A Heart, a Star, and a Tree

These heart, tree, and star ornaments are all knitted in garter stitch outlined with eyelets, then felted. Leave them plain, or embellish them with buttons, beads, or ribbons. Be sure to use a yarn that will felt well (see Yarns for Felting, page 7, for advice). We used worsted-weight yarn, but you can try different weight yarns to make smaller or larger items.

Finished measurements (after felting)

Heart: 4" wide
Tree: 5" wide x 5" tall
Star: 4" wide

Yarn

Cascade 220, 100% Peruvian Highland wool, worsted weight, 3¹⁄₂ oz (100 g)/220 yd (200 m) skeins

Heart: Hot Pink (9469), 15 yds
Tree: Christmas Green Heather (9490), 15 yds
Star: Natural (4528), 16 yds

Needles

Heart and Tree: One pair of US 11 (8 mm) straight needles or size you need to obtain correct gauge
Star: One set of US 11 (8 mm) double-pointed needles or size you need to obtain correct gauge

Gauge

12 stitches = 4" on US 11 (8 mm) needles in garter stitch

Other Supplies

Yarn needle, safety pin, beads and/or buttons, ¼" wide ribbon or cord, matching sewing thread and needle

Abbreviations

K: knit

K2tog: knit 2 stitches together

psso: pass slipped stitch over

ssk: slip, slip, knit the 2 slipped stitches together

yo: yarn over

The Heart

Setup: With straight needles, cast on 5 stitches.

Row 1: *K1, increase 1 by knitting into the front and back of the next stitch; repeat from * one more time, K1.

You now have 7 stitches.

All even-numbered rows: Knit to the end of each row.

Note: Row 3 begins the eyelet outline. When working even-numbered rows, knit yo stitches from the previous row.

Row 3: K1, yo, K2tog, yo, K1, yo, ssk, yo, K1. You now have 9 stitches.

Row 5: K1, yo, K7, yo, K1. You now have 11 stitches.

Row 7: K1, yo, K9, yo, K1. You now have 13 stitches.

Row 9: K1, yo, ssk, K9, yo, K1. You now have 14 stitches.

Row 11: K1, yo, ssk, K10, yo, K1. You now have 15 stitches.

Rows 13 and 15: Ssk, yo, ssk, K10, yo, K1. You still have 15 stitches.

Rows 17 and 19: K1, yo, K10, K2tog, yo, K2tog. You still have 15 stitches.

Row 21: K1, yo, ssk, K8, K2tog, yo, K2tog. You now have 14 stitches.

Row 23: K1, yo, ssk, K7, K2tog, yo, K2tog. You now have 13 stitches.

Row 25: Ssk, yo, ssk, K5, K2tog, yo, K2tog. You now have 11 stitches.

Row 27: Ssk, yo, ssk, yo, slip 1 knitwise, K2tog, psso, yo, K2tog, yo, K2tog. You now have 9 stitches.

Row 29: Ssk twice, K1, K2tog twice. You now have 5 stitches.

Bind off all stitches, cut the yarn, and weave in all loose ends.

The Tree

With straight needles, cast on 2 stitches.

All odd-numbered rows through Row 23: Knit to end of each row.

Row 2: K1, yo, K1. You now have 3 stitches.

Row 4: K1, (yo, K1) twice. You now have 5 stitches.

Row 6: K1, yo, K2tog, (yo, K1) twice. You now have 7 stitches.

Row 8: K1, yo, K5, yo, K1. You now have 9 stitches.

Row 10: K1, (yo, K2tog) three times, (yo, K1) twice. You now have 11 stitches.

Row 12: K1, yo, K9, yo, K1. You now have 13 stitches.

Row 14: K1, (yo, K2tog) five times, (yo, K1) twice. You now have 15 stitches.

Row 16: K1, yo, K13, yo, K1. You now have 17 stitches.

Row 18: K1, (yo, K2tog) seven times, (yo, K1) twice. You now have 19 stitches.

Row 20: K1, yo, K17, yo, K1. You now have 21 stitches.

Row 22: K1, (yo, K2tog) nine times, (yo, K1) twice. You now have 23 stitches.

Row 24: Bind off 9 stitches, knit to the end of the row. You now have 14 stitches.

Row 25: Bind off 9 stitches, knit to the end of the row. You now have 5 stitches.

Rows 26–30: Knit to the end of each row.

Bind off all stitches, cut the yarn, and weave in all loose ends.

The Star

Making the Points

Note: The points of the star are knitted back and forth in rows first, then joined and worked in rounds on double-pointed needles to the center.

Setup: With straight needles, cast on 2 stitches.

Rows 1, 3, and 5: Knit to end of each row.

Row 2: K1, yo, K1. You now have 3 stitches.

Row 4: K1, (yo, K1) twice. You now have 5 stitches.

Cut the yarn, leaving an 8" tail. Slip the stitches onto a double-pointed needle.
Repeat rows 1–5 four more times (making five points in all). Transfer each of the points to double-pointed needles, placing two points on each needle. Leave the fifth point on the current needle. Do not cut the yarn after the last point.

Knitting the Center

Setup: Distribute the stitches so that Needle 1 has the last point knitted (5 stitches), and Needles 2 and 3 each have two points (10 stitches). Begin working in the round, being careful not to twist the stitches when you join between each needle. (For information about knitting in the round, see Getting Around.) Place a locking stitch marker or a safety pin on the first stitch on Needle 1 to mark the beginning of the round. You now have 25 stitches.

Round 1:

Needle 1: K1, yo, K3, yo, K1. You now have 7 stitches on this needle.
Needle 2: (K1, yo, K3, yo, K1) twice. You now have 14 stitches on this needle.
Needle 3: (K1, yo, K3, yo, K1) twice. You now have 14 stitches on this needle and 35 stitches altogether.

Rounds 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10: Purl to the end of each round.

Rounds 3 and 5: Knit to the end of each round.

Round 7: *K1, ssk, K1, K2tog, K1; repeat from * to the end of the round.

You now have 25 stitches.

Round 9: *Ssk, K1, K2tog; repeat from * to the end of the round.

You now have 15 stitches.

Round 11: *Slip 1 knitwise, K2tog, psso; repeat from * to the end of the round.

You now have 5 stitches.

Cut the yarn, leaving an 8" tail. Thread the tail on a yarn needle, and draw it through the remaining stitches and tighten.
Weave in all loose ends on the wrong side of the work.

Knowing What’s Right

When knitting garter stitch, it’s helpful to hang a safety pin on the edge of the front of the fabric to mark the beginning of right-side rows.

Finishing

Felt ornaments by hand or in a washing machine, following the advice in Felting. To speed felting, first soak the ornament in cold water for at least 20 minutes. When felting is completed, rinse and pull the ornament into shape. If fibers have felted over the eyelets, hold the ornament up to light and use a yarn needle to separate the fibers. Lay flat to dry.

Decorate ornaments as desired, using buttons or beads, ribbons, and/or embroidery. Use matching sewing thread on a sewing needle to attach beads in eyelet holes. Bury thread in the thick felted fabric, coming up with the needle at each eyelet, threading a bead in place and then working on to the next eyelet. Always work horizontally.

To make a hanger, cut 10" of narrow ribbon or cord, thread it through the top eyelet, and knot it.