Christmas, Information, Inspiration
Fun Christmas Knits
Oct
Time to start your Christmas knitting. I find it hard to start, especially for Christmas presents, but here I share some ideas. Enjoy your fun Christmas Knits.
Scarves and Wraps
Firstly, there is the classic scarf or wrap. This should be fairly quick and easy, especially if you use one of my favourite stitches, the drop stitch. It is based totally on the basic knit stitch. I have created many scarves and wraps with my yarn, both handspun and commercial. You cast on as many stitches as you want, be aware that it does become wider than you may think, so it is worth creating a swatch.
Here is the pattern.
Row 1: knit
Row 2: K1, *loop yarn as many times around the needle as you want the loop to be, K1*, continue from * to *
Row 3: Knit the stitches and drop the loops.
Continue with rows 1 and 2 until you have created the scarf to the length you want
Finish with a knit row,
There is a video on how to knit the drop stitch here.
You can use any weight of yarn, from the sock weight to chunky depending on what you want to create. This is why I love using this stitch, because it allows for huge creativity with colour, weight and texture with little effort.
Gnomes
My next suggestion is from a fantastic free knitters website called Ravelry. There are patterns and yarns on here and it is a fabulous resource.
This is where I found the Gnomes pattern. I love making these for friends, as you can modify the pattern to suit the people. The best yarn to use is my Aran weight. There are several different patterns, but the Never Not Gnoming is my favourite.
Jumpers, Pullovers or Sweaters to Knit for Christmas
Ravelry also has some great sweater or jumper patterns. My favourite one doesn’t come from there though. It is the Easy No Sew Jumper by Yvonne Boucher. The last jumper I made for myself was based on this pattern, although being me I changed the neck, because I am not keen on round necks. I used my own homespun and dyed yarn, but you can use any of my commercial yarns. Either the aran or chunky would be my pick, but you would need to adapt the pattern a bit.
Christmas Bunting
Christmas decorations are another fun idea for Christmas knits. I find knitting squares with a knitted edge and stocking stitch middle is really quick. I then embroider letters or patterns into the middle stocking stitch area, using duplicate stitch embroidery. This results in framed bunting, which you attach to cording, string, crochet band or a piece of cordage created on a Lucet.
If you want to find out how to use a Lucet, here is a video.
Cuddly Toys
Then there are soft cuddly toys. There are so many free patterns out there I never know where to begin. If you visit Ravelry, there is a complete risk of overwhelm! Therefore, I suggest you have an idea in your head before you start the search!
Christmas Baubles
I love the fun of Christmas baubles. There is a pair of fun Norwegian knitters who create some amazing knitted Christmas baubles. Arne and Carlos even have a regular series called sit and knit for a bit (don’t worry their English is excellent!). So if you are looking for some Nordic inspiration, look no further.
BFL sock weight or better still my Romney double knit weight yarns would be my picks for these squidgy baubles.
Finally there are many websites with suggestions, including knitted Christmas cards and various tree decorations. An example is 69 Christmas Knits to cast on now.
Crochet
If you are more interested in crochet, then I have found these interesting suggestions 61 Free Crochet Christmas Decoration Patterns. I am afraid I am not a crocheter so cannot make suggestions. I hope the knitting suggestions give you some ideas though.
I hope some of these suggestions inspire you to get those needles out!
Happy Crafting
Jo
Lovely newsletter
Thank you so much, I am glad you enjoy it! 🙂