My sister Heidi made these knitted Christmas tree ornaments for my mother. My mother is gone now and the ornaments have come to me.

Each one is different, but they all use various Nordic designs–and some have a special holiday touch of sparkle.

Here’s a reindeer.

A stylized snowflake.

And a sweet little bird.

Heidi described the process of creating the balls as “like knitting a sock–four needles. You start with a very few stitches and increase, then decrease again.” The technique used to create the designs is often called Fair Isle knitting or stranded colorwork knitting. The key thing is that the color not in use is carried across the back. Heidi’s pattern for the yarn balls came from Arne & Carlos, Norwegian craftspeople and designers. Their website includes an online shop offering many, many wonderful patterns, for sweaters, toys–all sorts of things, most involving Nordic designs. They also post on YouTube and have a very entertaining blog.

Here’s a closeup of the bottom of one so you can see the increasing happening.

And here’s a closeup of the top.

They don’t have to go on a tree.

Or . . .

Happy Holidays to All!