You Still Have Time to Knit Christmas Ornaments

It may feel like Christmas is right around the corner, and it is, but there’s still time to add to your handknit holiday collection with the addition of some knit Christmas ornaments.

The great thing about ornaments is that most of them are small, so you can knit them up in an evening or two. They don’t use a lot of yarn, and you probably have something in the house you can use.

And if you haven’t gotten to all of the gift knitting you wanted to do, you can knit an ornament for everyone on your list and use it to decorate the gift bag with the store-bought gift inside for a little handmade sweetness.

There are tons of free knit Christmas ornament patterns on Ravelry, and this is almost a random sampling just to give you some ideas of the variety that is out there.

Carolyn Kennington has some great little Santa hat and Christmas tree ornaments in her Christmas decorations pattern. Or try the sweet Santa Hat for the tree from the Natural Suburbia blog.

Becky Kibblewhite made a lovely knit version of Christmas tree candles you can check out on her blog.

There are so many great Christmas ball patterns, including a collection from Mary Ann Stephen’s Two Strands blog (PDF), Nadia Majid’s pretty blue Christmas Bauble, a sweet collection from MillaMia Sweden, and a collection of stars and balls from Red Heart, to name just a few. Paton’s has a pretty diamond-shaped “ball” as well. Or try a Christmas Pudding Bauble from Amanda Berry. So cute!

Amalia Samios can help you spell JOY in knitting on your tree, while Ginny Sturdy spreads love with her holiday hearts. And there’s always Minutia, the annual collection of tiny Christmas sweater ornaments from Berroco.

And while they don’t necessarily have to go in the tree, Rebecca Danger has a great collection of little critters — an elf, a snowman and a couple of Christmas monsters — in her free Knit Picks collection A Very Danger Christmas. I also love the little Christmas elf peg dolls from Knitted Toy Box.

That should certainly get you started! Have you ever knit ornaments for the holiday tree? I’d love to know what you’ve made or what you’re working on now.

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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If you’re new to lace knitting or just aren’t sure how to incorporate the technique into garments, check out these tops and sweaters that use lace as a decorative element.

The easiest lace out there is eyelets, and you can practice them plenty with this eyelet covered sweater from Knitcro Addict. It uses light/DK weight yarn and is worked in four pieces knit flat. It’s intended to be a little cropped and a little oversized, and includes sizes XS to XXL in the pattern.

If you’re in parts of the world where it’s getting colder as you read this, the Nora sweater from Bummbul might be a good choice. This is actually a great one for learning lace because it’s worked in super bulky yarn, which makes it easier to see what you’re doing and makes the lace super graphic. This one just comes in one size, with a 42 inch (106) cm bust, but that could fit a variety of people depending on how much ease you like.

Minimi Knit Design has a cute allover lace cardigan worked in one piece from the bottom up. It’s worked in lace weight mohair held double, which maybe isn’t the best for those new to lace (because it can be hard to rip out) but it sure is pretty. Sizes range to fit from 30 to 66 inches/76 to 168 cm bust measurements.

If you’d rather not have lace all over your sweater, you can knit the Lumi sweater from Originally Lovely, which has a chevron lace pattern on the yoke and is otherwise worked in reverse stockinette stitch. (It’s worked inside out so you don’t have to purl every stitch.) The pattern has 9 sizes from XS to 5XL and uses worsted weight yarn.

Or try the super romantic sookie blouse from Trust the mojo (available on Ravelry). This sweet top is started working flat from the bottom up and has a V-neck and I-cord edgings. The sleeves are worked separately in the round, and the pieces are all joined together to work in one piece to finish off the top. It comes in eight sizes and is available in English and French.

You can also pair lacy sleeves with an otherwise plain top, like on the Starflower Wrap from Annelise Driscoll Gingrow. This intermediate pattern makes a wrap sweater with generous lacy sleeves and a double wrap belt. The pattern has nine sizes, from XS to 5XL, and is available for free from Hobbi.

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