Handmade Holidays Part 1 – Create Your Own Christmas Stocking

Knitting your own Christmas Stockings puts you in a happy place. Besides, look at the perks, they don’t really have to fit, there doesn’t have to be the dreaded “second sock syndrome”, you can make them with huge needles and yarn, and, if you knit them in the round, there’s practically no finishing.

There is some prep, however. Is it decoration? Is it to be useful? Will some “allergic to wool” little elf be sticking his paw inside to discover the contents?

Plan your stocking to suit you. Heirloom or modern. Plain stripes or color work. And what about the colors? Christmas doesn’t have to be all red, green and white. Knit with whatever colors you want. Brights, pastels, muted heathers, it’s your stocking, knit it the way you want it.

Choose from several types of tops. A common top would be a k1, p1 rib for however long you want it. The legs are basically an empty canvas. Fill them with anything from fair isle designs to snowflakes and santas. Go ethnic, or use cables or even lace. Even knit in your name, we wouldn’t want Santa getting all confused. Confused Santa’s are not a good thing, we like to keep them happy and on track.

For the heel, use a standard heel flap and you should be good to go. Think about a different color for the heel and toe. Shape the toe as you would the top of the mitten with decreases and a Kitchener stitch at the end. Now comes the fun part.

Sequins, bells, beads and bling, you name it, it has a place on your stocking. Have some fun fur yarn? Why not give Santa a real fur hat? Embroider fun things, use unique embellishments. It’s your stocking. Make it original, make it a work of art. Make it designer!

To finish it off, gently steam, knit up an icord for the loop and hang it by the fireplace. But, you’re still not done. Don’t forget the cookies and milk, it’s all about keeping Santa happy!

Next Pattern:

I can’t resist a pattern that’s both useful and a little silly, and that’s exactly how I feel about the Rybka pouch pattern from the delightfully named Rat and Sea Witch.

I know you’re going to ask, because I did, too. Rybka means little fish in Polish. (And because you’re also probably going to ask, Rat and Sea Witch comes from people’s attempts to say the designer’s name, Ratasiewicz, which if you say it fast kind of sounds like rat and sea witch.)

It’s easy to make a little fish bag in different sizes to suit your needs. The pattern has specific instructions for an Airpods Pro case and a pencil case, but you could change the length easily to hold more stuff, and change the size in general by working with a different weight of yarn.

The pattern calls for sock yarn and mohair held together to make a fingering weight gauge, but you could try it with heavier yarn and see what size bag you end up with.

Whatever size you make it, this looks like a fun project for holding trinkets or everyday items. The mouth of the fish is the mouth of the bag, and it closes with a drawstring that is also the strap. I wonder, too, if you could make one of these with a small clasp frame that could be the fish’s mouth and then you could just work I cord straps that would attach to the sides of the fish.

I could also see stripes, or fish of different colors to use up your yarn leftovers. How about a sunglasses case with a little loop to attach to your bag? Once you start thinking about all the ways you could use a fish-shaped bag in your life, I think you’ll see that you probably need more than one.

If you make one of these I would love to know how it went!

You can grab a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Rat and Sea Witch]

Next Pattern:

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