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Knit Christmas Stars & Elves

December 9, 2017

Christmas Stars & Elves

I wanted to share some fun little Christmas ornaments to knit up quickly. It’s such a busy time of year and we all love fast little projects to knit. The stars are an old favorite pattern and they are really fun to make. The little elves are adorable and will require you to drink some wine 🍷 because you stuff them with corks. So double the fun!

The little elves knit up very quickly. These are based on a pattern called Korkinesse, in Norwegian. There was an English translation but that’s no longer available. So I used a modified version on Ravelry and then modified that version to come up with a pattern. You can visit my Ravelry page for more details. Here is how I knit them:

Using fingering weight yarn and US #2.5 circle needle. I used the Magic Loop method.

CO 4 st. Join in the round.
1) *kfb* (8 st )
2) *K1, kfb* (12 st )
3) *kfb, k2* (16 st )
4) *k2, kfb, k2* 3 times, k1 (19 st)
5) P19
6-17) k12 rows
18) k5 BO 9, K4
19) K5, CO 10, K5
20) P13, P2 tog, P5 (19 st)
21) K
22) P
23 – 26) K (4 rows)
27) K2 tog, K3, K2 tog, K5, K2 tog, K2, K2 tog, K1 (15 st)
28 – 29) K
30) K2 tog, K1, K2 tog, k4, k2 tog, K1, K2 tog, K2 tog (10 st)
31-32) K 10 st
33) K2 tog, K1, K2tog, K2tog, K1, k2tog (6 st)
34) K
35) K2 tog, K1, K2 tog, K1 (4 st)
36) K2tog, K2tog
37) K2 tog

Pull yarn through remaining stitch. Leave a 10” tail. With a crochet hook, chain about 10 stitches. With a tapestry needle, attach tail of yarn to chain base, forming a loop. Secure. Bring CO tail up through bottom with a crochet hook.

I’ve knit the stars many times. This year I wanted some cranberry and snow white stars. A quick and easy project, you begin by knitting in the round and then just working on 10 stitches at a time for the individual star points. Here is the free pattern for the stars. The pattern has you stuffing the stars just with the loose yarn ends, but I filled mine with a bit of polyfill, for plumper stars.

Stars Collage

IMG_E0116

Thanks for dropping by. I wish you a wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year! And, as usual, I hope you’re making something!

Elaine

fireplace decoration

Posted in gifts, holiday stuff, knitting | 7 Comments »

Yvonne’s Purple Knit Stars

January 15, 2014

I made some of these these knitted stars last year and loved them so much that I made more last month for my friend who loves the color purple. Her colors in her house are beautiful plums and ivories, so that’s what I made for her.

This is an easy pattern and fun to make. It only takes about an hour and a half to do one star. I used various sized needles to get various sized stars. You can stuff the yarns just with the weaved in ends or, for a puffier look, with some polyfill.

The yarn I used was Stonehedge, which is a great soft yarn made right here in Michigan. I love it and it comes in lots of colors. I crocheted a little hanging loop on each star and slipped a white satin ribbon through each one so they could be hung. These would also be pretty, though, without the hangers and just thrown in a bowl on the table.

Pattern: Knit Stars
Needle: various for various sizes
Yarn: Shepherd’s Wool
Ravelry Page

Posted in gifts, knitting | 4 Comments »

The Incredible Northman Mitten

December 12, 2011

This may be my favorite mitten of all time. After I finished all my Christmas gifts for my family, I felt I had the time to knit one last pair of mittens for another friend. She loves the lined mittens I make so much that I figured she deserved a pair.

This design is by David Schulz, who runs Southern Cross Fibre in Australia. The pattern is just about perfect – it has a braided edge, which I love, rather than a ribbed cuff. The thumbs have gussets, which are more comfortable to wear and the pattern is so well written. The pattern includes charts for two kinds of mittens – dark/light or light/dark. Most patterns don’t do this and it is SO helpful. Thanks, David!

I used one of my all time favorite yarns, Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light. 50% wool, 50% alpaca. So toasty warm. The lining is of luscious Brushed Suri by Blue Sky Alpacas. Brushed Suri is the most incredible yarn to use in the lining of a mitten – so lofty and soft. The color I chose is called “Snow Cone” and I thought it complimented the colors of the mitten so well.

The pattern calls for a braided edge done in one color, which I think kind of loses the purpose of doing a braided edge. So I did the edge in two colors. If you do a two color edge, make sure to do a two color cast on or it won’t come out right. The two color cast on will be your set up row for the braid.

I even do the thumbs using Magic Loop

If you’ve never knitted lined mittens before, you should give it a try. They are so special and warm to wear. You can have all kinds of fun with the colors.

Pattern: Northman Mitten
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light and Brushed Suri
Needle: #4 circular, using Magic Loop
Ravelry Page

Posted in finished objects, gifts, knitting, magic loop, mittens | 19 Comments »

My Christmas Knitting is Finished!

November 27, 2011

17 projects. 8 months. I’ve been working every spare minute on this enormous project and I’m finally done – I knitted the last lining for the last hat on Thanksgiving weekend. I knitted everyone in my family a different project – I did not repeat a pattern. That wasn’t easy, because I had so many favorites. But to be honest, in that same time frame I knitted 13 other projects for me or as gifts for someone else. So I was busy. Very busy. That’s 30 projects in 8 months.

I also sewed a tag into every item I made. I got these tags from Mountain Street Arts on Etsy. I dislike almost all of the labels you can buy to sew into handmade items and these were the only tags I found that I liked a lot.

There are seven hats, all lined!

None of the hat patterns called for linings, but I picked up stitches and knitted a liner in every single hat. They are so much nicer that way – thicker, sturdier and warmer.

I started this project in March and I spent every single spare minute I had knitting. I finally sat down with my family this weekend to watch a TV show and, for the first time in months, I did not pick up my knitting basket to work on a project. It felt weird but I’m also relieved. When I started this project, I did not know if I would be able to finish. But I did it with 4 weeks to spare!

Nine pairs of mittens

I knitted seven hats, eight pairs of mittens and one pair of socks. As you can see, I’m not the biggest sock knitting fan. But the pair that I knitted for my sister-in-law was amazing. I loved them.

After I present everyone with their gifts at Christmas, I can finally tell them about this blog. It’s been a secret, of course, to anyone in my family.

If you want to see details on any of the projects, just go to my Ravelry page – they are all posted there.