You can knit the stars in any weight yarn, using appropriate size
needles. I used Stylecraft Special DK (295 m / 100 g) for mine
and 3.25 mm / US size 3 needles. My stars range in size from 5
to 15 cm (2 - 6"), measured across the widest point. Each star is
made up of two star shapes, sewn together. To knit a tree like
mine, which is about 23 cm / 9" tall (including the star on the
top), you’ll need about 150 g of DK weight yarn all together.
Choosing Colours
I had a lot of fun deciding on colours to use for my stars. First of
all, I played around with my Stylecraft Colour pegs and came up
with two sets of nine colours, one bright and the other more
muted.
Knitting the Stars
As I’ve said, there is a formula for knitting these stars,
dependent on the number of stitches you cast on. I’ve knitted
nine sizes with 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 stitches on my
needles. I’ll write out the instructions for the first few sizes
which should help to show what’s going on. The pictures are
from a 7 stitch star, it’s easier to see with more stitches.
4 Stitch Star
Using the long tail method, cast on four stitches.
Knit one row.
Row 1: Kf&b, K1, K2tog.
Rows 2 – 4: Knit.
Cast off purlwise, working pf&b at the start of the row, until you
have one stitch left on your needle. Increasing at the start of the
cast off row will sharpen the point of the star.
Now pick up and knit three
stitches down the side of your
knitting so that you are back to
four stitches.
Repeat from ⁂ four more times
for the remaining four points of
the star.
Cast off all the stitches after the
fifth point. Don’t worry about that
gap between the first and last
points, the knitting will stretch to
fill it.
With the right sides facing (the bumpy side of the cast off
edges), oversew / whipstitch the first and last points together
and close the hole in the middle of the star. Leave one of the
yarn tails to mark the seam.
When you’ve knitted the second star, leave a long tail and use
this to sew the two stars together. Avoid putting the two seams
next to each other; that’s why you left the tail on the first star.
5 Stitch Star
Using the long tail method, cast on five stitches.
⁂ Knit one row.
Row 1: Kf&b, K2, K2tog.
Rows 2 – 4: Knit.
Work Rows 1 – 4 once and then Rows 1 & 2 once more.
Cast off purlwise, working pf&b at the start of the row, until you
have one stitch left.
Pick up and knit four stitches down side of knitting.
Repeat from ⁂ four more times.
6 Stitch Star
Using the long tail method, cast on six stitches.
⁂ Knit one row.
Row 1: Kf&b, K3, K2tog.
Rows 2 – 4: Knit.
Work Rows 1 – 4 twice.
Cast off purlwise, working pf&b at the start of the row, until you
have one stitch left.
Pick up and knit five stitches down side of knitting.
Repeat from ⁂ four more times.
7 Stitch Star
Using the long tail method, cast on seven stitches.
⁂ Knit one row.
Row 1: Kf&b, K4, K2tog.
Rows 2 – 4: Knit.
Work Rows 1 – 4 twice and then Rows 1 & 2 once more.
Cast off purlwise, working pf&b at the start of the row, until you
have one stitch left.
Pick up and knit six stitches down side of knitting.
Repeat from ⁂ four more times.
Are you starting to see the pattern here? What you’re doing is
working two more rows for each stitch added. As two rows
make one ridge in garter stitch, you will always work one less
ridge than the number of your stitches. This means that you can
just repeat Rows 1 – 4 until you have worked the right number
of ridges.
For example: 8 sts - work 7 ridges
9 sts - work 8 ridges
10 sts - work 9 ridges and so on …
The cast off rows are the same for all sizes and you always pick
up one stitch for every ridge of knitting, taking you back to the
original stitch number.
I hope this makes sense. As there are four rows in the pattern,
you will only work complete repeats with an even number of
stitches. With an odd number, you will stop after Row 2. The
four row pattern is:
Row 1: Kf&b, K to the last 2 sts, K2tog.
Rows 2-4: Knit.
Knitting 18 stars takes longer than you might think but they are
a lot of fun to play with.
To turn the stars into a tree, sew
them together through the centre
of each star.
Use yarn to match the top star and start by securing your yarn in
the middle of the bottom star. Then take the yarn up through the
next star, pull it tight and take a stitch to secure it. Continue
adding the stars like this until they’re all in place.
It was at this point that I discovered that, because they’re only
joined in the middle, the stars can be twisted into different
arrangements.
To add a star to the top of the tree,
knit another 4 stitch star and then
either sew or pin it to the top star.
As I thought this star might get
squashed when the tree was put away
after Christmas, I pinned mine in
place with a blocking pin. That way,
I can pin it flat to the top of the tree
for storage.
Other Ideas
There are lots of other things you can do with these stars. String
them together as bunting, stuff them to make a baby’s toy
(perhaps with a squeaker inside), use them to decorate other
things
Abbreviations
K knit
kf&b knit into the front and back of the stitch
pf&b purl into the front and back of the stitch
K2tog knit two stitches together
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