Anthro Inspired Christmas stockings

Sissy and I love, love, love shopping at Anthropologie. Er, I should say window shopping at Anthropologie because we rarely walk out of there with anything.

Except their Volcano candle. I heart that scent. It's just about the only candle scent I will burn. Go to Anthropologie and take a big breath. You'll see what I mean. So occasionally I walk out with a Volcano candle. And maybe a pillow or a comforter. But only if they're on sale and pretty.

But I digress. 

This past Christmas season found us once again wandering around that store, oohing and aahing over their holiday decorations and ornaments. One of the things I contemplated buying were some handknit Christmas stockings. But at $50, they were a wee bit out of the range I was willing to spend. Especially when I knew I could make them.

My knitting instructor had a pattern for a basic Christmas stocking that I started with and changed around to get just what I wanted. In the photo, K got the blue/green stocking and J requested the camouflage stocking. I made the Man's in black and red, at his request, but I also added a few green stripes, as well. Sorry, his wasn't finished when I took this photo. And I haven't made mine yet, but I will.

It's going to be huge.

Knitted Christmas Stockings, inspired by Anthropologie

Cast on 51 stitches and divide evenly on 3 double pointed needles, 17 stitches each needle. I used size 10 needles but if you want smaller stockings, you could drop to 8 or 9.

Using main accent color (for the top of stocking, heel, and toe):

Row 1: K1 round.

Row 2: P1 round

Row 3: K1 round.

Row 4: P1 round.

Knit or purl remaining rounds, changing colors and stitches as you wish. Some yarn I chose to knit the entire stripe; some I chose to knit 5-6 rows, purl a couple rows, knit a couple rows; some I chose to purl entirely. I even threw in a ribbed section but that pulled the stocking in too much. 

(Don’t get hung up on following a precise design. That’s why I love doing these stockings. The stripes aren’t even, the stitches aren’t symmetrical or uniform, and they look perfectly handmade.)

Knit until stocking is the length you desire. Mine vary between 15-18”. It really depends on how much you want to stuff into these stockings!

Heel flap:

Knit stitches on needle 1 and needle 2. (I place a stitch marker in the middle of needle 1 so I can remember which needle is which number. That’s just me.)

Knit 5 stitches from needle 3 and place on a stitch holder. DO NOT BREAK YARN! You’ll need this to do the instep.

Change to your main accent color (the color you used at the top of the stocking) and knit remaining 12 stitches from needle 3.

Knit 12 stitches from needle 1 onto needle 3 and place remaining 5 stitches on a stitch holder. 

Turn and P24. These form the heel flap.

Work heel flap as follows:

Row 1: Sl 1 purlwise, K23.

Row 2: Sl 1 purlwise, P23.

Repeat these rows eight more times for a total of 20 rows (10 stitches on each edge of heel flap).

Turn heel:

Row 1: K14, SSK, K1, turn.

Row 2: Sl 1 purlwise, P5, P2tog, P1, turn.

Row 3: Sl 1 purlwise, K to within 1 stitch of gap, SSK, K1, turn.

Row 4: Sl 1 purlwise, P to within 1 stitch of gap, P2tog, P1, turn.

Repeat rows 3&4 until all heel stitches are worked, ending last repeat of row 3 with SSK and last repeat of row 4 with P2tog. Heel stitches = 14.

Heel gusset (directions for left handed knitters in parentheses):

Still working in main accent color

Place 5 stitches from right (left) holder onto needle with instep stitches; using a new needle, pick up and K1 stitch in each stitch along right (left) side of heel - 10 stitches. K7 stitches from heel onto same needle as right (left) side of heel (needle 3 has 17 stitches). K next 7 stitches onto a new needle and pick up and K 1 stitch in each stitch along left side of heel (needle 1 has 17 stitches), place 5 stitches from left (right) side of heel onto needles with instep stitches, K instep stitches (needle 2 has 27 stitches).

Round 1: beginning with needle 3, K1, SSK, work to end of needle, K to last 3 stitches on needle 1, K2tog, K1, knit to end of needle 2.

Round 2: K around.

Repeat these 2 rounds until there are 49 stitches total.

Foot:

Redistribute stitches as follows:

needle 1 = 16 stitches

needle 2 = 17 stitches

needle 3 = 16 stitches

Knit around, changing colors and purling if desired, until foot measures 6-7” from end of heel gusset. End having knit needle 3.

Change to main accent color.

1st decrease round: *K5, K2tog, repeat from *.

Knit 5 rounds.

2nd decrease round: *K4, K2tog, repeat from *.

Knit 4 rounds

3rd decrease round : *K3, K2tog, repeat from *.

Knit 3 rounds.

4th decrease round: *K2, K2tog, repeat from *.

Knit 2 rounds.

5th decrease round: *K1, K2tog, repeat from *.

Knit 1 round.

6th decrease round: *K2tog, repeat from *.

7 stitches remain. Break yarn, thread tail through remaining stitches twice, pull tight and fasten off. Weave in all ends.

You can make an I-cord for the hanger and attach various size pom-poms to make it look extra cute.