Tinsel Christmas Trees & Baubles in King Cole Tinsel Chunky - 9035 - Downloadable PDF

Tinsel Christmas Trees & Baubles – Knitting Pattern Summary (King Cole Tinsel Chunky, Leaflet 9035)

This downloadable PDF knitting pattern from King Cole (Leaflet 9035) guides knitters through creating a set of festive Christmas decorations: a pair of Tinsel Christmas Trees in two sizes and a collection of Baubles. All pieces are knitted in King Cole Tinsel Chunky, a novelty yarn that gives each finished decoration its characteristic sparkly, tinsel-like texture without any additional embellishment. The pattern is rated intermediate in difficulty and is ideal for knitters who are comfortable with basic shaping techniques and want to add handmade, tactile decorations to their holiday display.

King Cole Tinsel Chunky Christmas Trees

The pattern includes instructions for two sizes of knitted Christmas tree, each designed to be wrapped around and secured to a polystyrene cone armature. This construction method gives the finished trees a firm, three-dimensional, self-supporting shape that looks striking on a mantelpiece, shelf, or festive table display.

Tree Sizes

• Large Tree: Fits a polystyrene cone 28 cm tall with a 12 cm diameter base. Knitting begins by casting on 60 stitches using 5 mm needles and King Cole Tinsel Chunky yarn.
• Small Tree: Fits a polystyrene cone 13 cm tall with a 7 cm diameter base. Knitting begins by casting on 25 stitches using 5 mm needles and King Cole Tinsel Chunky yarn.

Techniques and Construction – Christmas Trees

Both trees are worked flat using stocking stitch (alternating knit and purl rows), with regular decrease rows used to taper the knitted panel from the wide base of the cone up toward the pointed tip. The shaping is achieved through K2tog (knit two together) decreases placed at regular intervals across right-side rows, reducing the stitch count progressively to mirror the conical silhouette. Purl rows are worked on the wrong side between decrease rows, maintaining the smooth stocking stitch fabric that allows the tinsel yarn's sparkle to show to its best advantage.

For the Large Tree, the knitting begins with 20 rows of stocking stitch before shaping begins, with paired K2tog decreases introduced on every right-side row thereafter. The stitch count reduces from 60 stitches down in a series of carefully spaced steps. For the Small Tree, shaping begins after 10 rows of stocking stitch, with paired decreases on right-side rows reducing the stitch count from 25 stitches downward. Once knitted, the panel is wrapped around the polystyrene cone and seamed or secured in place, creating a seamless-looking conical tree shape.

Stitches Used – Christmas Trees

• Knit (K)
• Purl (P)
• Stocking stitch (St-st) – knit one row, purl one row
• K2tog – knit two stitches together (right-leaning decrease)

King Cole Tinsel Chunky Baubles

The pattern also includes instructions for knitted Baubles, which complement the trees as a coordinating set of Christmas decorations or can be made independently as tree ornaments, gift toppers, or festive accessories. The baubles are three-dimensional knitted spheres, shaped entirely through increases and decreases rather than requiring any internal armature, though they are stuffed to hold their round shape.

Techniques and Construction – Baubles

The baubles are worked flat in stocking stitch, beginning with a cast-on using 5 mm needles and King Cole Tinsel Chunky. Shaping is created using Kfb (knit into the front and back of the same stitch) increases to build the widest circumference of the sphere, followed by K2tog