An Array of Knit Christmas Ornaments

I was sure this was going to be the year I was going to knit a bunch of Christmas ornaments. And I guess it still could be, but at the time of this writing I’ve only done one, a cute little snowman with a knit scarf.

But one of the things that’s fun about knitting your own Christmas ornaments is that most of them are really fast projects, so we all still have time to make some. They’re also great to use as gifts, or to decorate gift bags, or make a garland to hang somewhere that isn’t a tree. Go wild!

One of my favorite kinds of knit Christmas ornaments (though really I like them all) is the genre of knit balls. They’re so fun because you can make the same basic pattern look a bunch of different ways. I did this last year with knitting machine balls, but if you want to hand knit some check out this pattern from Bizzy Bee Patterns that includes a reindeer, snowman, bird, Santa and Christmas pudding design. They use DK weight yarn and would be a great way to use up some leftovers.

You can also use a simple textured stitch to make really lovely Christmas balls, like in this pattern from Gnomes All the Way. These use worsted weight yarn and simple stitch patterns to make really pretty knit Christmas ornaments perfect for the most traditional tree.

Another favored genre of knit ornaments is clothing, and Chatty Cathy Knitting has a great set of mini sweater Christmas tree ornaments with duplicate stitch charts to add designs to the fronts of the sweaters (you can also draw your own). These call for fingering weight yarn and just use a tiny bit so they’re a great stash buster.

Stockings are sort of clothing-adjacent, and this set of mini stocking ornaments from Warm And KnittedS also gives you options for colorwork and finishing. They can use any yarn you want but it sounds like the originals were made with sock yarn.

And if you want to add extra woodland cuteness to your tree, check out Amy Gaines’ winter animals amigurumi pattern set. This pattern includes a rabbit, deer, bear, fox and mouse, and each of them also has a little garter stitch scarf. So cute! They call for worsted weight yarn.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to instructional books about knitting. Either focus in one particular technique or kind of knitting (stranded knitting, say, or brioche) or try to cover a little bit of everything in a reference book that knitters will use throughout their careers.

The Knitting Book by Frederica Patmore and Dr. Vikki Haffenden aims to be the second kind. The subtitle is: a step-by-step guide to creating imaginative projects for the home and to wear. I’m not sure it does that, exactly, but it does include a quick look at a lot of different techniques and stitch patterns you might use in your projects.

A “guide to creating imaginative projects” sounds to me like it’s about design, but this book is not. There’s 1/3 of a page about altering patterns that only talks about how to add length to a sleeve and adjust where the increases go.

There’s nothing about measuring your body (the section on choosing a size in a pattern only suggests measuring a garment you already own), general garment construction, ease or stitch pattern multiples. The section on gauge (which is the last third of the page with choosing a garment size and altering patterns, discussed above) just says to knit a swatch, block and measure it to compare to a pattern, with no discussion on how you might use your swatch to design your own project or alter a pattern to meet your gauge.

If you ignore the subtitle, what you will find is a lot of information about different kinds of knitting and various techniques you might want to try on your projects. There are 20 cast ons and 15 bind off options, for instance, all discussed before you learn how to knit or purl. (Another quibble I have with this book is the order in which things are presented, but that’s relatively minor.)

You’ll find quick hits on increases and decreases, twists and cables, lace, colorwork, textured effects like fisherman’s rib and brioche, loops, mosaic knitting, double knitting, decorative stitches, shadow knitting, bias knitting, mitered squares, entrelac and more. There are tips for selvedge stitches, knitting with beads, adding buttonholes, picking up stitches and more.

A few patterns at the back give knitters a taste of some of the techniques included, but they’re not rated by skill level and the first one is a bias knit gradient scarf worked in six different colors of mohair, which isn’t a thing I’d wish on any beginner.

And I guess that’s maybe what my issue with the book is. I don’t know if it’s meant for beginners and it doesn’t seem to, either. I feel like this book would be overwhelming to new knitters and doesn’t really give you a place to start or all the information you might need to do projects well.

The variety of techniques included is fun, and there are also stitch patterns in the back you can use on your own projects, but again it doesn’t really provide any guidance for how to design your own projects so I don’t know how helpful all of that is.

I want to like books like this because having one reference that helps you with a lot of different things is great, I’m just not sure this is the one. If you can find it at your library or local book store and flip through it before buying, I think that would be a great idea to see if it’s a book that would be helpful for you.

And if you have this book and love it please let me know! I’m sure it’s good for someone I’m just not sure who.

About the book: 336 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by DK. Suggested retail price $40.

Have you read?