Christmas Stocking Knitting Patterns

I’m not quite ready to think about Christmas knitting, but if you want to make stockings it’s a good time to start. Here are a few fun patterns to get you started thinking about fresh stockings for the holidays.

This knitting pattern collection of stranded knitting designs from Santa’s Sock Central reminds me of the stockings my grandma (and now my mom) knit for the kids in our family. There are lots of different options for making personalized stockings including snowflakes, santas, trees and more.

These cute striped stockings have an elf-like twist and a space for a name at the top. You can get the pattern from Fiddlestyx Studios.

Classic Santas and Fair Isle style motifs decorate these stockings from Annie’s Woolens. It’s worked in the round and uses charts so it’s perfect for intermediate knitters (as are most of these).

This Christmas stocking with a red truck carrying a Christmas tree is super cute for a country Christmas. The pattern is from Kathleens Keepsakes.

Jean Ann Designs has a great fisherman sweater-inspired stocking covered with cables. It’s worked in bulky yarn so it should be a pretty fast project, too.

Another great quick knit that’s even better for newer knitters is the Jumbo Christmas stocking from Prinku. It has options that are worked solid or in different stripe patterns depending on what yarn you have available or what style you prefer. And they are really big at 25 inches long for big drama on Christmas morning.

[Photos via Etsy.]

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns!

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil.

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn.

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point.

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up.

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.

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