Christmas Napkin Holders

Christmas Napkin Holders by Sian Brown

Project Overview

These festive Christmas Napkin Holders are a beginner-friendly knitting project designed to add seasonal charm to your table setting. Created by designer Sian Brown, this downloadable PDF pattern provides instructions for crafting decorative napkin holders featuring a holly and berries motif. The finished napkin holders measure 17.5 cm wide by 8 cm deep, making them the perfect size for holding napkins at a holiday table.

What Is Being Made

The pattern creates a set of napkin holders with a festive holly and berries design. Each holder consists of a structured base combined with decorative holly leaf embellishments and beaded berries. The design captures traditional Christmas imagery, making these pieces both functional and decorative for holiday entertaining.

Techniques Used

This beginner-level project employs fundamental knitting techniques suitable for those new to the craft. The base is worked using moss stitch, a classic textured stitch created by alternating knit and purl stitches in a specific sequence. The pattern incorporates yarn used double for the base section to achieve the correct tension and create a sturdy foundation. Holly leaf elements are constructed using yarn used singly, demonstrating how adjusting yarn thickness changes fabric density and drape. The pattern includes shaping techniques such as make 1 (m1) increases to expand stitches gradually and slip, slip, knit (ssk) decreases combined with knit 2 together (k2tog) decreases to shape the leaf elements symmetrically.

Stitches Used

• Knit stitch (k): The fundamental stitch forming the basis of the holly leaves
• Purl stitch (p): Combined with knit to create the textured moss stitch pattern on the base
• Moss stitch: An alternating k1, p1 pattern that creates an attractive bumpy texture ideal for the napkin holder base
• Make 1 (m1): An increase technique used to gradually expand the holly leaf shapes
• Slip, slip, knit (ssk): A left-leaning decrease used to shape the holly leaves
• Knit 2 together (k2tog): A right-leaning decrease creating balanced shaping

Materials and Yarn

This project uses Rico Creative Cotton Aran yarn in three festive colorways. The yarn weight is aran, a medium-weight yarn that works up quickly and creates a fabric with good structure. The color palette includes Mustard (70), Cherry (65), and Green (49), with one 50 gm ball required of each color. The mustard and cherry colors are used double-stranded for the base, while the green is worked singly for the delicate holly leaves. Knitting needles required are a pair of 4.5mm needles for the base section and a pair of 4mm needles for the holly leaf components. The pattern also calls for 7 x 4mm beads to represent berries, adding a dimensional detail to the finished napkin holders.

Finished Dimensions and Tension

The completed napkin holders measure 17.5 cm wide by 8 cm deep. To achieve the correct finished size, work the moss stitch base to a tension of 16 stitches and 25 rows to a 10 cm square using yarn worked double. Proper tension is essential for ensuring the napkin holders maintain their intended shape and dimensions.