Reversible Knitted Vintage Christmas Bulb Ornament | Uptown DK yarn

This week, I will make five reversible Christmas tree ornaments that I designed using various shades of UNIVERSAL YARN Uptown DK and UNIVERSAL YARN Noelle.

The Uptown DK line offers so many colors to choose from, making it very easy to select just the right ones for this project. And the metallic Noelle shades provide the shimmer and shine for my holiday vibe. Both lines are very light and soft to the touch. I’m also storing and taking my yarn with me in the lovely VIVACE Knitting Tote in Fluorescent Yarn Balls. It’s portable enough to keep me on the move, yet has enough space to store all the colors I need.

Holiday Inspiration: Why I Designed These Ornaments

With the holidays just around the corner, I just had to do some holiday crafting! One tradition we have in my family is to decorate the tree with pictures of past Christmases.  Every year, we add a few new picture frame ornaments from the year before. This makes decorating the tree a fun-filled jaunt down memory lane! In designing these ornaments, this tradition served up much inspiration. Each ornament represents something from my holiday memories, whether a symbol, an image, or an expression. And following my family tradition, each ornament is a double-sided framed image. Each one will be constructed in three steps: the inlays are worked from the provided charts, details are added with overstitching and add-on embellishments, and a garter-stitch frame is knitted around the two inlays.

Vintage Christmas Bulb Ornament

The first ornament I will make, Vintage Christmas Bulb, is inspired by vintage ornament bulbs I hung in my younger days. They had a distinctive pointed shape and were usually metallic with glittery patterned accents. I’ve decided to decorate each bulb differently, taking inspiration from bulbs I remember hanging as a young child. For today’s ornament, I am using UNIVERSAL YARN Uptown DK in Bittersweet,  Bachelor Blue, and White, along with UNIVERSAL YARN Noelle in Linette.  Additional flair is added with DRESS IT UP Christmas Embellishments, Holly Jolly Christmas.

First, I’ll cast on 24 stitches indicated by the chart in white, the background color. Then I’ll work the chart for the first side of the picture inlay. I’ll make the second inlay the same way as the first, according to the second chart. To ensure the image is tighter and sturdier, I’ve decided to use a needle size of 3.25mm, which is smaller than the standard gauge.

Vintage Christmas Bulb Knitting Pattern Charts

This is what the basic inlays look like after I made them both.

Embellishing the Vintage Christmas Bulb Ornament

Next, I’ll thread a strand of Bittersweet under the loop of the ornament hanger, through stitches at the top, and through stitches on the back side to hold it in place. I’ll add a holly embellishment to the ornament loop using a needle and thread, hiding the thread in the holly’s grooves.

Making the Garter Stitch Frame

To make the garter stitch frame, I’ll use two sets of double-pointed needles in 3.25mm and 3.5mm. I only have one set of double-pointed needles, so I chose to use one set in one size larger. Because they will only be used for one row, there should not be any noticeable difference.

To avoid the dotted line that appears on the wrong side when a new color is added, I’ll pick up and knit one row on each of the four sides of each inlay. Then I’ll place the wrong sides of the inlays together. I’ll knit 3 sides together by knitting two stitches together: one from each inlay.

When I’m ready for the fourth side, I’ll insert some thin craft foam board, as I like the firmer structure for the picture frame format. You can also use batting or go without if you prefer. After I knit the last side, I’ll continue working in garter stitch in the round by purling the next row and only using the 3.25mm set of double-pointed needles.

In the third row, I’ll add one stitch on either side of each corner stitch with m1 (8 stitch increase total). Yarn overs can also be used if you prefer. This will allow a larger number of stitches to accommodate the growing size of the frame and prevent curling. I’ll continue working the garter-stitch rows for a total of 8 rows, adding increases on the knitted rows, then cast off. I’ll add the final touch by making a single chain crochet about 5 to 10 stitches longer than the top of the ornament and stitch it to each top corner of the ornament.

And there we have a beautiful double-sided picture frame Christmas tree ornament!

I’m really getting into the holiday spirit! UNIVERSAL YARN Uptown DK and UNIVERSAL YARN Noelle yarns are so much fun to work with! Join me tomorrow to see another ornament inspired by a popular holiday favorite, the Elf Shoe!

This is part 1 of 5 in this series

Go to part 2: Reversible Knitted Elf Shoe Ornament| Uptown DK & Noelle Yarn