Free Christmas Jumper Knitting Patterns for Straight Needles for All Ages

Santa Baby Suit (6 months -2 years)

Your little one will look adorable in this Santa suit – I especially love the belt buckle!

This free cardigan and hat pattern is fully knit with just 1 pair of straight needles. Even the hat is knit flat and seamed up the back – which is unusual.

There’s a fair bit of work involved here – the cardigan has a collar and 4 button holes, the belt is knit as a seed/moss stitch stripe as part of the cardigan itself and closed with snap fasteners, and the belt buckle is knit as a separate piece & sewn on top.

So this cardigan pattern is definitely for more experienced knitters. But the hat is a quick and easy knit, and the other baby patterns below are also a bit simpler.

Unfortunately the pattern yarn (Red Heart Anne Geddes Baby) is discontinued, but here’s a list of close substitutes from YarnSub.

Most baby, sport or DK yarns should work well for this. While the row gauge is 32 rather than the standard 28 DK gauge, that doesn’t matter here because you knit until your pieces are a certain length.

I wouldn’t stress if you only have size 4mm needles instead of 3.75 either – it may actually be easier to get gauge with those & exact sizing isn’t vital for a Santa suit.

Santa Baby Hooded Sweater (3 months – 2 years)

This adorable jacket knits up quickly in aran weight & will keep baby super snug.

You knit the bottom of the cardigan first as one wide piece up to the armhole. Then you split up your stitches and knit the rest of the back and 2 front pieces separately.

If you’ve never knit a hood before, don’t stress: it’s just a simple rectangle! You fold it in half at the end and join both sides with a 3 needle bind off. Here’s a good tutorial for that, but an alternative option would be to use your usual bind off and just seam the edges together instead.

This Santa jacket is knit with Red Heart Soft yarn, an easy care acrylic that you can machine wash and dry. Tip: Red Heart Super Saver is very similar with multiple reds to choose from. But most aran or heavy worsted yarns should work well for knitting the main sweater.

The trickier bit is finding furry white yarn for the trim. Unfortunately the Red Heart Buttercup yarn used in the pattern design is discontinued, but here’s a list of similar fluffy yarns.

Don’t be worried about matching the fluffy yarn gauge exactly. The original yarn was super bulky/chunky weight even though the cardigan is only aran weight. Fluffy teddy/snowflake yarns are quite versatile and work with a wide range of needle sizes.

So any fluffy yarn from worsted right up to super bulky should be fine here. I find Sirdar Snowflake Chunky easy to knit with and it works up nice and fluffy on needles big and small.

If you’re new to knitting with fluffy yarn and wondering how to get a proper furry effect, it’s simple – just knit every stitch and watch it fluff up before your eyes! Now, admittedly finding each stitch and knitting it can seem a little awkward at first, but just keep going and it will all work out. 🙂

Santa’s Baby Elf (3 months – 1 year old)

How cute will your perfect pixie look in this?

It also knits up quickly in Red Heart Soft worsted weight yarn or you could use Red Heart Super Saver for more colour choice. But any worsted or aran yarn should work.

You knit this cardigan on straight needles as 5 separate rectangles with slight shaping (back, 2 front pieces & 2 sleeves). Then you add the garter stitch neckband and button band edging in a contrast colour.

Heads up: the hat pattern is knit in the round. But you could easily modify the hat pattern to knit it on straight needles as follows:

1. Cast on 2 more stitches as a seam allowance
2. For the garter stitch edge, knit both the right and wrong side rows.
3. For the rest, knit the right side rows and purl the wrong side ones to do stockinette.
4. Seam up the back of the hat at the end with mattress stitch for a neat finish.

Tip: an easier option is just to knit the hat from the baby Santa suit pattern above instead! That’s designed to be knit flat with straight needles.

Another possible problem is the cute polka dots are crochet circles. If you can’t crochet, don’t worry! You can easily knit little circles instead using this free easy pattern from ODDknits.

