The children are nestled all snug in their beds, the sugar plums are dancing, the hand-knit stockings are hung by the chimney with care, and congratulations, you’ve created a beautiful Christmas tradition without a whole lot of stress and fuss. Our Knit Before Christmas Stocking contains all the love that goes into the making without taking the twelve days of Christmas to do it!
But a swift knit isn’t any less special, especially considering this stocking’s considerable charms, starting with its festive scale. Using just two skeins of our Gentle Giant, big stitches work up into a big stocking with a right jolly old spirit. Its splashes of bright color, how they twinkle, its toes how merry, its heels like roses, its hanging loop like a cherry!
Even if you sleep right through St. Nick’s visit, you never do forget a hand-knit Christmas stocking. It’s what sugar-plum dreams are made of!
Designed for Purl Soho by Jake Canton.
Materials
- Main Color (MC): 1 skein of Purl Soho’s Gentle Giant, 100% merino wool
- Contrast Color (CC): 1 skein of Gentle Giant
- US 17, 16-inch circular needles
- A set of US 17 double pointed needles
- A size P crochet hook
- A jumbo stitch marker or scrap yarn
We knit up samples in 3 color combinations…
Main Color: White Peppercorn + Contrast Color: Super Pink
Main Color: Heirloom White + Contrast Color: Rose Violet
Main Color: Heirloom White + Contrast Color: Orange Koi
Gauge
8 stitches and 11 rounds = 4 inches in stockinette stitch
Size
- Finished Circumference: 13¼ inches
- Finished Length From Top Of Heel To Top Of Leg (rolled): 10 inches
- Finished Length From Top Of Heel To Tip Of Toe: 10½ inches
Note
Short-Row Shaping: Wrap + Turn (wrp-t)
- On the right side: Keeping yarn in back, slip next stitch purlwise from left needle to right needle. Bring yarn to front. Return slipped stitch to left needle. Bring yarn to back. Turn work so wrong side is facing you.
- On the wrong side: Keeping yarn in front, slip next stitch purlwise from left needle to right needle. Bring yarn to back. Return slipped stitch to left needle. Bring yarn to front. Turn work so right side is facing you.
For a step-by-step video and photo tutorial of how to work this technique, please visit our Short Row tutorial.
Pattern
Cuff
With Contrast Color (CC), loosely cast 24 stitches onto circular needles, leaving an 36-inch tail to use later for the Hanging Loop.
Place a marker and join for working in the round, being careful to not twist the stitches.
Knit every round until piece measure 4 inches from cast-on edge, unrolled.
Cut CC.
Leg
With Main Color (MC), knit every round until piece measures 11½ inches from cast-on edge, unrolled.
Cut MC.
Heel
Short Row 1 (right side): With CC, k4, wrap and turn (wrp-t, see Note).
Short Row 2 (wrong side): P8, wrp-t.
Short Row 3: K7, wrp-t.
Short Row 4: P6, wrp-t.
Short Row 5: K5, wrp-t.
Short Row 6: P4, wrp-t.
Short Row 7: K3, wrp-t.
Short Row 8: P2, wrp-t.
Short Row 9: K2, [knit wrap together with next stitch] 4 times, wrp-t.
Short Row 10: P6, [purl wrap together with next stitch] 4 times, wrp-t.
Short Row 11: K5.
Cut CC.
Foot
Set-Up Round: With right side still facing you and using MC, k5, knit wrap together with next stitch, knit to last 6 stitches of round, knit wrap together with next stitch, knit to end of round.
Knit every round until piece measures 5 inches from Foot Set-Up Round.
Cut MC.
Toe
Rounds 1 and 2: With CC, knit to end of round.
Distribute stitches evenly over 4 double pointed needles. [6 stitches on each needle]
Round 3: For Needle A, knit to last 2 stitches, k2tog; for Needle B, ssk, knit to end of needle; for Needle C, knit to last 2 stitches, k2tog; for Needle D, ssk, knit to end of round. [4 stitches decreased]
Repeat Round 3 until 8 stitches remain. [2 stitches on each needle]
Next Round: For Needle A, k2tog; for Needle B, ssk; for Needle C, k2tog; for Needle D, ssk. [4 stitches]
Cut CC, leaving an 8-inch tail.
