Woven Stars to Knit for the Holidays

There’s something about the holiday season that makes me want to decorate the house in handmade things. Maybe it’s remembering the handmade ornaments of my past, or just that everything should be covered in yarn in the winter.

I’m going to add some of Frankie Brown’s Woven Stars to my winter making list for sure. These pretty little stars are knit in two pieces that make triangular shapes that are woven together before sewing them into the star shape.

Frankie used two colors, one for each triangle, but you could also use a multicolored yarn, a solid color for the whole project, or scraps of yarn so you end up with different colors going together or several colors in each project.

The originals were knit in DK weight yarn but you can use whatever you have to make stars of different sizes.

Frankie’s patterns are free Ravelry downloads but also serve as a fundraiser for the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation, which you can learn more about on the pattern page.

[Photo: Frankie Brown.]

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

When I discovered Kate Atherley’s book Circular Knitting for Beginners and Beyond, I wasn’t sure there was enough to say about circular knitting to fill a book. It’s a pretty short book (144 pages) and includes 10 patterns to practice working in the round on small projects, and it provides a decent introduction to the various ways of working in the round.

The book covers using double pointed knitting needles, flexible double points and circular knitting needles with cables. It talks about working using the full circumference of a circular needle and various ways to work smaller circumference projects, such as using DPNs, magic loop and knitting with two circular knitting needles.

In addition there’s a discussion of preventing problems like twists and ladders, swatching in the round without actually swatching in the round, grafting, blocking and weaving in ends.

More specialized techniques likes knitting from the center out, stranded colorwork, helical knitting and jogless stripes are also explored, as well as working pieces like socks or mitts two at a time.

There’s also some information about seamless sweaters, including the different sweater designs that can be worked seamlessly (and why you might want seams in your sweaters) and how they are worked from the top down or the bottom up.

There are 10 patterns in the book, including a basic stockinette stitch cowl and one with a deliberate twist, wrist warmers, mitts and a pair of colorwork mittens, a hat worked in a solid color or in helical stripes, toe up and top down socks and a beret. It would have been nice to have a basic sweater pattern, too, since the book does talk about working larger garments with circular needles, but it’s still a nice collection of basic patterns worked in the round.

If you’re already comfortable working in the round in different ways, I’m not sure there’s much for you to learn in this book, but it is a good reference for people learning circular knitting or who maybe haven’t tried all the techniques yet or need skill building projects to try.

About the book: 144 pages, paperback, 10 patterns. Published 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

Have you read?