Knit Hamantaschen

Purim is a holiday of celebration. Esther, the heroine of the Purim story, saved the Jews from Haman, the villain, who wanted to kill all of the Jews in the Persian Empire. There are many ways to celebrate Purim, including retelling the holiday story by reading from the Book of Esther, giving food gifts (mishloach manot) to friends, giving gifts to the poor, and sharing a festive meal. As with many holidays, there are traditional foods to make and enjoy. We turn the painful memory into sweetness by making and sharing hamantaschen, a filled cookie. I love trying different savory and sweet flavors when I make these cookies each year, and I enjoy sharing flavor ideas with family and friends in my community. KNIT HAMANTASCHEN is a fun way to experiment with making a knit version of this cultural treat! Constructed just like the hamantaschen you make in your kitchen, you’ll enjoy experimenting with colorful filling and practicing your folding technique with these knit cuties. One skein of worsted weight yarn is enough to make about a dozen cookies, and filling can be made with scraps of leftover colors. Make bigger or smaller cookies by adjusting yarn weight and needle size. Let your imagination run wild! This is a written pattern that includes photo and video tutorials for assembly.

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Samples shown in beige worsted weight wool blend for the cookie and miscellaneous colored fingering weight scrap yarn held double for the filling. Worsted weight scraps may be used for filling. Small filling requires 3-6 g of yarn and large filling requires approximately 6-8 g of yarn. Each cookie requires approximately 8-9 g of yarn.

YARN – MAIN COLOR
Berroco Vintage, 52% Acrylic, 40% Wool, 8% nylon, 219 yd / 199 m per 100 g or similar worsted weight yarn. Sample shown in colorway 5102 Buttercream. 1 skein is enough to make about a dozen cookies!

YARN – CONTRAST COLORS
Samples shown in fingering weight yarn leftovers held doubled. Sizes and textures noted.
Small smooth: light yellow (lemon)
Small textured: variegated black (poppy seed)
Small garter: red (cherry)
Large smooth: orange (apricot)
Large smooth: pink (raspberry)

SIZE
Circles: approximately 5” / 13 cm diameter
Finished triangle sides are approximately 4” / 10 cm each, and height is just below 2” / 5 cm. Finished dimensions may vary due to stuffing and sewing.

GAUGE & NEEDLES
20 stitches & 28 rounds = 4” / 10 cm in stockinette in the round
Gauge is not critical; aim for a fabric that is firm but foldable.
US 5 / 3.75 mm circular needle, 32” / 80 cm or longer for magic loop, or double-pointed needles or size needed to get gauge

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS
Fiberfill stuffing or yarn scraps

TECHNIQUES
Knit in the round with small diameter, increases and decreases, seaming

PATTERN ATTRIBUTES
This is a written pattern that includes photo and video tutorials for assembly.

EXPLORE ON INSTAGRAM
#KnitHamantaschen

Tech editing: Bronwyn Hahn
Test knitting: Cori B. & Leslie C-R.