Needle and Skein Ornament Tutorial

 

Hello everyone!  I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas season. We have just under a week until Christmas so today I wanted to share with you a quick tutorial to make super cute miniature needle and skein ornaments!

These adorable little ornaments are the perfect way to use up even the tiniest bits of scrap yarn! They also work great as a last minute gift for all your fibre artist friends -- who doesn't love miniatures?!

Below, I have made both a photo and video tutorial for these ornaments.

 

https://youtu.be/anN9cznUPlk

 

Materials:  

• A couple yards of scrap yarn (fingering weight works best)
• Cardboard (I used a cereal box)
• Clear plastic tape
• Round toothpicks
• Scissors

These ornaments can be easily customized to any size that you would like. I am going to show you how to make the slightly bigger one shown to the left. This is made using a piece of cardboard that is 8" long and the finished ornament is about 3" tall. The smaller ornament on the right is made using a piece of cardboard that is 6" long and the finished ornament is about 2" tall.

 

To begin, find a piece of scrap cardboard (I used a cereal box). Cut this cardboard so that it is 8" long and just a few inches wide.

 

We will be sliding the yarn off the cardboard so to help with this, I lined the edges with a piece of clear tape. This will be more important if you are using a rough cardboard so that you don't snag your yarn.

 

You can use any scrap yarn of your choice, but I recommend using a fingering weight or sport weight to show the most detail. To begin, you will lay the yarn over the cardboard piece, leaving a tail at the bottom.

Now, we wrap the yarn around the piece of cardboard. I find that wrapping your yarn about 20 times makes a skein with good thickness. Wrap more times to make a chubbier skein. Alternatively, you will need to wrap fewer times if using a heavier yarn. For example, if you are using a 6" piece of cardboard instead of 8", wrap your yarn 15 times.

 

Cut the end of your yarn leaving a couple inch long tail. Tie off with a knot, wrap the tails around all of the yarn wraps and tie again to secure.

 

Carefully slide the wraps of yarn off the cardboard (this is where the taped ends will come in handy!).

 

Hold the tied off end in your left hand and the other end of the wrapped yarn securely in your right hand.

Twist the yarn! I put my finger through the loop and twist with my right hand. Twist about 10 times or until the yarn starts to get tight and resists twisting more.

Carefully, without untwisting your yarn, you will take the end that was in your right hand and insert it through the loop of yarn that was in your left hand. The yarn will then twist around itself into a skein. If you need extra help understanding this step, you may want to watch the video above.

At this point, you will need to carefully adjust your mini skein and help it twist around itself right. Sometimes these twist together perfectly, but sometimes they need help. You can fluff out parts that need more volume and pull from parts that are too loose to make it look just as you want it.

Now that your skein is mostly complete, you will need to make your mini needles! I used round toothpicks and cut off one of the pointed ends with super sharp scissors. If your scissors aren't as tight, you may need to sand the cut end to get it flat. Tip: a nail file also works if you don't have sandpaper handy :)

Insert your mini needles into the skein of yarn. To help prevent snagging, twist your needles as you are working through the yarn.

There are a few different ways you can put your needles into your skein. You can do across either side like and X, or you can put them both through the same side like shown on the left. Play around until you find the positioning that you like best.

 

Finally, you will need to attach a little tie to hang your ornament! Using a crochet hook or tapestry needle, thread a scrap piece of yarn or thread of your choice through the twist in the skein. For best results, I would thread through the end of the skein that is folded on itself, not the end where you put one loop through the other.

 

You could use gold thread, a contrasting color of yarn, or a leave it and use a little hook. The options are up to you!

Tie off to secure. Your skein is now ready!

 

 

I hope you've enjoyed this quick little tutorial. Enjoy!