Christmas tree coaster knitting pattern

A cute little pattern for a knitted coaster with a Christmas tree.

Christmas is night and it’s time to decorate the home! And what better way to add a personal touch to your dinner table than a hand-knit coaster with a Christmas tree.

If you look around my blog, you will find more Christmas decorations (like my knitted Gingerbread Family). But I realized a lot of my free knitting patterns are a bit more complicated. So for this coaster, I made extra sure that even beginners can finish it. It only uses the most basic techniques and I linked you to video tutorials for all of them.

That being said: If you know how to cast on, bind off, knit the knit stitch, and purl the purl stitch, you should be ready to go. If not, my free knitting school will help you along.

Materials you will need:

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1. Knitting needles size 4.5mm/US size 7. I am using the Knitter’s Pride Dreamz needles.
2. A nice sturdy cotton yarn. I am using the Schachenmayr Catania Grande.
   If you take a different yarn, make sure it’s suitable for needles size 7. Don’t take acrylic yarn (won’t be able to soak in any condensation water) or regular sheep wool (may felt when washing).
3. A tapestry needle and scissors.
4. Pins for blocking

The Christmas tree coaster pattern

Note: Here’s how to read knitting patterns if you still need to catch up.

The finished coaster will measure around 12×12 cm (4.7×4.7″). I think this is a good size to accommodate most mugs and glasses. Knit with smaller needles, if you want to size it down a bit. It’s a simple variation of my basic square coaster pattern.

Cast on 19 stitches with a standard long-tail cast-on

• Row 1-5: Knit across all stitches (so a simple garter stitch)
• Row 6: k3, p6, k1, p6, k3
• Row 7: k8, p1, k1, p1, k8
• Row 8: k3, p1, k11, p1, k3
• Row 9: K9, p1, k9
• Row 10: k3, p6, k1, p6, k3
• Row 11: K5, p9, k5
• Row 12: k3, p6, k1, p6, k3
• Row 13: K9, p1, k9
• Row 14: k3, p3, k7, p3, k3
• Row 15: K9, p1, k9
• Row 16: k3, p6, k1, p6, k3
• Row 17: K7, p5, k7
• Row 18: k3, p6, k1, p6, k3
• Row 19: K9, p1, k9
• Row 20: k3, p5, k3, p5, k3
• Row 21: K9, p1, k9
• Row 22: k3, p6, k1, p6, k3
• Row 23: knit
• Row 24: k3, p13, k3
• Row 25-27: knit
• Row 28: Bind off all stitches, and cut the yarn leaving a tail of around 6 inches.

Here’s are the very same instructions displayed as a chart (read this guide if you don’t know how to read knitting charts). I know, a lot of beginners rather prefer written instructions. But maybe you are more a visual person.

Finishing up the coaster

There are two more steps until you can use your little mug rug. First, you need to weave in the ends. There should be two. One from the cast on and one where you cut of the yarn after your bind off.

For garter stitch, the most invisible way to do so is going through the legs of the knit stitches on the wrong side. Simply thread the tail on a tapestry needle and try to split the individual threads as you go through them. Then cut off the tail. There’s no need to tie a knot.

If you want, you can go one more time in the other direction. Usually, a coaster doesn’t get much wear and tear and I feel it’s not needed. Once you are satisfied, weave in the second tail as well (here’s my full tutorial on weaving in ends the right way)

And the last step is blocking your coaster. Blocking is a way to prevent knitting from curling, helps to even out the stitches, and brings your project into shape.

So, take some pins and block your little coaster into a symmetrical square shape. While there are special blocking boards, a normal soft ironing board will suffice (or a simple towel on a carpet). If your iron has a steam function, then simply go across (without actually touching the knitting) a couple of times and let it cool off.

As an alternative, you can also spray the coaster with a bit of warm water and let it dry for a couple of hours. Normally, you’d soak your knitting in warm water for 30 minutes. But cotton will get very heavy. From personal experience, most beginners will tend to overstretch their knitting if they try that.

Last, but certainly not least, you could also add some little baubles to your Christmas tree. A simple french knot is all you need. Personally, I didn’t like it. But my partner said he loves it, so I felt I leave it up to you.

Naturally, you could also knit in a different color. I simply had some spare green yarn. But red or white could be lovely choices as well.

And there’s one thing you should be aware of. The knits and purls are a very subtle way to create the shape of the Christmas tree. With intarsia or fair isle, you could certainly achieve a much more stunning effect. You could also go for double knitting or bavarian twisted stitches.

Depending on the yarn you pick, the actual tree might be more or less visible. There is only so much you can create with simple knits and purls.

Either way. That’s my free Christmas coaster knitting pattern. Feel free to ask your questions below.