Contents
Knitting materials and tools:
Double pointed needles, straight or circular 3.5 mm (US 4).
Bernat, Premium (4) – 100% acrylic. Colors of your choice. Feel free to use a different brand of medium weight yarn.
Yarn needle, polyfiber, stitch markers, craft wire for the candy stick, small crochet hook.
Common abbreviations of knit stitches:
k – knit
k2tog – knit two together
p – purl
p2tog – purl two together
slip p – slip next stitch purlwise
sel s – selvage stitch: always slip the first stitch knitwise, work to the last stitch, purl the last stitch
skpo – Slip, Knit, Pass Over: Slip one stitch to the right needle knitwise, knit in the next stitch and drop this stitch off the left needle, insert the left needle into the slipped stitch, pass it over the knit stitch and it’s done
yo – yarn over: Lay the working yarn over the right needle from front to back.
ryo – reverse yarn over: Lay the working yarn over the right needle from back to front.
Christmas candy cane knitting pattern:
For the Candy Cane tutorial, I will use only 3 double-pointed needles. Using pink (or red) yarn, cast on 8 stitches, leaving a 10–15 cm tail. Divide them evenly onto 2 needles. Start knitting in rounds using the third needle.
Rounds 1-4: knit all stitches around.
Join the white yarn. When knitting with the new color, place the tail of the previous color to the left side—this way, the tail will be carried inside the work, not outside.
Rounds 5-9: knit all stitches around.
Switch back to pink yarn.
Rounds 10-14: knit all stitches around.
Repeat Rounds 5–14 three more times, alternating yarn colors. My candy cane measures a bit more than 15 cm (6 in). Cut both yarn colors. Using a yarn needle, pull the tail through 8 stitches to close the top. Lightly fill the candy cane with fiberfill. Then, insert a thin piece of metal wire (such as floral or craft wire) inside to give it structure—this will allow you to bend and shape it like a real candy stick. Finally, use the tail left at the beginning to close the bottom hole.