Or, just leave out the polka dot circles if you’re short on time – your little elf will still look super cute!

Lulsley Christmas Vest (3 months – 5 years approx)

Aww this little Lulsley vest is simply adorable!

Designed by UK knitter Deb AKA Dizzy Tyke, you can make this easy knit vest with any standard DK yarn.

You knit the front and back as separate pieces, then join the right shoulder seam and knit the neckband before joining the other shoulder seam. Finally, you pick up stitches around each arm to add matching white rib armbands, before seaming down the sides.

If you’ve never tried knitting intarsia before, this makes a nice first project as there’s just simple colour blocks for the belt, buckle and white vertical stripe. Stitch on 3 black buttons for the perfect finishing touch – super cute!

Download this free PDF pattern from either Deb’s website or Ravelry below:

Gumdrop Jumper (18 months-6 years)

This gorgeous gingerbread man sweater looks good enough to eat – I especially love his little dickie bow!

This jumper is a simple boxy shape with drop sleeves, knit in 4 pieces. Twisted rib elevates the edges, but you could just use standard 1×1 rib if you’re short on time.

There’s a 58 row chart for the gingerbread man, but it’s suitable for intarsia beginners as it’s mainly just one colour, apart from small bits of white icing at the limbs.

You embroider the face and buttons at the end which keeps the motif simple. There’s no placement instructions for that, but you have the pattern photo as a reference. Finally you knit a tiny scrap for the 3D bow tie and sew it on – super cute!

Designed for UK online store Wool Warehouse’s own Yarnsmiths brand, it uses their affordable Create DK acrylic which comes in a whopping 120 shades. There’s even a few glitter shades if you want to make it extra Christmassy.

But you can knit this cute top with any standard DK yarn that knits to 22×28 gauge on 4mm needles.

Tis the Season Sweater (2-10 years)

Your little one will get plenty of wear out of this sweet sweater – it’s not just for Christmas! 🙂

Designed by Claire Montgomerie for Dutch yarn brand Scheepjes, the samples in Christmas red & green look lovely & festive. But it would look cute in any colour.

Plus it knits up quickly for colour work in worsted/aran weight yarn. The pattern uses Scheepjes Eliza yarn, but since the ball band gauge is 18 stitches and 20 rows on 5mm needles, standard aran yarn (18×24 gauge) and many worsted yarns should work well here.

What’s really clever is that the check pattern is done with slip stitches. That means that you get a cool colour work pattern with no colour changes within the same row! You just knit the whole row with 1 colour and the pattern appears like magic!

It’s an 8 row pattern repeat, but half the rows are standard knit and purl, and the others just involve slipping some stitches. So once you get the hang of it, it’s much quicker than stranded colour work, and makes this quite an easy knit.

Find this pattern on page 10 of issue 10 of Scheepjes Pretty Little Things which also has several more free festive makes!

Snowman & Polar Bear Sweaters (1-5 years)

Wrap them up warm in an adorable intarsia sweater complete with tie on scarf – awww!

Knit Pedro the Polar Bear or Norman the Snowman – both patterns are similar, so why not make both? 🙂

The sweaters have a simple shape with drop sleeves and 2×2 ribbing.

The fancy scarf effect is easier than it looks: you just knit 2 skinny bits of garter stitch and sew them on at the end & tie them loosely.

You follow a 60-70 row intarsia chart for the motif, but that’s mainly white.

The snowman chart includes the eyes & mouth, and marks where you need to attach the nose and buttons at the end which is handy.

You knit the nose as a separate small piece of stockinette and seam it to make a carrot shape.

These free PDF patterns from UK brand Cygnet use some discontinued yarns, but you can easily substitute with Cygnet DK (60+ shades) or indeed use any standard DK yarn. The bear and snowman characters are knit with Cygnet Glittery DK for a fancy festive look, which is still available in white (shade 118 icicle).

