Tag Archives: christmas stocking

Christmas is just around the corner…

Posted on August 9, 2017 | 5 comments

It’s August, and it’s hot. I’m thinking of winter’s chill, and big fat yarn.

This is my Snowflake Christmas stocking. It’s one of my earlier patterns; I first published it in 2009. But I designed this stocking way before that. My original chart says 1997 on it, charted in Excel!

It was eventually joined by stockings for the rest of our family.

I’m upgrading my Snowflake Christmas Stocking pattern to include some additional motifs. I’ll have the dancers, and these birds. And a blank-ish chart if you want to chart your own adventure.

The pattern is currently available through Ravelry for $5 USD. The upgraded pattern will be $6 USD, but if you’ve purchased the pattern before the upgrade, you’ll get the updated pattern for no extra charge. I should have it done by Friday, August 18.

I’m teaching a class with this pattern at For Yarn’s Sake in Beaverton on Sunday, November 12. We’ll turn a tiny practice heel, and learn to work simple stranded colorwork in the round. If you haven’t knit socks before, a Christmas stocking is an ideal first sock! You only have to knit one (no second sock syndrome), and it’s quick with big yarn and big needles. I wanted to have more motif options for class, so that’s what’s driving this pattern upgrade. Coming soon!

Are you dreaming of Christmas? Not yet?

5 Comments

Posted in classes, Knit, pattern design

Tagged christmas stocking

The stockings were hung…

Posted on December 18, 2014 | 14 comments

Does this look like the home of a knitter?

I knit Christmas stockings for our family about 15 years ago. The snowflake stockings came first.

After that? Variations on the theme. I knit the piano stocking next. (I was playing a lot as an adult student back then.)

My younger son wanted dancing people.

Of course, we needed a stocking for the cat.

This year, I designed the super bulky Super Cabled Christmas Stocking.

We’re not a family of six, even though our fireplace gives that impression!

Our tradition is to open stocking gifts before Christmas breakfast. It was a way of holding off the wrapping paper frenzy until I was ready to face the day. It still works, even with grown kids! Now we add mimosas to that breakfast.

Do you have a Christmas stocking tradition at your house?

14 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged christmas stocking, Christmas stockings, traditions

Super Cabled Christmas Stocking

Posted on November 29, 2014 | 3 comments

Expialidocious? (Sorry for the earworm)

I’ve been knitting up a storm. First, a new pattern!

The Super Cabled Christmas Stocking knits up in a wink with super bulky yarn at 2 stitches per inch on size 17 needles. It is knit top down from the cuff to the toe. The narrow four stitch cables are very manageable with this hefty yarn. A star toe completes the look. This jumbo stocking will hold a lot of goodies!

Charts and line by line instructions for the cable pattern are given. Gauge is 8 st/4 inches in stockinette stitch on size 17 needles, but gauge is not critical.

This version is knit with one skein of Knitted Wit’s Cotton Candy, 100% merino wool, 250g/140 yards (I used about 200g/120 yards), colorway Natural. Lucky for you, Lorajean’s 34th birthday is December 7, and she’s having a yarn sale, one skein 34% off, one day only. Hold that thought!

This version is knit with 3 skeins of Knit Picks The Big Comfy, 55% Superfine Alapaca, 45% Peruvian Highland Wool, 44 yards/100g per skein, colorway Garnet Heather.

I knit these stockings in about 2 days each. Super bulky, super quick!

To celebrate this launch, this pattern is on sale for $2 off with coupon code SUPERCABLE through December 14. Plenty of time to get this done! Go to the Ravelry pattern page for more information.

I was down to the toe when I realized that I didn’t have dpns in this size.

But I did have size 17 straights, along with my circular. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. A little juggling for a few rows, and voila.

Lots more goodies in the pipeline…

3 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design, yarn

Tagged christmas stocking, Knit Picks The Big Comfy, Knitted Wit Cotton Candy, quick knits, super bulky yarn, super cabled christmas stocking

It’s beginning to look a lot like…

Posted on November 25, 2010 | 5 comments

Christmas? At least in some circles. I found this in my box of teaching pieces.

It’s a Christmas stocking that I started while teaching last year’s Snowflake Christmas Stocking class at Twisted. I’m teaching it again this year on Saturday, December 4, 1 to 3 p.m. The class covers turning a heel, reading a chart, and learning to knit stranded colorwork without tangles. We even cover carrying two colors in the same hand. Contact Twisted if you want to register. Already know how? The pattern is available here.

Here’s a contest that I ran across (I have a google alert for Lantern Moon, and they’re featured in one of the prize packages): WEBS is having a huge giveaway to celebrate the 200th episode of their podcast, Ready Set Knit. Check out the amazing array of prizes and enter to win!

And don’t forget to check out my drawing on the Lantern Moon blog, too. I’ll pick a winner after Thanksgiving weekend.

Happy Thanksgiving!

