Behind the scenes

I am working on Christmas stockings for Chuck, Kim and Colton. Chuck has a hand knit stocking from his childhood, but I've decided to keep that here for now and give him one suitable for his new role as daddy. I combined designs from two Mary Maxim patterns to make stockings that have different designs on each side. His and Kim's are the same except for background color, Colton's will be a different type of snowman, probably with blue as the background color.

Here is Kim's sock, done except for adding her name.


For those who knit, especially sock knitters, the odd thing about this pattern is that the stocking is knitted flat and seamed when done. I suppose I could knit it as wearable socks are conventionally knit in the round, but I find this method easy when it is time to weave in all those loose ends.

In order to get this pleasant design on the right side of the knitted item

This is what you have on the wrong side. Yikes!

Fortunately, weaving the ends in while watching TV isn't a big problem

Their names will be added soon, done in duplicate stitch which means the names will look like they are knitted into the stocking. Since these stockings have two design sides, I am thinking of adding their first names to one side and Mama and Papa (or Mommy and Daddy) to the others. I'll leave that decision up to them.

If anyone is interested in the pattern, Mary Maxim offers both kits and pattern books here. The yarn used is an acrylic which I find practical for something that is packed away for 11 months of the year without worry of attracting moths. The stockings I made well over 20 years ago still look great and wash well.