Christmas Pudding

Christmas Pudding Bauble by Stella Jones

What is Being Made

The Christmas Pudding Bauble is a festive knitted decoration designed to hang on a Christmas tree. This handmade ornament creates a large bauble approximately orange-sized, making it a statement piece for holiday décor. Despite its generous dimensions, the finished bauble remains remarkably light when stuffed, making it practical for tree display. The design captures the classic appearance of a traditional Christmas pudding with its layered color construction and decorative embellishments.

Techniques Used

This intermediate-level knitting project employs several fundamental shaping techniques to achieve its three-dimensional bauble form. The pattern begins with a cast-on at the base and uses increases to expand the piece during the initial rounds, creating the widest circumference of the bauble. The designer then transitions between color sections to build the pudding's characteristic layered appearance. Decreases are worked strategically to shape the top of the pudding and create the tapered crown. The piece is constructed in the round using flat knitting techniques, with seaming required during the finishing stage. Stuffing is inserted before final closure to give the bauble its three-dimensional form.

Stitches Used

The pattern utilizes classic knitting stitches suitable for intermediate crafters. Kfb (knit front and back) creates the initial increases across the cast-on row to double the stitch count from 25 to 50 stitches. Stockinette stitch (St/st) forms the primary fabric throughout most of the bauble, created by alternating knit rows on the right side with purl rows on the wrong side. This stitch creates a smooth, classic knit fabric ideal for a polished ornament finish. K2tog (knit two together) decreases are used in patterned sequences to shape the pudding's crown, with the decreases worked in specific intervals such as (K2 K2tog) and (K1 K2tog) to create a controlled taper.

Materials and Tools

The Christmas Pudding Bauble requires only small quantities of yarn, making it an excellent project for using up yarn scraps from other projects. The pattern calls for DK weight yarn in four colors: brown for the pudding base, white for the cream or custard layer, red for the holly berries, and green for the holly leaves. The designer specifically notes using sparkly red yarn for the berries to add festive shimmer and visual interest. 3mm needles are required for working with DK weight yarn at the specified gauge. Additional materials include polyester stuffing to fill the bauble and give it shape, and a tapestry needle for seaming the pieces together and weaving in ends during finishing.