Elf Sweater Ornament pattern

Hang this elf sweater ornament on your Christmas tree this year. This easy-to-knit pattern first appeared in a Twisted Yarns column in 2003 in a plea to help Mrs Claus keep all the elves warm that winter. Well, fast forward to today and the elf sweater ornament is still knit by many to be proudly displayed on the Christmas tree and collected by Santa!

Knit in readily available worsted acrylic yarn, they are knit using double pointed knitting needles and circular techniques. If you have never tried them before, you will learn a lot from this small project.

Since projects crave pizzazz! A smidgen of flair will give you a reputation and make your sweaters oh, so special. To demonstrate our point, we have knit several identical elf sweaters using plain stockinette stitch with ribbing at the cuffs, neckline and lower edge. Let’s see how one simple pattern can look so different when we play with color and embellishments!

Bright colors can enliven a pattern but stripes make statements. How do our two striped variations make you feel? A few wide stripes show power while narrow stripes are cheerful. Dark colors may be overbearing. Contrasting colors can be fun. What combinations of colors would you choose?

Basic embroidery stitches combined with the duplicate stitch yield surprisingly delightful results. My favorite embroidery stitches are running, whip, outline, satin and the French knot. My favorite trick is to split apart the plies of thicker yarns so that tiny details are in proportion. This is handy when adding expression to dolls or accents to small projects.

Compare our elf sweater ornaments and draw your own conclusions!

Don’t forget to explore our entire Christmas collection for more holiday ideas!