Thread tail onto tapestry needle and thread needle through remaining 4 stitches. Pull tight and bring tail to inside of stocking and weave it in.
Hanging Loop
With wrong side facing you, use crochet hook to bring cast-on tail to wrong side of piece 6 rounds below cast-on edge, through first column in the round.
Insert crochet hook into stitch below where cast-on tail exits and draw tail through to create a loop on the crochet hook.
Chain 10.
Insert crochet hook from back to front into first chain stitch and pull tail through to secure Hanging Loop to itself.
Weave in ends and lightly steam, if desired!
PRINT
please mail all the materials to me.
Hi Marina,
Thanks for writing in! All of the materials for these lovely stocking can be purchased on our site and mailed to you! Just click on the links in the materials section above and add the items to your basket! You will soon be on your way to making some lovely heirlooms for the holiday!
Best,
Cassy
Can I get 2 stockings out of 3 skeins using the same contrast on both socks?
Hi Susie,
Great question! For these lovely stockings, we used all of the skein of the main color and about 80% of the contrast skein. With that in mind, you would need 1 skein of the main color and 1 skein of the contrast for each stocking!
Best,
Cassy
Can you tell me how many yards of the main color of Gentle Giant are needed to make one stocking? Is the entire skein?
Hi Gayle,
Great question! You will be using the whole of the main color skein or 48 yards of Gentle Giant to make this lovely stocking!
Best,
Cassy
I love the cristmas sock ,what is the sice of needles in mm?
Marijke
Hi Marijke,
Thanks for reaching out! The US 17 needles that we used here are 12mm needles! We do have a handy chart for needle conversion that can be found here: https://www.purlsoho.com/create/2017/02/01/knitting-needles-conversion-chart/
Happy knitting!
Cassy
Adorable, simple pattern. As a beginner a few years ago, struggling to knit several stockings with cute Christmas designs, requiring many many changes of yarn (!!) I am delighted to see this simpler version. Quick question: What are the dimensions of the finished stocking? Thank you! Margaret
Hi Margaret,
Thanks for writing in and for your kind words! The measurements for these lovely stocking can be found above under the Size heading! I am also happy to include them here for you as well!
Finished Circumference: 13¼ inches
Finished Length From Top Of Heel To Top Of Leg (rolled): 10 inches
Finished Length From Top Of Heel To Tip Of Toe: 10½ inches
Best,
Cassy
Love this pattern so much! I’m a bit confused by this instruction: [knit wrap together with next stitch]
Am I picking up a wrapped stitch then knitting it together with the current stitch?
Thanks!
Hi Stephanie,
Thanks so much for the kind words and for writing in! When you are working this part of the heel, the next stitch will be a stitch that you worked a wrap and turn on previously, and you will knit the stitch together with its wrap. You can see this demonstrated in our Short Rows tutorial in the sections titled Picking up The Wrapped Stitch on the Knit Side and Picking up the Wrapped Stitch on the Purl Side.
I hope that helps!
Julianna
Perfect, thanks! Made it last night!
I would love to make these in an ornament size. Do you have the pattern scaled down, by chance?
Hi Rise,
Great question and great idea! While we do not have a scaled down version, you could follow the exact pattern while using smaller yarn and smaller needles to get a smaller version. For instance, if you used a fingering weight yarn with US 2 or 3 needles and got a gauge of 8 stitches per inch, the circumference would be 3 inches rather than the 13 1/4 inches that we got here! You could then make the leg length between 2 and 3 inches depending your preference and the foot length around an inch before making the toe.
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
This is sort of a follow up to Margaret’s question. I see the dimensions but the picture makes it seem that these are small stockings. Could you post a picture of next to something of a common size (like a ruler or pencil or 16in knitting needles)? Maybe then I could really grasp how big or small they are. Thanks!
