Christmas is eleven weeks away. That sounds like plenty, until you count the weekends and remember everything else that has to happen in them.
Here are ten knitting patterns that make a real gift in a weekend or less: hats, slippers, mitts, a cowl, a pillow, and a few small things for stockings. All ten are free. Every pattern gets the same card, so you can see at a glance who designed it, the skill it asks for, the yarn and how much of it, how long the designer says it takes, and one honest thing to watch for before you cast on.
How these cards work. Every figure on a card comes from the designer’s own pattern page. Where a designer doesn’t say how long something takes, the card says so rather than guessing. We don’t copy designers’ photos, so click through to see each finished piece on the designer’s own page, which is also where the instructions are.
Quick picks: match the gift to the time you have
- One evening: the bauble cover, the Holly Jolly dishcloth or the braided headband.
- A Saturday: the fingerless gloves, the boot cuffs or the pillow cover.
- A whole weekend: the Wisdom hat, the Simplicity cowl, the slippers or the Santa hat.
- Only leftovers in the basket: the braided headband or the bauble cover.
- You are a new knitter: start with the fingerless gloves. Flat knitting, two seams, nothing else.
Before you start: how to actually finish in a weekend
Speed comes from the yarn more than the knitter. Seven of these ten are in bulky or super bulky yarn, where every stitch covers a lot of ground. The other trick is to have everything ready on Friday night: yarn wound, needles found, pattern open. Several of the hats are knit in the round, so check the needle line on each card before the shops close. If you are swapping in a yarn you already own, match the yarn weight first and then check you have the yardage on the card. Our guide to substituting yarn explains the rest.
For anyone on your list
1. Wisdom Slouchy Hat
A slouchy beanie in super bulky yarn, knit in the round. The designer calls it the ultimate quick win for beginners, and it is first on her own list of knits you can finish in a weekend.
| Designer | Jennifer, Brome Fields |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free (an ad-free PDF is optional) |
| Skill | Beginner |
| Yarn weight | Super bulky |
| Yarn | 95 to 100 yards; the designer suggests Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick |
| Size | One size, 20 to 22 inch head |
| Time | A weekend, per the designer |
it is knit in the round on a 16-inch circular needle, and the crown needs either a longer cable for magic loop or double-pointed needles.
2. Simplicity Cowl
A thick, squishy cowl with a soothing repeat that you memorise after a few rounds. The designer describes it as a meditative weekend knit.
| Designer | Jennifer, Brome Fields |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free (an ad-free PDF is optional) |
| Skill | Beginner |
| Yarn weight | Super bulky |
| Yarn | 200 to 210 yards (12 oz); the designer suggests Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick |
| Size | One size |
| Time | A weekend, per the designer |
at around 200 yards of super bulky it takes more than one skein of most chunky yarns, so check your yardage before you start a gift from your stash.
3. Pumpkin Spice Fingerless Gloves
A flat rectangle, two seams, no shaping. If you only learned to knit this year, this is the one to start with. The designer says most people finish a pair in a day or over a relaxed weekend.
| Designer | Jennifer, Brome Fields |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free (an ad-free PDF is optional) |
| Skill | Beginner |
| Yarn weight | Bulky |
| Yarn | 45 to 50 yards (1.4 oz); the designer suggests Lion Brand Hue + Me |
| Size | One size |
| Time | A day or a relaxed weekend, per the designer |
they are seamed, so you sew two seams at the end. The designer says gauge does not need to be exact, which makes them forgiving but means the fit changes with your yarn.
4. Daring Ribbed Boot Cuffs
Ribbed cuffs that peek out of the top of a boot. The designer says they knit up so quickly that you can make several pairs in one weekend, one for you and one for a friend.
| Designer | Jennifer, Brome Fields |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free (an ad-free PDF is optional) |
| Skill | Beginner |
| Yarn weight | Super bulky |
| Yarn | 50 to 60 yards (3 oz); the designer suggests Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick |
| Size | One size, 12 to 15 inch calf |
| Time | Several pairs in a weekend, per the designer |
they only suit someone who wears tall boots, and the one size covers a 12 to 15 inch calf, so it is worth a discreet check before you gift them.
