Monday, November 25, 2013

Knitting FO: Holly Jolly Christmas Wreath

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Back in August I went to visit my best friend Katie in Dallas, and on the flight home I started brainstorming some knitting projects to pass the time. I came up with some pretty random ideas before I wondered: Why not knit a "sweater" for a Christmas wreath? And so I did!
 
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I bought a 12-inch foam wreath form, used a handsaw to cut through the form so I could slide my knitted tube on, taped it up and sewed the knitting shut. (Pattern and picture below.) I used some burlap, ribbon and hot glue to make a big eye-catching bow, and -- ho ho ho -- I had a festive holiday wreath!
 
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Here's a close-up of the simple cable pattern I used. It would've looked better with four sets of cables  or perhaps just one instead of three, but I wanted lots of ribbing so the knitting would be stretchy and hide as much of the green wreath form as possible.

(The only drawback to using burlap ribbon is that it sheds everywhere, as you can see!)
 
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After cutting along the seam in the wreath form, I had my husband help me slide the knitted tube on. I used some packing tape and toothpicks to secure the join, slide the knitting all the way around and sewed it shut. I planned to put a big bow to cover the seam in the knitting, but if you wanted to leave it unadorned you could do a provisional cast-on and Kitchener stitch it shut.

Pattern:
This pattern would be easily modified to suit any cable design. If I were to knit it again I'd probably just do one cable instead of three.

With size 6 double-pointed needles, cast on 33 stitches and join to work in the round. Repeat the following rows until the tube is around the same length as your wreath form's diameter. (I did 46 repeats.)

C4F: Put two stitches on cable needle and hold in front. K2 from left needle. K2 from cable needle.

1. K2 P1 K4 P1 K2 P1 (repeat 2 more times)
2. Repeat row 1.
3. K2 P1 C4F P1 K2 P1 (repeat 2 more times)
4-6. Repeat row 1.

2 comments:

  1. Very nice, thank you for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love your wreath! Pretty red color and the burlap bow finishes it nicely. Very pretty.

    ReplyDelete

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