How To Knit A Christmas Stocking

Give yourself a unique Christmas and knit a handmade decorations for your house, for example, Christmas stocking to hang it by the fireplace. You can also knit a set of lovely tiny socks for the interior.

Materials

Red yarn (150 m or 100 g, merino 50%, acryl 50%), white bi-fibre yarn (merino 35%, acryl 65%, 50 g/ 150 m), double pointed needles 4.5

Process Description

Begin knitting from the top. To prevent the yarn from stretching knit with two threads. Cast on 40 loops and spread them evenly to four needles. You get 10 loops on each needle. Assign numbers for the needles. Closing the circle knit four last loops of the needle number 1 with the end left from the loops of the needle number 4 to make the circle denser. Make sure that the casting row doesn't twist (otherwise you get a Moebius ring).

Rib a cuff 6 cm high (1x1). Then take the red yarn. Knit the stocking with the stockinette stitch. Make classic face loops to prevent the knitting go askew. Knit the bootleg 14 cm.

Then knit the heel. Leave the loops on two needles untouched. Gather the loops on the needles 1 and 2 (20 loops in total) on one needle and knit 17 rows with stockinette stitch. You can define the height of the heel in the following way: the number of selvage stitches should be equal to the number of the loops on one needle minus one. Since one selvage stitch is formed by two rows, the heel's height will be (10 - 1) x 2 = 18 rows.

Finish the heel knitting the 17th row of face loops and then start decreasing from the 18th row. Divide the loops in 3 groups. Since 20 can't be divided in 3, add the 2 loops left to the sides. You have: sides of 7 loops, middle part of 6 lops. If you have one loop left, add it to the middle part. Keep on knitting the middle part with short loops. Decrease the sides gradually joining them to the loops of the middle part.

So, let’s knit the loops of the first and the middle part. Knit the last loop of the middle part and the first loop of the third part with classic and turn the knitting to the face side. Take off the first loop like a selvage stitch while turning and move it behind the front side. Keep the thread under the knitting and move the needle backwards. Knit the last loop of the middle part in the front together with the first loop of the side in the front. Important: knit these loops behind the back side. Turn the work inside out and take off the selvage stitch behind the front side. Keep the thread before the knitting. Move the needle backwards. Thus, knit the loops of the middle part only and decrease the loops from the sides. There should be only loops of the middle part (6 loops). The heel is done.

Get back to knitting with five needles. Knit the loops in the front of the stoking with the needle where the loops of the middle part were. Draw one loop from each selvage stitch, so you get 9 loops.

Then knit the next two needles with the knit stitches. Then knit one loop from each selvage loop with the free needle, so you get 8 loops.

Distribute the loops of the middle part of the heel equally to the 1st and the 2nd needles (3 loops to each). Thus, you get 8+3=11 loops on the 1st needle, 3+9 = 12 loops on the 2nd needle, 10 loops of each the 3rd and the 4th needles. If you have odd number of the loops in the middle part of the heel, then equalize the number of loops on the 1st and the 2nd needles adding an “odd” loop to the 1st needle.

Knit a row of knit stitches. Now remove the spare loops from the 1st and the 2nd needles. Remove from the 1st needle in the beginning of the row, knitting two loops behind the back side. Turn the first loop beforehand. Remove the loops in the end of the 2nd needle’s row knitting by two loops. You’ll get 10 loops on each needle. Then knit the stocking around up to 6 cm from the heel.

Make the decreasing on the toecap. Knit the 2nd and the 3rd loops together with the knit stitch in the beginning of the 1st and the 3rd needles (behind the back side), having turned the 2nd loop beforehand. Knit the two last loops on the 2nd and the 4th needles together with knit stitch and then knit the last loops. Thus du the decreasing every other round until each needle has five loops. Then do the decreasing in every single round. When each needle has 2 loops, drag them and fix.

The stocking is done.