5. Chunky Slippers
Garter stitch slippers in super chunky yarn, worked flat on straight needles, with a free video that walks through every step. The pattern comes in a child size and two adult sizes.
| Designer | Davina, Sheep and Stitch |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free, with a free video (a printable PDF is optional and paid) |
| Skill | Beginner, easy |
| Yarn weight | Super bulky |
| Yarn | 2 (2, 3) balls of Paintbox Yarns Wool Mix Super Chunky (60 yds per 100 g), plus 1 ball in a contrast colour |
| Sizes | Child (4 to 8 years), Adult Small, Adult Large |
| Time | Not stated by the designer |
the designer uses a smaller needle than the yarn label asks for, on purpose, to make a dense fabric. Don't go up a size to match the label.
6. Easy Braided Headband
Three i-cords braided into a headband. It uses so little yarn that the designer wrote it for the odd leftover balls at the back of the cupboard, and she says they make excellent last-minute gifts.
| Designer | Davina, Sheep and Stitch |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free, with a free PDF |
| Skill | Beginner, easy |
| Yarn weight | Anything from sock to worsted |
| Yarn | About 23 to 35 yards |
| Size | One size |
| Time | Not stated by the designer |
i-cord is knit on double-pointed needles or a circular needle, not straight needles, so if you have only ever knit flat this is a small new skill.
For Christmas morning
7. Santa Hat (7 Sizes)
A classic red-and-white Santa hat in bulky yarn, sized from a newborn to a large adult, so one pattern covers the whole family photo.
| Designer | Louise, Handy Little Me |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free (an ad-free PDF is optional) |
| Skill | Easy (advanced beginner) |
| Yarn weight | Bulky |
| Yarn | Two colours; 48 yds (newborn) up to 106 yds (adult large); the designer used We Are Knitters Petite Wool |
| Sizes | 0-3 months to Adult Large |
| Time | Not stated by the designer |
you need two sizes of 16-inch circular needle, plus double-pointed needles or magic loop for the top.
Small gifts and stocking stuffers
8. Christmas Bauble Cover
A small diagonal garter square that wraps around a Terry's Chocolate Orange or a Christmas bauble and ties with ribbon. Knit it in self-striping sock yarn and the stripes do all the work.
| Designer | Louise, Handy Little Me |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free printable |
| Skill | Basic, beginner |
| Yarn weight | Fingering (self-striping sock yarn) |
| Yarn | Around 60 m; the designer used Hobbii Christmas Universe |
| Sizes | For a 60 mm, 70 mm or 80 mm ball |
| Time | About 1 hour 20 minutes, per the designer |
it is knit to measurement, not to a stitch count, so you measure the square against the ball you are covering as you go.
9. Holly Jolly Dishcloth
A festive cotton dishcloth that the designer suggests as a stocking stuffer or a last-minute gift. Wrap it round a bar of good soap and it is a present.
| Designer | Louise, Handy Little Me |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free printable |
| Skill | Advanced beginner |
| Yarn weight | DK (cotton blend) |
| Yarn | Approx. 85 to 100 m in four colours; the designer used Sirdar Snuggly Replay DK |
| Size | 10 x 10 inches |
| Time | About 1 hour, per the designer |
it uses four colours and an intarsia twist at the edges, so it is a step up from a plain garter dishcloth.
For the home
10. Chunky Knit Pillow Cover
A thick, striped cover for a 16-inch throw pillow. The designer says that with super bulky yarn and big needles you can knit it in one afternoon.
| Designer | Louise, Handy Little Me |
|---|---|
| Free or paid | Free (an ad-free PDF is optional) |
| Skill | Easy |
| Yarn weight | Super bulky |
| Yarn | 4 skeins of Yarn Art Alpine Alpaca (120 m each): 3 cream, 1 red |
| Size | Fits a 16 x 16 inch pillow |
| Time | One afternoon, per the designer |
it takes four skeins, so this is the one gift on the list you will probably need to buy yarn for, and you need the pillow insert too.
What you’ll need
Three of these patterns were written for the same super bulky yarn, so one shopping trip covers a hat, a cowl and the boot cuffs:
- Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick, the super bulky yarn behind the Wisdom hat, the Simplicity cowl and the boot cuffs
- 16-inch circular knitting needles for the hats and the boot cuffs (check the size on each pattern)
- Self-striping sock yarn for the bauble covers
- A 16 x 16 inch pillow insert for the pillow cover
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. It costs you nothing extra.
More to knit from what you have
- Got a single skein in the basket? Here is what to knit with one skein of yarn: ten patterns, eight of them free.
- Browse every project sorted by how long it takes, or by occasion.
- More hat and headband patterns and scarves and cowls.
- Our free ear-flap hat pattern, in all sizes, is another quick gift.
- Crochet as well as knit? Our sister site has a whole shelf of knitting patterns at Daily Crochet.