4 Family Christmas Jumpers (10 Sizes, 5 Years-Adult)

Knit cute Christmas sweaters for all the family with these free patterns for straight needles from renowned designer Sarah Hatton for Patons UK.

There’s lot of different techniques for intermediate knitters to enjoy here. The main sweater motifs are knit using intarsia, 2 of the adult jumpers have stranded colour work borders at the bottom and there’s 3d elements like Santa’s loop stitch beard and attaching ears, noses, buttons & baubles – oh my!

Choose from 4 charted designs: Santa, snowman, reindeer and a Christmas tree. Whether everyone wants to wear matching sweaters or choose their own theme, these patterns are all you need.

There’s also 4 neckband options included: 1×1 and 2×2 rib crew necks & polo necks.

Designed for Paton’s good value Fab DK acrylic yarn, you can use any standard DK yarn that knits to 22 stitch gauge on 4mm needles here.

Originally released for a 2013 charity campaign, you now need a free Ravelry account to download this free pattern. If you’re not a member you’re missing out – it’s the world’s biggest knitting pattern database & so much more!

Festive Family Baubles Sweater (10 Sizes, 5 Years-Adult)

For a more subtle take on matching Christmas sweaters, this free pattern for straight needles is a fun festive knit.

From UK yarn brand Cygnet, it’s a fairly easy knit, with a narrow 10 row fair isle strip with decorative bobbles across the chest and sleeves which looks really effective.

The back and front are identical and just simple rib and stocking stitch up to the colour work. Then there’s an interesting textured stitch pattern up to the neck which looks fancy but is just a simple 4 row repeat of knit and purl stitches.

The neckband is just 20 rows of 1×1 rib, which you can leave as is for a deep funnel neck, or turn down and stitch inside for a classic crew neck.

The pattern is designed for Cygnet DK, an affordable acrylic yarn that comes in over 60 shades, but you can use any yarn that knits to standard DK tension (22 stitches and 28 rows approx).

Snow Day & Tree Sweaters (34-62 inch chest)

These fun modern sweater knitting patterns from Lion Brand are full of festive cheer.

They both use the same basic 4 piece unisex sweater template – a straight back and front with minimal shaping, and drop sleeves.

Now the instructions say you need a circular needle to knit them, but that’s only because the pattern is size inclusive.

You only actually need a circular needle to fit all the stitches if you’re knitting the largest sizes. But these sweaters are still knit flat with each piece knit back and forth in rows, not in the round – don’t worry!

See my video demo for how to use a circular needle to knit back and forth instead of straights – it’s not scary at all I promise!

The only part of the pattern that’s knit in the round is the neckband right at the end, but it’s easy to knit this with straight needles instead – see my step by step guide.

Lion Brand say these patterns are an easy skill level, but if you’ve never knit intarsia before, there’s a bit going on here!

The tree pattern is the easier to tackle, because there’s just 1 simple tree motif chart to follow. Each tree is 13 stitches wide and 28 rows tall.

You make bobbles separately for the top of each tree at the end, knitting 8 rows for each and then sew them all on.

The snow day pattern has a main chart for the snowman, which is 35 stitches wide and 84 rows tall.

There’s separate small charts for the snowflakes but these are actually embroidered on with duplicate stitch at the end, rather than knit as part of the front. There’s no specific placement instructions for the snowflakes, but you can follow the photo or add them wherever you like.

You also embroider the stick arms at the end, but that’s just a few straight stitches. The face and buttons are all part of the intarsia chart, so no extra work needed – yay!

For the finishing touch, knit an 8 row bobble for the snowman’s hat (same instructions as the tree baubles).

These sweaters are designed for Lion Brand’s Basic Stitch Anti-Pilling yarn, so it should wash and wear well after all your hard work. This affordable acrylic worsted weight yarn comes in 46 shades, and since it knits to an 18 stitch gauge on 5mm needles, any standard aran & many worsted yarns should work well here.

