Whit's Knits: Knitted Easter Egg Ornaments

My mother is really going to freak out when she sees this post. I don't know a bigger Easter fan than my mother. Every year, we start the celebrations on Saturday, elaborately dying Ukrainian eggs (we're not Ukrainian) and painstakingly painting miniature scenes of happy rabbits on hard boiled eggs. On Sunday we perform Easter musical skits, we break open piñatas, we hide and find eggs, we exchange baskets, we hold races amongst my mother's Easter Wind Up Toy Collection (that's a whole other story...).

We try to save the prize winning eggs from the previous year to hang on the Easter Egg tree of the current year. But often they have sadly rotten or broken or become food for scavenging mice over the intervening summer, fall and winter. So, how satisfying to make Easter eggs that won't disappoint us in that way! These can truly be heirloom decorations that become a part of our (and your!) Easter every year.

 

Knitted Easter Egg Ornaments - Materials

• Small amounts of fingering weight yarn. I used Koigu Premium Merino in different shades of yellow, pink and green. This Koigu came from my stash and was all tagless, so I can't say exactly what colors these are, but with Koigu it is so hard to find the same color twice that it doesn't really matter. Just pick colors you think are pretty!
• A set of US #3 double pointed needles (These are Blue Sky Alpaca's new version of their beautiful Surina Needles.)
• Stuffing
• A small crochet hook, like a size D or E.
• A tapestry needle.

Knitted Easter Egg Ornaments - The Pattern

Gauge

7 stitches = 1 inch in stockinette stitch

Finished Size

About 2 1/2 inches tall and 5 1/2 inches in diameter 

The Basic Egg

(Note: This egg is knit in two pieces: first from the center down; then, picking up from the center, from the center to the top.)

Cast on 36 stitches to 3 double pointed needles (12 stitches on each needle). Join for working in the round, being careful to not twist the stitches. 

Knit 5 rounds.

Decrease round: *K4, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round. (30 stitches)

Knit 2 rounds.

Decrease round: *K3, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round. (24 stitches)

Knit 1 round.

Decrease round: *K2, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round. (18 stitches)

Decrease round: *K1, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round. (12 stitches)

Cut an 8 inch tail, thread it through a tapestry needle, and sew the tail through the remaining 12 stitches.

Pull tight, and sew the tail down through the center.

Weave in the tail, and you're done with the bottom half of the egg!

With a double pointed needle, pick up 12 stitches from the cast on edge of the piece just knit. Continue around the edge, picking up 12 more stitches with a second double pointed needle, and 12 more with a third double pointed needle.

Knit 2 rounds.

Decrease round: *K4, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round. (30 stitches)

Knit 2 rounds.

Decrease round: *K3, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round. (24 stitches)

Knit 2 rounds.

Decrease round: *K2, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round. (18 stitches)

Knit 2 rounds. 

Decrease round: *K1, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round. (12 stitches)

Cut an 18 inch tail, thread it through a tapestry needle, and sew the tail through the remaining 12 stitches. Don't pull tight yet.

Turn the egg inside out and weave in the ends. Then turn it right side out again and fill the egg with stuffing.

Now pull the tail tight. 

Insert a small crochet hook into the center top of the egg, and pull a loop of the tail through.

Chain about 20 stitches. Across the center from where the chain originates, insert the hook up through the center.

Pull a loop through and slip stitch. Pull the tail through the loop and pull tight. Thread the tail through the center and out the egg.

Trim the tail, and you're done with the basic egg!

Knitted Easter Egg Ornaments - Embellishing

Simple Eggs

 

The Koigu Semi-Solid colors allude to home-dyed eggs with subtle shifts in color. They're simple and pretty. You can also try Koigu's multi-colored Painter's Palette for ready-made decoration!

Striped Eggs

 

Knit beautiful stripes for a traditional Easter egg. If you're inexperienced at knitting stripes in the round, you may find this tutorial helpful. 

Duplicate Stitched Eggs

You can really go to town decorating your eggs with some simple duplicate stitching. It's really fun after the work of knitting the eggs to just relax and have fun jazzing them up.

To do the duplicate stitch on a stuffed object, just bring the needle out the bottom of a stitch (leaving a tail) and sew like you normally would.

When you're done with a section, just stick the needle through the egg to the next place you want to sew.

For a full how-to on the duplicate stitch, check out this tutorial.