Hi Pennie,
Thanks for reaching out! I am afraid that we do not have an image like the one that you requested. However, these stockings are quite generous in size! If it helps, the picture of the stocking under the heading “Hanging Loop” is right next to a crochet hook that is 6 inches long! Additionally, the clementine at the top of the pink stocking is right around 2 inches wide!
I hope that this helps!
Cassy
After I work the heel and the set up round for the foot, I don’t have the original number of stitches. But when I work the toe I should. What have I missed?
Hi D,
Thanks for reaching out! You should always have the same number of stitches on your needle throughout the heel turn and when you are finished with the heel. Is it possible that you are accidentally knitting two stitches together instead of knitting a stitch together with its wrap when resolving the wrap and turns? You can see this demonstrated in our Short Rows tutorial in the sections titled Picking up The Wrapped Stitch on the Knit Side and Picking up the Wrapped Stitch on the Purl Side.
I hope that helps!
Julianna
Hi Purl Soho,
I’ve knitted many of your patterns, but I’m new to socks and am totally mystified by the last two short rows. You indicate for row 9: K2, [knit wrap together with next stitch] 4 times, wrp-t. How do I pick up four wraps if I’m only knitting four stitches? Or am I reading the directions wrong? Ditto for short row 10. Could you explain a little further for beginner (but very enthusiastic) knitter? Many thanks,
Jenny
Hi Jenny,
Thanks for reaching out! When you are working this part of the heel, the next stitch will be a stitch that you worked a wrap and turn on previously, and you will knit the stitch together with its wrap, and then repeat that step for each of the next 3 stitches. You can see this demonstrated in our Short Rows tutorial in the sections titled Picking up The Wrapped Stitch on the Knit Side and Picking up the Wrapped Stitch on the Purl Side.
I hope that clears things up!
Julianna
Good Morning!
Wondering if you can increase the length of the stocking to make it larger? so perhaps the overall size is more like 15″.
I suspect i would need one more skein of the main color to do that…or perhaps half?
Thanks!
Hello Wendy,
This is a great question! This should be easy to do, all you need to do is extend the leg by 5″. I suspect that this should only take half a skein, though you might need a bit more than half.
Let us know how it goes and happy knitting!
-Marilla
Hi! I just got everything to knit this but the 16” circular needle seems like a big problem, the 24 stitches do not reach point to point making knitting in the round difficult. Would it be better to just knit with DPN the whole time? Or use two circulars?
Hello Jenna,
Thank you for reaching out! Yes, I would reccomend using DPNs or two circular needles, whichever you feel more comfortable with.
I hope this helps and happy knitting!
-Marilla
I just started this, but I’m doing magic loop with a single, much longer circular needle and it seems to be working so far!
Hello! I have started to make this stocking, but wanted it a little bigger so have cast on 32 stitches. I’d be grateful to know what adjustments should I make to the heel and toe? I’m a beginner, so a general formula would be very helpful!
Many thanks in advance!
Hello Kim,
Thank you for reaching out! Unfortunately there isn’t a simple formula to redesign this pattern, but you can certainly do it! For the heal I would reccomend adding may be 6 stitches, from your added 10, into the wrap and turn portion. This means that you you will have additional rows added. The first four stitches would look like this;
-Short Row 1 (right side): With CC, k7, wrap and turn (wrp-t, see Note).
-Short Row 2 (wrong side): P11, wrp-t
-Short Row 3: K10, wrp-t.
-Short Row 4: P9, wrp-t
You will continue in this way until you are down to K2 and P2.
The Toe portion will be much more straightforward. You can just repeat the decrease portion until you have 4 stitches remain.
This is all an estimate and There might be a bit of trial and error as you go, I hope this sets you up to move forward and let us know if you have any further questions!
Happy knitting!
-Marilla
Can this pattern be knitted using the magic loop method?
Hi Sandra,
Thanks for writing in! Yes, definitely! Although we don’t have instructions for adapting this pattern to the magic loop method, if you are already familiar with it, it should be quite straightforward.
Happy knitting!
Julianna