Knitting a Christmas Stocking

A Christmas stocking adds joy to your home during the Christmas season. Instead of purchasing your Christmas stockings, how about knitting your Christmas stockings and decorating them with felt and ornaments? The great thing about knitting a stocking is that you can use different colors and stitch a design right into the stocking. You can get free templates online at sites like Momsbudget.com and Knittingpatterncentral.com.

A hand knitted Christmas stocking can double as a Christmas present. Unlike buying a stocking, knitting your own Christmas stocking is a simple way to make some memories with your kids and it also gives you a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when you are finished.

If you are planning on giving the Christmas stockings as gifts, consider adding the legend of the Christmas stocking to it. If you aren’t familiar with it, here is a simple synopsis of why we have Christmas stockings. The Christmas stocking was introduced in America in the 16th century by the Dutch and it has been celebrated since then as one of the most significant parts of the holiday season. Legend has it that the people would wash their stockings and they would hang them by the fire to dry. Saint Nicholas heard of a particular family that needed help and he took 3 bags of gold and threw them down the chimney and they landed in the stocking. To make a fun gift, knit the stocking and then place a gold nugget in the stocking along with the story of the Christmas stocking.

Why else should you knit a Christmas stocking? Besides being a great gift, knitting a Christmas stocking is also a great way to relieve stress. We all know how stressful the holidays can be and knitting a stocking is an easy way to get rid of some stress. Here is an interesting fact: several psychological studies have found that individuals who sew on a regular basis actually have lower stress levels, leading to longer life spans and healthier hearts.

Here is a simple pattern to follow if you want to get started with your knitted Christmas stocking:

• Purchase 2-3 different colors of yarn. This way you can create patterns or you can make a simple two-toned stocking color. You will need about 100-200 yards of yarn.
• You will need two 10.5 circular needles and a several yarn needles
• Scissors

This will make a miniature stocking. Start with about 35 stitches in different colors. This will be the stocking leg. You will want to stitch for about 6-9 inches to make the complete leg of the stocking. To make the heel of the stocking, knit for about 16 stitches in the same color and you want to make about 16 rows of stitches. Once you have made the heel, use the main color of the stocking to attach it to the body of the stocking. Use about 8-16 stitches to make the heal hook on to the stocking leg. Knit a toe that matches the heel of the stocking. The toe will need about 15-30 stitches and about 8 stitches to attach it to the body of the stocking. The foot of the stocking should be about 6 inches from the toe to the heel. If you are talented, try to stitch the name of the person into the top or middle of the stocking. Now you need to stitch a loop at the top of the stocking so you can hang it from the mantle. Since it is a knitted stocking, you need to be careful as to how heavy the stocking stuffers are because it can break through the yarn.