You need a Lion Brand account to download these patterns, but it’s free to sign up, you don’t have to join their mailing list & you can download oodles more free patterns too.

Flurry Jumper (32-46 inch chest)

Knit a Scandi style sweater on straight needles with this free unisex pattern from Wool Warehouse’s Yarnsmiths brand (pattern number 7050).

You’ll get plenty of wear from this timeless snowflake design, plus it knits up fast with chunky yarn and needles. It’s mainly an easy knit in stockinette, with a simple relaxed shape with drop sleeves.

The contrast colour work on the front, back & sleeves keeps things interesting. It starts with an easy zig zag across the bottom, which is just 6 rows to knit. Then it’s all stockinette until after the armholes – yay!

The main snowflake band across the chest is an 18 stitch repeat. The snowflake takes just 13 rows to knit, and there’s the now familiar zig zag stripes above and below.

You knit the very same snowflake band chart near the bottom of each sleeve, or you could of course keep things simple with plain sleeves instead.

The pattern uses Yarnsmiths Create Chunky acrylic, a budget friendly yarn that comes in 30 colours. It’s not as easy to substitute chunky yarns as they vary more. But this has a reasonably common gauge of 14 stitches and 20 rows with 6mm needles, and there’s lots of similar yarns listed on YarnSub.

Noelle Sweater (30-44 inch chest)

If you’re feeling a little more adventurous, Yarnsmiths also have this free festive fairisle sweater pattern with modern scandi vibes.

The boxy shape with drop sleeves keeps things simple, and most of this sweater is stockinette.

You knit the 52 row stranded chart for the front only and you’re only using 1 accent colour per row, so the colour work doesn’t get too crazy!

I love the cute colour work border on the sleeves echoing the front panel. There’s only a sweet 16 row chart for that & it makes this sweater extra special.

Designed for Create DK, affordable acrylic which comes in a whopping 120 shades, you can knit this with any standard DK yarn.

Sleigh Ride Sweater (32-42 inch chest)

If you like stranded knitting, you’ll love this free unisex sweater pattern for straight needles from LoveCraft’s Paintbox Yarns brand.

The Christmas tree check pattern looks uber cool and it’s not that complicated either. It’s an 8 stitch pattern repeat, and each Christmas tree is only 6 rows high. So once you get into the rhythm, you’ll soon knit a whole forest!

Plus the Christmas tree colour work is only on the front, so there’s lots of lovely mindless stockinette knitting here too.

I love the matching contrast colour rib edges. It’s so easy to do: just do the first row of rib in the contrast colour and then switch to the main colour – genius! It really elevates the look.

PS you don’t have to knit this in classic Christmas tree green: the pattern also includes photos for a navy with pale grey trees combo, which gives a whole new look.

This design uses Paintbox Yarns Wool Mix Aran which comes in nearly 50 shades and knits to standard aran gauge, so you could also substitute with any standard aran or many worsted weight yarns.

You’ll need a free LoveCrafts account to download this free pattern. There’s lots more lovely free patterns on the site too, as well as all things yarn.

3 Christmas Motif Jumpers (32-42 inch chest)

Another fab free pattern from LoveCrafts is this Christmas jumper with 3 motif charts included – a Christmas tree, reindeer or yummy pudding.

It’s also handy as a vanilla raglan sleeve sweater pattern that you can easily modify with stripes or other intarsia charts – this pattern is forever, not just for Christmas. 🙂

The intarsia charts are nice and big and they all fit within 35 stitches and 42 rows. This is fun festive knitting that won’t take forever thanks to chunky yarn and needles.

This pattern uses Paintbox Yarns Simply Chunky acrylic yarn which comes in over 50 shades and won’t break the bank. You could also use any other chunky/bulky yarn with a similar gauge to 14×20 on 6mm needles. Here’s a list of similar yarns according to YarnSub.

You just need a free LoveCrafts account to download this free pattern (& many more!):