Vintage Candy Cane Ornament Free Crochet Pattern

The Season is upon us! And I’m kicking it off with a couple of quick, satisfying projects. 

Each year I like to make small crocheted ornaments to give as gifts to friends. This is the first one I have made this year; a sweet and classic candy cane!

I love how these look in non-traditional colours, like pink and mint. As is my MO, this pattern incorporates the tapestry crochet technique and there is some colour changing involved, but they are not difficult and they work up very quickly!

Aside from all the colour possibilities, you can also customize these by crocheting around the outside in one solid colour or in alternating colours to get two very different looks.

I used Caron Simply Soft for these and I love the vintage feel this yarn lends to these ornaments. And, of course, you can always add a little face to make them super kawaii (must. add. cute. faces. to everything!) 

Let’s get started! (Or Pin/Shop for later!)

If you’d prefer a downloadable or printable version of this pattern, an inexpensive, formatted, and ad-free PDF can be purchased HERE or through the “Shop It” button above!

This ornament is worked flat as usual, and then joined together in the same style as my Ragdoll patterns. The pattern has just 2 separate pieces. 

Materials:

Stitches and Special Terms (US Terminology):

Ch – Chain

St – Stitch

Sc – Single crochet

Inc – Increase. Work 2 sc in the same st.

Dec – Decrease. Work a regular sc decrease.

Reading this Pattern:

There is some colour work involved in this pattern. 

Carry the yarn on the back of the panels by dropping the working yarn when you switch colours and picking it back up again when you need it in the next row. Always carry the yarn on the wrong side (instead of carrying it inside the stitch as you go); this ensures the front of the panel has clear lines and colours without any of the yarn carries showing through.

When switching to a new colour, insert your hook into the stitch for the last stitch of Colour A and pull up a loop, then, with Colour B, yarn over and complete the stitch by pulling through both loops with Colour B. Drop your working yarn in Colour A and continue with Colour B. You will pick your Colour A working yarn back up again when you need it.

Since the whole pattern is worked in sc stitches, I have omitted the usual “sc” in front of the stitch counts and used the associated colour letter instead. For example, “W2, R2” means to work the next 2 stitches in White and the next 2 stitches in Red, “Rinc” means to work a regular sc increase in Red, and so on.

Colour Legend:

W – White

R – Red

Panels (make 2 panels) with 3.25mm hook:

Each panel is worked in 2 separate pieces, which are then joined to complete one panel. The pieces are worked from the bottom up. Ch 1 and turn at the end of each row. 

Piece 1:

Row 1: In W ch 5, R1, W3 (4 sts)

Row 2: W2, R2 (4 sts)

Row 3: R3, W1 (4 sts)

Row 4: R3, W1 (4 sts)

Row 5: W2, R2 (4 sts)

Row 6: R1, W3 (4 sts)

Row 7: R1, W3 (4 sts)

Row 8: W2, R2 (4 sts)

Row 9: R3, W1 (4 sts)

Row 10: R3, W1 (4 sts)

Tie off.

Piece 2:

Row 1: In W ch 3, W2 (2 sts)

Row 2: Rinc, Winc (4 sts)

Row 3: W1, R3 (4 sts)

Tie off.

Joining:

Now you have two separate pieces, as seen above. Place them next to each other so that the longer piece is on the left and the shorter piece is on the right. The right sides of the panels should be facing you (as opposed to the wrong side with all the yarn ends). In this section, you will join the two pieces together to finish the panel. Join your yarn in the first stitch of the small piece and crochet across both pieces as per Row 1 below:

Row 1: R3, [W1, R1] in same st, W2, R2 (9 sts)

Row 2: R1, W3, R1, W2, Rdec (8 sts)

Row 3: W3, R2, W1, Wdec (7 sts)

Row 4: Rdec, R2, W1, Wdec (5 sts)

Tie off.

Repeat all of the above for the second panel. You will want to make sure your yarn carries are on the opposite side for the second panel as they were for the first so that they are inverses of each other. 

Move on to assembly below!

Assembly:

Step 1: Face

If you want to add a face to your candy cane, do it now! Stitch on eyes using black crochet thread, or insert safety eyes (6mm safety eyes would be best).

Step 2: Joining Panels

Time to join! Here’s what you’re working with (so many yarn tails! Don’t bother weaving them in; just stuff em’ inside as you go).

Place the two panels together, matching up all sides.

**If you added a face to yours, make sure it’s facing you as you crochet around the outside.**

You can start anywhere on the candy cane to start joining, but I started on the left side at the top. Begin attaching the panels together by chaining one and single crocheting around the outside of the panels in the main colour.

Depending on which look you’re going for, you might want to switch colours around the piece as the colours alternate on the panel instead of using one colour all the way around. 

Crochet down the side, being sure to (Sc, ch, sc) into the same stitch for each of the two bottom corners to give it a nice rectangular shape.

Continue crocheting up the side. Stuff your candy cane slightly if you wish. I didn’t stuff mine.

At the top, sew a hanging loop in place between the two panels, then continue crocheting across the top. I opted to use an ornament hook, which I attached afterward, so I skipped this step.

Slst to first st and tie off. Poke the yarn tails back inside the piece.

That’s it! Enjoy your vintage candy cane ornaments! The more you make, the quicker they will go and each one will be better than the last!

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