Just in case you need to make one more little thing before Christmas, there’s always an ornament. I made quite a few of these in the last week to give away to friends and pair with gifts. My children made off with a few as well. They’re extremely simple and take about an hour to an hour and a half max (depending on distractions). They are also a great way to use up some extra sock yarn.

The materials you will need are some leftover sock yarn (or you could do larger ornaments with thicker yarn and larger needles), some DPNs in size 1 or 2 or a 32″ circular or larger for magic loop, some poly fill or poly beads or both if you like. I used about a half an inch or so of poly beads in the bottom to give them a little weight. You will also need a yarn needle for weaving in ends. You can add in stripes, or some fair isle, or whatever you want. To make things easier for myself I mostly did that over the rows that had no increases or decreases in the center. You can also add more rows and increases to make this as big as you like. With this formula and me using a size 1 needle, the ornaments ended up about 5 inches in circumference, standing about 2.5 inches tall.

Cast on 6 stitches and divide among your needles.

For the next row kf&b into each stitch. (12 sts total)

Knit one round.

Kf&b each stitch on the next round. (24 sts total)

Knit next round.

(K1, kf&b), rep until end of round. (36 sts total)

Knit one round.

(K2, kf&b), rep until end of round. (48 sts total)

Knit 2 rounds.

(K3, Kf&b), rep until end of round. (60 sts total)

Knit 10-12 rounds.

(K3, k2tog), rep until end of round. (48 sts)

Knit 2 rounds.

(K2, k2tog), rep until end of round. (36 sts)

Knit 1 round. At this point, turn the ball inside out and weave the starting end in, making sure to secure the hole at the bottom. Weave in any other ends if you were using multiple colors. You should have all ends aside from the final yarn woven in at this point. If using poly beads you may want to put them in at this point. Cover with poly fill if using and continue.

(K1, k2tog), rep until end of round. (24 sts)

Knit 1 round. Finish stuffing with poly fill. Use enough to make a fairly firm ball.

(K2tog), rep until end of round. (12 sts).

(K2tog), rep until end of row. (6 sts) Move all stitches to one DPN or one end of the circular needle if using magic loop.

(K2tog) three times. (3 sts)

Make an i-cord with those 3 stitches to desired length.

Bind off 3 remaining stitches and sew end to the top of the ball, and weave in your final end through the middle of the ball or into the i-cord to hide it.

Enjoy your ornament!

I’m writing down the formula here, but please note this is not a pattern I’m publishing anywhere, nor will it come with support. This is a choose your own adventure type of thing. If you are not sure how to make a kf&b increase or I-cord you will have to do some googling.