New Felted Christmas Trees!

Last year Whitney created a wonderful heirloom Felted Christmas Tree pattern that I’ve had my eye on for this Christmas. As you no doubt have noticed if you are a regular follower of The Purl Bee, we just can’t get enough of pink, red and white at Christmas so I thought it would be fun to revisit Whitney’s pattern in our favorite holiday color palette (plus it just so happens that this color palette looks great in my own house!).

Last year’s felted trees were knit with Cascade 220, a great basic yarn that is wonderful for felting. This year’s felted trees were knit with Manos Del Uruguay Handspun in Natural, one of my all time favorite yarns, (two skeins made one large tree and one small tree) and it worked beautifully for this project.
Please note, for this year’s trees, I felted them BEFORE decorating them. Once they’re felted the tall tree is approximately 11-inches tall, the small tree is approximately 6-inches tall.

I decorated the trees with Koigu KPM in hot pink, color #1150, and bright red, color #2229 (one skein each is enough to decorate about 12 trees). I love the way the two colors work together, glowing like real ornaments on a tree.

The embroidery stitches I used to decorate the trees are very, very simple. The challenge of the embroidery is finding a needle that is sharp enough to get through the felted wool, but big enough to accommodate the yarn. I found several that did the job in this collection of needles. A thimble for pushing the needle through the felted wool was also a big help.
To decorate the little tree I made little plus marks (in the neighborhood of 1/4-inch wide and 1/4-inch tall) in bright red all over the tree, then went back over a few of the larger plus signs with hot pink.

On the big tree I first made big plus signs (around 1/2-inch wide x 1/2-inch tall) all over the tree and then went over those again in the center with a diagonal plus sign, both in hot pink. Then I went over the diagonal plus signs again with bright red. To finish the large tree I made small plus signs (about 1/4-inch wide by 1/4-inch tall) in hot pink all over between the large motifs.
I did the motifs on both trees totally freehand and without any attempt at uniformity which gives the design a lively quality that I am really fond of. Also, there is no need to cut the yarn between shapes (just bring the needle back out wherever you want the next motif to be) so the decorating goes very quickly.
Yarn lovers, if you adore the yarn used in this project, you’ll love exploring all of our other yarn collections! Discover over 45 thoughtfully designed yarns in nearly every natural fiber and in every spectacular color you can imagine. Only available here at Purl Soho’s online yarn store, where every skein is created with care and your creativity in mind!

I was so delighted with the way these trees turned out. They have a sweet simplicity and happy quality that makes me smile every time I look at them. They make great gifts too! -Joelle
Designed by Purl Soho founder and co-owner, Joelle Hoverson.
Share your progress and connect with the community by tagging your pics with #PurlSoho, #PurlSohoBusyHands, and #PurlSohoNewFeltedChristmasTrees. We can’t wait to see what you make!
Materials
- Tree: 2 skeins of Manos Del Uruguay Handspun (2 skeins make two trees – 1 large, 1 small)
- Decorating: Koigu KPM (one skein each in two colors, I used colors 1150 and 2229)
- Sharp, large embroidery needle
- Thimble
- Stuffing
Shop our wonderful collection of chunky/bulky-weight yarn to find a suitable substitute for this project, and remember that it’s always a good idea to check your gauge before you cast on… Our All About Gauge Tutorial shows you how!
Pattern
Visit our original, free Felted Tree Pattern!
Looking for more inspiration? Explore all of our free knitting patterns and knitting tutorials, buy one of our many knitting kits and yarn bundles, and shop for beautiful yarn. We have over 35 gorgeous natural fiber yarns in 100’s of magnificent colors, designed to bring integrity, beauty, and joy to your next knitting project and only available at Purl Soho!
such a unique and super cute idea! I love that you have an endless amount of colors to play with too 🙂
Totally adorable!
Absolutely gorgeous! I love the layered look of the pink and red 🙂
So pretty Whitney. Love the colors.
This is a great decoration project for someone, comme moi, who has little space for a big fluffy tree.
And it's so cute!
Do you know if you'll be getting more of the Manos del Uruguay yarn in Natural any time soon?
Hi Tami,
We've ordered more so hopefully soon. If you'd like, you can email our website at the link below letting them know what you're looking for and they'll email you back as soon as we get it in.
https://www.purlsoho.com/purl/contact
i missed these last year – love both "editions!"
They look like they're snow-covered…
Wow – I was just notified by your wonderful staff the product is in. Thank you!
So cheerful trees!!!
Hugs
OMG SO CUTE!!!! I love how you went with hot pink instead of traditional red and green…
~Kirsten
http://triplemaxtons.blogspot.com
I have to laugh every time I look at the one I made last night.
Hello, the link to the pattern at the bottom of the page is broken. I’d love to make these if possible.
Hi Caroline,
Thanks for your comment about the link! I’ve updated it so it is working again. Happy holidays! Joelle
I love these little trees. I’d like to make some as a gift. I know it’s an old posting- but do you happen to have an in stock yarn similar to this cream colored one?
Thank you
Hello Jennifer,
Thanks for reaching out! I have good news – we still carry Cascade 220. Enjoy!
-Marilla