5 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged christmas stocking, contests, Knit

Pippi goes to Multnomah Falls

Posted on December 13, 2009 | 20 comments

It’s been really cold here lately, with temperatures down in the teens. That’s pretty chilly for our mild climate. But Jack Frost is an artful decorator. check out my windshield.

Laurie and I took a quick trip out to Multnomah Falls on Friday morning. It’s one of my favorite places; I’ve posted about it in other seasons, too. Laurie was wearing her Pippi hat.

The falls were stunningly gorgeous.

Some people made the short trek up to the bridge, but I was short on time and not dressed for more than a quick photo op.

The lower falls:

We had a quick stop at Rooster Rock on the way back, and saw the ice in the Columbia. Do you see Beacon Rock way up the river?

I’m knitting away at a new design project. I took it with me in the car, but I can’t show it to you yet, so here’s another picture of someone else’s knitting. One of my students from my Christmas stocking class sent me a picture of her nearly finished project. Congratulations, Courtney; it looks great!

What’s on your needles?

20 Comments

Posted in Knit, travel

Tagged christmas stocking, Knit, multnomah falls

Quincy rocks!

Posted on December 5, 2009 | 10 comments

I finished my second Quincy hat (ravelry link) yesterday. This is just the cleverest construction.

One of the other knitters at knit night (Toni, if you’re keeping score) actually did the garter stitch kitchener join on the moebius strip. I commend her. I thought about doing it. BUT! She also turned the strip so that the join was under the twist of the moebius. Brilliant! I decided then and there that I’d use the three needle bind off again, and hide the slightly irregular join under the twist. Double brilliant! Because it’s hard to be chatty and learn a new technique at the same time, and knit night is all about the chatty. Check this out.

Isn’t it cool how the join is just sitting under the twist? I love it. So much that I’m going to take out the crown on the first Quincy hat and scoot that join under the twist, too. I’ve noticed that there’s a little garter bump on the i-cord, right where the join happens, and if it really bothered me, I’d do it differently next time (will there be a next time?). But it doesn’t really bother me, so I’m definitely not going back to re-do the first two!

Details: Quincy hat by Jared Flood
Yarn: Bulky Merino from Knitted Wit in Passionflower colorway
US size 10 needles for band, and size 9 dpns for crown
Mods: 3 needle bind off instead of grafting the ends of the moebius strip, and placing the twist under the twist line instead of opposite the twist

In other news, I just taught a Christmas stocking class at Twisted, using my snowflake Christmas stocking pattern. It was really fun. The group was great, funny and intrepid. They learned to turn a heel, a neater way to make a circular join, knitting in the round, working with two colors, and reading and following a chart. That’s a lot of ground to cover in 3 hours, but they were up for it, and they did great! They’ve promised me pictures of the finished stockings. I’m looking forward to them!

Knit on!

10 Comments

Posted in Knit

Tagged brooklyn tweed, christmas stocking, jared flood, Knit, quincy hat

How many knitting days until Christmas?

Posted on September 25, 2009 | 11 comments

I don’t know. But this is what I was knitting in my “how to carry two colors in your right hand” video tutorial the other day.

It’s a shop sample for Twisted; I’m teaching a Christmas stocking class on Saturday, December 5, 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. The class is based on my pattern, which I finally wrote up this week! I made the first of these in 1996, but didn’t write it up until now. Here are all the variations at my house, made over several years.

The pattern is for the snowflake stocking; I wanted to keep things simple since it’s for a class. I dropped off the stocking and patterns this afternoon. Sivia Harding says that the stocking is perfect! That made my day. How could you not want to knit this pattern after such an endorsement? And yes, Sivia is now working at Twisted!

Patterns are available at Twisted and through Ravelry download; you can find more information on the pattern page.

11 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged christmas stocking, Knit

Winter = hand knits

Posted on December 5, 2008 | 13 comments

I’m at home today while contractors install insulation under the floor of my living room and dining room. That means a day of putting up Christmas and Hanukkah decorations and baking for an event on Sunday.

I’ve decorated the wreath on the front porch:

You can find my free pattern for these ornaments here. I always put mini candy canes in the stockings for the kids that walk by on their way to school.

The stockings are hung:

And the tree is up, too.

Yes, this is all the tree I can manage. A few favorite ornaments, and I’m done. Mookie likes to chew on real trees, and then she gets sick. Who needs that?

Oh, btw, Mookie wants to go to Paris.

She takes after me. C’est vrai. J’adore Paris!

You Belong in Paris

You enjoy all that life has to offer, and you can appreciate the fine tastes and sites of Paris.

You’re the perfect person to wander the streets of Paris aimlessly, enjoying architecture and a crepe.

What European City Do You Belong In?

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Did any of you happen to catch the convergence of Venus, Jupiter, and the moon? They were at their closest this last Monday. I was flying home on Sunday night and saw it out the window of the plane. Some unknown (to me) town was underneath.