My granddaughter, Bonnie, loves sprouts and her Mum asked me if I could knit some as baubles to hang on the Christmas Tree. The sprout middle is knitted first then the leave are sewn around the bottom. It is an untrimmed sprout, and the natural curl of the stocking stitch makes the leaves look more real.

I ended up with two sizes. The larger one is stuffed with a 40mm polystyrene ball (you could use toy stuffing, I had bought the balls already) and is a makes a good sized bauble for the Christmas tree. I decorated them with googly eyes and little Santa hats, my husband also make some little glasses for some as Bonnie wears glasses.

The smaller sprout can be stuffed and used as a place setting but can also be used as a cover for a ball shaped chocolate such as Ferrero Roche or Lindor.

You use just scraps of yarn, I used a budget acrylic, 100g made a lot of sprouts!

They are a quick and easy knit, gauge is not important and the stitch count is simple, ideal TV knitting. perfect to decorate your own Christmas tree or to give as fun gifts.