Oh, Mistletoe

That parasitic little sprig. That ubiquitous seasonal staple which was dubbed the state flower of Oklahoma by someone who'd never seen a flower. That most subversive of holiday decorations. That little cute little bundle which seeks to clandestinely spread colds in the name of fun, thereby squelching Christmas cheer. Throw away your plastic reproductions and whip out your knitting needles and yarn. Make woolly mistletoe to hang in all your doorways. Pin it to your shirt. Don with pride this traditional foliage and let the world know that you can knit anything! Mwa ha ha!

Mistletoe Knitting Pattern

you will need:
2 US size 6 dpns
scrap amounts of light leaf green wool worsted or DK yarn (I used Paton's Classic Merino in leaf green)
white felted balls, beads or small white buttons
yarn darning needle
sewing needle and white thread
washing machine for felting

Base stem and first leaf:
CO 3 sts. Knit 3" of 3-stitch i-cord.
Increase 2nd stitch of each row until you have 8 sts on the needle
Work 8 rows even
Decrease 2nd stitch of each row until you have 4 sts on needle. BO.

Second leaf
PU 3 sts from i-cord 1" above first leaf. Attach yarn and work 1" i-cord and repeat leaf as above.

Berry stem
PU 3 sts from i-cord just above where you joined for second leaf. Join yarn and work 2" i-cord. BO.

Weave in ends and felt in washing machine or by hand.
Reshape and dry on a towel. When dry, sew desired number of berries to berry stem.

For a fuller bunch of mistletoe, make several as above, varying the length of the base stem, and tie together with a red ribbon. Alternately, you could continue adding on branches of leaves the way you did earlier, picking up i-cord stitches. You can also stitch a line down the center of each leaf on a sewing machine or by hand, and fold the leaf a bit to give it more dimension.

Happy Christmas!

This pattern is protected by copyright. You may use it for personal and charitable use, but you may not sell more than one item made from this pattern without my permission. You may not re-post the pattern without my permission. Feel free to comment if you have any questions.