Gingerbread House 4, Candy Canes This pattern is for a pair of candy canes to stand on either side of the front porch of the Gingerbread House. They give a traditional feel to the front of the house.
The canes are shaped with pipe
cleaners and are quick and easy to knit.
You will need some red and cream DK weight yarn, 3.25 mm /US size 3 needles and two 15 cm / 6" pipe cleaners or one 12". I used Stylecraft Special DK (295 m /100 g) in Lipstick and Cream.
Using the long tail method and red yarn, cast on 30 stitches.
Row 1: Purl.
Change to cream yarn.
Row 2: Knit. Row 3: Purl.
Cast off, leaving a long tail. Darn in the other ends.
Wrap the knitting round the pipe cleaner with the knit side facing out and oversew the cast on and cast off edges together using small stitches.
Twist the knitting tightly round the pipe cleaner so that you get a spiral effect. Trim the ends of the pipe cleaner and darn in the yarn tail.
Now curve one end of the piece to make a cane shape; it should be about 8.5 cm / 3¼" tall. Make another cane to match the first one.
Sewing the Canes to the House
Pin the canes in place on either side of the porch as shown in the picture on the next page. The bottoms should touch the side of the porch less than 1 cm / ¼" up from the bottom of the wall. This will allow space for the snowdrift later. The canes should be angled outwards, nearly to the house corners and the two canes should match each other. They can be shaped to make them fit by bending the pipe cleaners.
Using ginger thread, sew the candy canes to the wall. With one hand inside the house and one outside, sew along each cane working right through the wall to the inside. If you take small stitches on the top and pull the thread quite tightly the stitches will be hidden inside the knitting.
My patterns are for personal use only and should not be used to knit items for sale. Please do not use them for teaching purposes without my permission.
