp].  Pull magic ring tight.
(12 tr, 12 ch2- sps)

Round 2: 1sc around post of sc that counts as ch-sp, * (1sc, ch3, 1sc) in next ch-sp; repeat from * 10 more times, 1sc, ch1, 1sc in first sc [this counts as last 2-ch of last ch3-sp].
(24 sc, 12 ch3- sps)

Round 3: 1sc around post of sc that counts as ch-sp, ch6 [counts as first tr and 3-ch], 2tr around same post, * (2tr, ch3, 2tr) in next ch-sp; repeat from * 10 more times, 1tr, in next ch-sp, ss in third ch of first tr.
(48 tr, 12 ch3- sps)

Round 4: ch1, 1sc in next ch3-sp, ch1 [counts as first dc], * (2dc, ch2, 3dc) in same ch-sp, ch1, (2sc, ch2, 2sc) in next ch-sp, ch1, 1dc in next ch-sp; repeat from * 5 more times omitting the last dc, ss to chain of first dc.
(36 dc, 24 sc, 24 ch2-sps, 24 ch1-sps)

Round 5: ch1 [counts as first sc], * 2sc, working in the next ch-2 sp – (1sc, 1hdc, ch3, ss in third ch from hook forming picot, 1hdc, 1sc), 3sc, 1sc in the ch1-sp, 2sc, working in the next ch-2 sp – (1sc, ch3, ss in third ch from hook forming picot, 1sc), 2sc, 1sc in the ch1-sp, 1sc; repeat from * 5 more times omitting the last sc, ss to first sc [this is just the starting 1-ch].
(96 sc, 12 hdc, 12 picots)

Round 6: starting in the next st: * 6ss BLO, ch2 [this is at a point], 7ss BLO; repeat from * 11 more times.
(12 ch2-sps, 156 ss)

Fasten off and sew in ends.   Stiffen Snowflake using instructions in this post.

Need More Snowflakes?

If you want more snowflakes or just can’t wait to get started, please visit my Snowflake Pattern Index for more patterns.