Doll Pin Angel Ornaments

Create a little Christmas spirit with these beautiful angel ornaments. Traditionally, angels are placed on Christmas trees as a reminder of divine messengers bringing tidings of great joy and peace on earth, good will toward men.  May these blessings find you and your loved ones this season.

LOOM:  Sock Loom EFG, or His & Her Sock Loom

YARN:  Approximately 6 yards of a size 5 thread weight cotton yarn.  Bernat Handicrafter Thread was used in the samples.

NOTIONS:  Knitting tool, scissors, needle, Darice Craftwood 2” Doll Pin, hot glue gun and glue

Additional Embellishments:

• Wings:  10” length of 5/8” wide sheer ribbon.
• Halo:  1.5” of 4mm fused string pearl bead trim.  (8 pearls)
• Hair:  A tiny bit of crafter’s doll hair, if desired.

SIZE:  Each angel is approximately 2” tall.

GUGE:  Not essential for this project.

Special Techniques:

Drawstring Cast-On:  Step 1: Pass the working yarn in front of peg 1.  Pass the working yarn behind peg 2.  Pass the working yarn in front of peg 3.  Pass the working yarn behind peg 4.  Continue weaving the working yarn in front of and behind the pegs until the working yarn reaches peg 1 again.

Step 2:  Lay the working yarn against peg 1, above the wrap from step 1.  Knit the lower wrap over the top wrap.  Pass the working yarn in front of peg 2.  Lay the working yarn against peg 3, above the wrap from step 1.  Knit the lower wrap over the top wrap.  Pass the working yarn in front of peg 4.  Continue working in this manner until the working yarn reaches peg 1 again.  Cast-on is now complete.  Continue on as directed in the pattern.

Yo, K2tog:  Worked over two pegs.  Peg 1 is on the right, peg 2 is on the left.  Move the stitch from peg 1 over to peg 2.  E-wrap peg 1.  Knit peg 2, treating both stitches as if they are one.  Yo, K2tog is now complete.

INSTRUCTIONS

Bodice:

Prepare the loom to work over 22 pegs, in the round.  Using the drawstring cast on method, cast on 22 stitches.  Work 8 rows using the u-wrap knit stitch.  Do not bind off.  Continue on to skirt.

Skirt:

Round 1:  *Yo, K2tog, rep from * to the end of the round.

Round 2:  E-wrap knit all pegs.

Work rounds 1 and 2 four times.  (Tip:  For variety, try changing colors before working the last two rows of the skirt.  Or work the bodice section in one color and the skirt in another.)

Bind off using the basic bind off method.  Once the dress is off of the loom, gently stretch it to help set the stitches.  Weave in the yarn tail from bind off.  Note:  There will be a tiny gap between the first and the last stitches bound off.  This is due to the basic bind off being used in the round.  For a more polished look, these stitches can easily be drawn together when weaving in the yarn tail.  Simply thread the yarn tail through the needle and draw the needle down through the first stitch bound off, then weave it in on the inside of the dress.

Finishing:

Place the dress on the doll pin, with the bodice section near the doll’s neck.  Pull on the yarn tail from the drawstring cast on to cinch the dress around the doll’s neck.  Weave in the yarn tail.

Glue a tiny bit of crafter’s doll hair to the top of the doll pin’s head, if desired.

Or, skip the hair and just add a halo to the top of the doll pin.

Create the halo using the 4mm fused string pearl bead trim.  To do this, place a small dab of glue near the front of the doll pin’s head.  Coil the 1.5″ length of bead trim into a circle and stick the center front of the circle into the glue.  Place a small dab of glue near the back of the doll pin’s head and carefully stick the two ends of the bead trim into the glue, maintaining the halo shape while the glue sets.

Create wings using the sheer ribbon.  Tie the ribbon into a small bow.  Glue the bow to the back of the angel’s dress, near the neckline.  Once the wings are in place and the glue has set, trim the ribbon ends close to the center knot.

For a hanging ornament:  Cut a 5” length of the crochet thread.  Use the needle to draw one end of the thread through the dress, near the back of the doll pin’s neck.  Tie the ends of the thread together in an overhand knot.  The angel is now ready to grace the Christmas tree.

Merry Christmas!