Handknit Holiday Decor - Knit Your Own Paper Chain Bunting

We're hitting the Handknit Holiday Decor ground running this December with a handknit paper chains.

Add some colour to your holiday decor with handknit paper chain bunting

Paper chains seem to have made an appearance as holiday decor around the mid-19th Century in England. The idea likely snuck over from Germany in the Victorian era where a lot of our Australian holiday traditions have filtered down from. During more austere times (think Great Depression and war rationing) paper chains were incredibly popular as they were cheap and able to be created from whatever paper materials you had laying around.

Ah, the good old days, when we all channeled our inner Mrs Sew-n-sew with whatever we could find! Whether it was crafting with that eye-popping, shiny craft paper and enough sticky clag glue to make a preschool teacher weep, or raiding Nan's stash of vintage magazines and slapping it all together with trusty sticky tape at home, we were unstoppable. These masterpieces were the budget-friendly, no-fuss way to jazz up a classroom or living room, not just for Christmas, but for any occasion that warranted a splash of decorative tatt.

The brainwave for this knitted creation struck when Miss Vintage and I were glued to an episode of Wartime Farm. They were yapping away about all the make-do-and-mend decorations and gifts you could whip up from stuff we'd usually toss out or chuck into the recycling bin. We're always up for a bit of trashy craft here. Bonus points if it's also super quick and looks halfway decent when you're done.

One thing we always have an abundance of here is yarn scraps. So a knitted paper chain they became. This nifty pattern is perfect for newbies and a fantastic way to use up those itty-bitty scraps we've all been hoarding away like a crafty squirrels we are.

You can drape your finished chain anywhere you like. We hang our paper chains on our tree but you can pop yours up anywhere you like.

Materials Needed

All you need is some basic knitting supplies - some scraps of yarn, a pair of knitting pins, some scissors and a sewing needle.

• 3.25mm (UK 10/US 3) straight needles.

• Scraps of 8ply/DK/Light Worsted yarn (each chain will take approximately 2 -3 grams of yarn depending on it's composition. Generally, wool weighs more than cotton and cotton more than acrylic).

• A pair of scissors

• A Bodkin (wool /tapestry needle) for sewing up.

To make the paper strips

Cast on 18 stitches.

Knit 3 rows in garter stitch (plain/knit stitch).

Cast off and cut yarn leaving a tail of 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 inches)for sewing up.

Making your chain

Once you have a little pile of your paper strips you can start to join them together to make your chain.

Step 1: Fold your first strip in half and sew the side edges together to form a little loop.

Fold in half and sew side edges together to form a loop

Step 2: your next strip and thread it through the first loop and then sew the side edges together to form a loop. You now have two interlocking loops.

Thread your next knitted paper strip through the previous loop

Keep knitting and repeat Step 2 until your chain is the length you want or you run out of yarn, whatever comes first.

Keep adding strips until you reach any length you like

This was designed to be a scrap buster project, but you might want to err on the more deliberate side and match your yarn to your existing holiday decor.

As each paper strip takes such a small amount of yarn, two or three 50g balls of yarn will get you a paper chain that is several metres in length.

You can size it up or down by using larger needles and thicker yarn, adding more stitches or more knit rows. Sky's the limit.

Our littlest Miss Vintage is currently on a mission to craft the world's most epic paper chain for her own Handknit Holiday Decor extravaganza in her bedroom. She took a nosedive into my scrap box and emerged victorious with an armful of half used yarn balls in "Deck the halls!" colourways.