Deck Your Tree with Handknit Ornaments

My favorite part of any holiday tree is the handmade ornaments. Whether made by a kid, a friend or me, I love seeing the personality of the tree’s owners coming through in what they choose to display.

Ornaments are also great because they are quick little projects that can teach you knitting skills. If you want to learn shaping and knitting in the round, try a Christmas ball. A tiny holiday stocking project can teach you how to knit a sock.

You can use them as a way to practice embellishments, such as on this cup of cocoa ornament from Yarnspirations, designed by Michele Wilcox. With this one you’ll also get to work on piecing skills, as the cocoa, marshmallows and mug handle are all knit separately from the mug itself.

This is a super cute project for using up tiny bits of yarn, and you can make the mug whatever color you like if you don’t want it to be red. Check out other Yarnspirations holiday ornaments to knit and crochet here.

[Photo: Yarnspirations.]

Looking for more Christmas themed Knitting patterns? Check out some of our favorite Knitting patterns on Etsy and

These Christmas Knitting Pattern Books on Amazon

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I’ve shared a lot of Christmas stocking knitting patterns over the years (see posts 1, 2, 3 for example) but what if you want to knit a stocking for a non-human member of your family. If you’re looking for Christmas stocking knitting patterns for your cats or dogs, this is the post for you.

These large paw print stockings are perfect for either dogs or cats, so they’re great to knit if you have both. They are worked in the round using DK weight yarn, and the stocking measures about 17 inches/43 cm from the top to the heel. You can get the pattern from nicolaluke.

The K4 Project has a super cute Kitty Christmas stocking pattern, which is worked in worsted weight yarn. They also have a dog version, or you can buy both and get a discount if you have both dogs and cats to knit for. Both projects have two patterns, showing how to work the stockings flat or in the round.

Put your dog into a Christmas scene with this stocking pattern from ifanhourChild. It shows a dog in a dog house in the snow, and has room for the dog’s name at the top. It’s worked flat using worsted weight yarn and the pattern includes charts for many small and medium dog breeds (there’s a separate listing for bigger dogs) so you can stitch a dog that looks like yours.

Annie’s Woolens has both dog and cat stocking knitting patterns that are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. You can change up the colors to suit your pet if you want, and they come with an alphabet chart for personalization. Or you can stick with holiday colors and buy a kit to make the dog or cat stocking.

Waiting for Santa Paws is a pattern from Kate Agner on Ravelry that would be cute for a dog or a cat. It looks like a leg with a paw print on the bottom part of the foot and more paw prints running around the top of the leg. This is a great option if you don’t want to mess with a heel turn because it doesn’t have a heel, because dogs and cats don’t have heels so why would their stockings?

Book Review – 20 to Knit: Tiny Christmas Toys to Knit

Book Review – Knit Christmas Stockings

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