Frankie s Knittea Stutt
The third gingerbread decoration is a stocking. The embroidered version has big snowflakes on its cuff and tiny ones scattered over the rest of it; the iced stocking is decorated with tiny green stars and hearts. The stockings are about 9 cm / 31/2" tall. are knitted in ginger DK weight yarn on 3.25 mm needles. Tension: 13 stitches and 26 rows = 5 cm / 2"2, in garter stitch. You will need about 5g of ginger yarn for one stocking, 10g for both versions. If you are making the iced stocking you will also need about 3 - 4g of cream 4 ply. I used Sirdar Country Style DK (155 m / 50g), shade 611, Butterscotch for my stockings and Sirdar Country Style 4 ply (226m / 50g), shade 411, Cream for the icing.
The Embroidered Stocking
Using the long tail method cast on five stitches. Repeat this row until you have 11 stitches on your needle. Knit 10 rows. Now shape the heel. This is done with short rows / ridges. A ridge in garter stitch is two knitted rows. To begin with these short ridges are worked simply, without wrapping the following stitch. Ridge 1: Kf&b, K1, turn, sl 1 kwise, K2. Ridge 2: Kf&b, K3, turn, sl 1 kwise, K4. Ridge 3: Kf&b, K5, turn, sl 1 kwise, K6 (14 sts). Now wrap and turns will be used. These will be abbreviated as w&t in the pattern and are worked like this: Bring the yarn forward, slip the next stitch purlwise, take the yarn back again, replace the slipped stitch on the left hand needle, bring the yarn forward again and turn the work. Ridge 4: K8, w&t, K8. Ridge 5: K9, K2tog, w&t, K10. Ridge 6: K10, K2tog, w&t, K11 (12 sts). Knit 25 rows. Cast off. Darn in the yarn tails along the edges. Knit another stocking to match.
Embroidering the Stocking This is done with cream DK yarn. I used Sirdar Country Style DK, shade 411. First sew a straight horizontal line, three ridges down from the top of the stocking and starting and ending short of the side edges. Then add three vertical lines, evenly spaced along this line.
Now work crosses over these stitches to complete the three big snowflakes. Then sew tiny crosses randomly across the rest of the stocking to represent smaller snowflakes.
Remember to flip the other stocking over before starting to embroider it. If you don't, it'll lead to much unpicking and muttering under your breath - I'd done the row of big snowflakes before I realised my mistake. When you have embroidered both stockings correctly, sew them together. Hold them with the wrong sides facing and oversew all round the edge, stuffing lightly before closing the seam. Using cream yarn, sew right through the middle of the stocking a few times to pull it in. Then add two 10 mm / 1/2" cream buttons, one on each side.
The Iced Stocking
For this version you will need to knit two ginger stockings following the pattern above. Then knit two more, this time using cream 4 ply yarn and 2.25 mm / US size 1 needles. Tension: 16 stitches and 32 rows = 5 cm / 2"2 in garter stitch. Using cream thread, sew the cream stockings to the ginger ones, stretching them to fit evenly. Then sew the two stockings together and stuff them.
Use red yarn to pull the middle of the stocking tight and then add two 15 mm / %" red buttons. Finally, add three tiny green star buttons to the top of the stocking and three tiny hearts to the toe, sewing them on with green thread. My green stars and hearts came in a ‘Dress It Up' pack called ‘Christmas Garland'. You can crochet loops to hang your stockings from or wait until you have knitted all four gingerbread decorations and then string them together into a garland.
Abbreviations
st / sts stitch / stitches K knit kf&b knit into the front and back of the stitch K2tog knit two stitches together w&t wrap and turn (explained in the pattern) Frankie Brown, 2014. 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.
