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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 »

Knit Stars

November 23, 2012

I’m knitting these cute stars for Christmas and they are so much fun. They are a free downloadable pattern from Webs. I can see making these in all kinds of colors. The pattern calls for sport weight yarn, but I knitted them in worsted. It doesn’t really matter for these – it just depends on how big you want them.

These stars use a really interesting construction. You cast on 5 stitches and join in the round. You increase stitches as you go around and then start knitting the points by using turns and decreasing stitches. After a few stars, I had the pattern memorized.

the ends are used as stuffing, so no weaving in!

One thing I liked about knitting these was there was no ends to weave in! I hate weaving in ends. You use the ends as stuffing. So if you want the stars to be plumper, leave longer ends.

sewing the two halves together is so easy

I knit these using Magic Loop, which made it so easy. No DPN tips to mess around with. These were pretty fast to knit, also – one star from start to finish takes about an hour and a half.

I gave the stars a little soak after I knit them and laid them flat on a towel to block. Then I sewed the two halves together, stuffing the ends in as I went. I crocheted a little loop at the top so I could hang them.

Wouldn’t these be cute in pinks and reds for Valentine’s Day? I could even see knitting a bunch of them in a room’s colors and throwing them in a big bowl on a coffee table. So many possibilities.

Pattern: Knit Stars
needles: US #6 circular
yarn: Worsted Wool
Ravelry Page

Posted in holiday stuff, knitting, magic loop, uncategorized | 15 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.

Posted in finished objects, gifts, holiday stuff, knitting | 10 Comments »

Radio Frequency Mittens Christmas FO

November 17, 2011

Almost there. I am seriously almost through with my Christmas knitting that I started in March. I have made 17 projects for people in my family. I just need to put a couple of linings in hats that I have completed and I’m done. I’m going to make it for Christmas. Whew!

This project is actually a second pair of mittens that I’m knitting for a friend of mine who loves purple. This pattern is by Mandy Powers – I love her designs. I knitted her Radio Frequency hat for one of my nephews, and I love that. Check out her designs. These mittens were fun to make and had just enough variety to keep you interested but the pattern was simple enough that you could knit and watch T.V. Very important.

I knitted these up in super soft Frog Tree 100% Alpaca. What a yummy yarn. I did make a modification to the pattern. For the beginning purl braid, I did a two-color cast on as a set up row for the braid. I think that’s very importnat and made the braid nicer – you don’t have the purl bumps that you would otherwise and I think the braid shows up more distinctly. And a two-color cast on is easy to do. As always, I used Magic Loop to make these.

Pattern: Radio Frequency Mittens
Needles: #3 US Addi Lace Turbo Circular
Yarn: Frog Tree 100% Alpaca in Purple & Light Purple
Ravelry Page