This pattern is a wee bit different to my usual patterns and is designed for you to knit as a Christmas heirloom for your family to cherish or to give as a gift with your love.

Highland Maids Hats’ Mini Hats and Holly consists of 7 mini fair isle/colour work knitted hats with pompoms, suspended from a branch of a tree. The branch is hung by and wrapped with knitted i-cords, from which knitted holly leaves, with knitted berries, are attached.

The mini hats are knitted in the round on double-pointed needles or a circular needle, if preferred, as are the i-cords. The holly leaves and berries are not knitted in the round and are small enough to be knitted on your double-pointed needles.

Some experience of fair isle or stranded colour work would be useful for this pattern, although it would also make an ideal first project in fair isle knitting.

Full instructions are given for the construction methods used.

Materials:

4ply Shetland wool or equivalent:

Actual amounts used are listed below, but please use this as a rough guide only, given that different brands may differ slightly. The yardage of the wool used is 215m/236yds per 50g.

Green 25g
White 25g
Red 20g

Knitting Needles:

One set of 4 double-pointed knitting needles 3.25mm (US 3). Alternatively, you may use a circular knitting needle of the same size and of length 20cm/8ins, if preferred, for the body of the hats, though you will need DPNs for shaping the crown.

Sundries required:

A branch from a tree or wooden dowelling of approx. 50 cm/20 ins in length and of 2.5cm/1ins diameter, for mounting the decoration.

Nylon thread or Fishing line for suspending the mini hats:

Measurements:

Hat (inc. Pompom): 9 x 10 cm (3.5 x 4 ins)

Holly Leaves: 5 x 3cm (2 x 1.25 ins)

Berries: 1.5cm (0.625 ins) diameter

Pompoms: 3.5cm (1.5 ins)