Grandma Millie's Christmas Stocking Pattern

For as long as I can remember, these stockings knitted by my grandma have hung in our house every Christmas.  She made this particular personalized stocking pattern for every baby born into our family since her own five children - a total of 21 so far! When my niece, Brianna, was born, my grandma told me it was time for me to take over the stockings.  Since this is one of the projects that first made me want to learn to knit, I was glad to do so. 

My stocking (that I've had all my life) is on the left, my daughter's (also knitted by my grandma is in the middle) and the one I knit for my niece this year is on the right.

Front view of the stocking.

The stocking is red with a white toe, heel and band at the top.  In the white band, the personalized greeting reads "MERRY XMAS (NAME)" in all capitals.  Below that, in the center of what would be the shin of the wearer is Santa's face, followed by five green Christmas trees spaced around the stocking (I only did three on the two stockings I made, but this was accidental and I didn't figure it out until I had completed both - *sigh*).

My grandma used a few sources combined to come up with the pattern. The stockings have grown over generations, we are not sure if this is a result of her gauge changing or worsted yarn growing! She has always used a bit of angora or other furry yarn for the beard and, as a child, one of my favorite things to do around the holidays was to stroke the beard of my mom's stocking because it felt like a fuzzy bunny.

Click here for Grandma Millie's Christmas Stocking Pattern (PDF)

Materials:

Size 6-8 needles (both circular and dpn)
Note:  Needle size will depend upon gauge and desired stocking size.

Worsted weight yarn:

I prefer natural fibers so for Brianna's stocking I used Knit Picks Shine in Serrano, Cream and Macaw. Such a small amount of grey, pink and blue is needed that scrap yarn works well.

red (1 skein)

white (1 skein)

green (1/4 skein)

blue, grey and flesh toned (small amounts of each)

Pattern PDF

Note: As you can see from the pictures above, this stocking can vary quite a bit in size, depending on needle size, yarn and gauge.  If you are planning on making a few, especially for members of the same family, make sure you stay with the same size!