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Baubles

A collection of three baubles, each inspired by something I love about Christmas.

A thoughtful gift, that tells me someone both knows and appreciates me;
The twinkle of lights, inviting, comforting, and special without being too fancy;
Togetherness with loved ones, in spirit if not in person.

Each can be made in a few hours with leftovers from past projects, minis from an advent, or why not swap scraps with a friend for a reminder of yarnie community?

A Thoughtful Gift

A simple sphere with a band of eyelet lace around the middle, which enables you to thread a ribbon around and tie a beautiful bow.

A Thoughtful Gift is part of the Baubles collection, and is not available individually.

Materials

Each of the baubles needs a solid filling to give it its final shape. I recommend using either a polystyrene ball or a clear plastic fillable bauble. Whichever you choose, it needs to be 8cm diameter.

The pattern includes examples of fillings (with photos) and the pros and cons of each.

For this pattern, you will also need approximately 50cm of 1cm wide ribbon.

Construction

All of the patterns in Baubles are written for working fully in the round. This means working around the filling at the end. If you would rather not do that, the pattern also includes instructions for converting to working the last part of the pattern flat so that the filling can be inserted at the end and the seam mattress stitched closed. Alternatively, the pattern also includes instructions to work the whole bauble flat and mattress seam it together at the end.

Stitches

knit
purl (only if worked flat)
knit front and back
left lifted increase
right lifted increase
yarn over
knit 2 together
slip slip knit

Other Techniques

casting on
binding off
mattress stitch (if worked flat / partially flat)
working around an object (if worked entirely in the round)
simple lace

Sample Details

Yarn: Giddy Aunt Yarns BFL Sock in OOAK Icy Blue (33m)

Accessibility

Baubles includes two versions of the pattern: the main version, and a second version designed for low vision and screen reader users.

Both versions of the pattern are colour blind friendly.

The accessible version of the pattern has:

• 24 point sans-serif font (Arial) throughout
• Fully saturated black text on white background
• Single column layout
• Left-aligned text
• No italics
• No header or footer – just page numbers (bottom left)
• Consistent use of heading tags for easy navigation
• Internal links to aid navigation
• All instructions written out in text without reliance on diagrams or charts
• All words written out in full (i.e. no abbreviations)
• No bulleted lists
• No tables
• Tested with screen readers

You can read full details here: Accessible Patterns