Knit Candy Cane Ornament

What Christmas tree is complete without a candy cane? The perfect red and clear white hues come together to make a classic candy cane. Visually striking against the needles of an evergreen, you could make a whole gaggle of these to pepper your tree or holiday mantle. If you’re not scared of grafting, you can tackle this 6 row pattern over and over between now and the holidays. Maybe it’s just me who lives for the idea of including knit and crochet gift toppers on every present one day, but this candy cane definitely seems like a doable gift topper idea for everyone on my list.

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Knit Candy Cane Ornament Pattern

A note about this ornament: It’s hard to believe that we haven’t yet done a candy cane in our ornament series, isn’t it? I had actually started playing with candy cane designs for this series from practically day one, but getting the stripes just right kept proving elusive. The crochet version kept ending up too chunky looking. An early knit version ended up with weird tension issues from the various color change techniques I was hoping for. But then this year I realized I was overthinking everything – the old KISS (keep it simple, stupid!) adage came to mind. When I went with a version knit with basic stranded colorwork and grafting, and poof! A candy cane ornament I could get behind sharing with you all. :)

Updated 12/8/18.

Skill level: easy

Supplies
1 pack Lion Brand Yarn Bonbons in Beach, which comes with 8 mini skeins. – You need less than a skein of red and white to complete the ornament.
size US 3 (3.25 mm) knitting needles
scissors
tapestry needle
scrap ribbon
sewing needle & thread
1 red or white pipe cleaner

Abbreviations & Terms
CO – cast on
sts – stitches
Clr A – color A (white)
provisional cast on – a cast on that gives you access to your stitches later in your project. Here’s a tutorial.
RS – right side
sl 1 wyif – slip 1 st purlwise with yarn in front
k – knit
Clr B – color B (red)
rep from * – repeat the instructions following the asterisk as directed
WS – wrong side
kitchener stitch – a seaming technique used to graft live sts together. Here is a tutorial.

Gauge & dimensions: 22 sts & 28 rows over 4 inches, knit in stockinette stitch. Finished ornament measures 5.5 inches from tip to tip before bending into candy cane shape.

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The Pattern

CO 36 sts in Clr A using a provisional cast on.
row 1. (RS) sl 1 wyif A, *k1B, k1A; rep from * 17 times, k1B.
row 2. (WS) sl 1 wyif B, *p1A, p1B; rep from * 17 times, k1B.
row 3. sl 1 wyif B, *k1B, k1A; rep from * 17 times, k1A.
row 4. sl 1 wyif A, *p1A, p1B; rep from * 17 times, k1A.
row 5. sl 1 wyif A, *k1B, k1A; rep from * 17 times, k1B.
row 6. Rep row 2.
Using Clr B, join ends using kitchener stitch.

Finishing
Weave in all ends. Cut a 6-inch length of red or white pipe cleaner. Fold each end of the pipe cleaner down 1/4 of an inch to protect sharp points. Feed your pipe cleaner into the tube you knit and bend into a candy cane shape.

Using a needle & thread, sew a scrap of ribbon to the back of your finished ornament to hang.

Remember to share your ornaments in progress and finished ornaments using #handsoccupiedhohoho on Instagram & Twitter – I can’t wait to see how you make these your own!

Yarn was provided by Lion Brand Yarn.