Christmas

Knitting Stitches: Learning Socks By Knitting a Christmas Stocking?

October 21, 2011 By Ina Gilmore 2 Comments

Have you been thinking about knitting socks and don’t know where to start?

What about a Christmas stocking?

Oh, yes it looks like a large project. Basically a Christmas stocking is a sock knit on larger needles with thicker yarn. And because of that it may be easier to knit than using fine needles and yarn. Or “toothpicks” as my sister calls my Size 1 double pointed needles.

Whether you’re just learning to knit socks or want a simpler project because your time to knit is unpredictable like in caregiving, a Christmas stocking may make a good option. It’s still portable, even though it’s larger than regular socks.

Why start knitting socks by knitting a Christmas stocking?

The yarn and needles are larger and easier to hold…
The knitting stitches are easier to see than on sock yarn…
You can use simple knitting stitches like stockinette stitch. It can be jazzed up with duplicate stitch after the knitting is done if you like.

My knitting time has been reduced this past week. However, I did take time after a rain shower to enjoy the view off my back deck -

Which inspired this picture of hand spun wool -

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

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To your healthy and happy knitting and caregiving,

Dr. Ina
Ina Gilmore, M.D. (Retired)
“The Knitting Dr.”

Founder, www.CaregivingWIthPurpose.com and www.TheKnittingYarn.com
Ambassador of Elder Care at www.HowToLiveOnPurpose.com

Filed Under: Christmas Tagged With: ambassador of elder care, christmas stocking, fiber arts friday, ina gilmore, knitting stitches, technorati, the knitting dr, www.caregivingwithpurpose.com, www.howtoliveonpurpose.com, www.theknittingyarn.com

Christmas stocking stuffers: What are in your Christmas stockings?

November 23, 2010 By Ina Gilmore 2 Comments

Image by beccaplusmolly via Flickr

When I was a kid, often our Christmas stockings had individually wrapped gifts.

Each gift might be small, but it was exciting to open them! And it was only later we realized Santa used the wrapping paper my mother carefully saved from presents the year before.

Santa was thrifty!

And those Christmas stocking stuffers were often something we could enjoy for more than just a moment or two. I remember practical gifts, such as socks and Chapsticks. I don’t ever recall feeling deprived of toys, although many of today’s children might feel that way.

You see, my parents grew up in The Depression, and so any Christmas gift was a big deal to them. After some prodding, they both had stories of very lean Christmases.

But I never heard one word of complaint.

No, instead they were glad they could have a single gift . . .or could make gifts for other family members. Their families were not poor because they had something to eat and a warm house.

My mother told stories of the poor children in town who walked the railroad tracks to collect coal that fell off the trains. The coal was to heat their houses. Now those children would have been happy for coal for Christmas!

Somehow it gives a different perspective, doesn’t it?

Christmas stocking stuffers can be challenging . . .they can be fun . . .and even both!

Part of the fun is making the gifts unique for the recipient . . .young or older. And any gift should be age-appropriate.

So what are some practical Christmas stocking stuffers?

Crayons . . .markers . . .and/or colored pencils. For drawing and writing of course!
A blank book for drawings or a journal. This can encourage a child to write and/or draw regularly.
The ever-practical toothbrush . . .comb . . .Chapstick . . .or even socks. They can stuff the stocking well!
A small book or puzzle. You might even be able to convince Santa to include one that’s educational!
Sticker, craft supplies, and even play dough.

You might even make some knitted stocking stuffers!

Is this an all-inclusive list? Nope.

Just some suggestions to spark your imagination.

And of course, what’s more personal than knitted Christmas stockings?

Update 12/11/2011: Get my Christmas stocking patterns to knit by clicking here right now.

Keep knitting to your heart’s delight — or someone else’s,

The Knitting Yarn

Filed Under: Christmas Tagged With: christmas stocking stuffers, christmas stockings, technorati, The Knitting Yarn

Who brings your Christmas stockings?

November 12, 2010 By Ina Gilmore Leave a Comment

Hanging Christmas stockings is a tradition in many homes.

Sometimes the children hang them, and sometimes Santa Claus or St. Nicholas brings them on Christmas Eve. In some countries, children leave out a boot or a wooden shoe instead of stockings.

The origin of Christmas stockings has several variations. Most involve St. Nicholas, a poor man, and his three daughters.

Do you know the Legend of Christmas Stockings?

According to tradition, long ago a penniless nobleman was concerned about his three beautiful daughters. His wife had died. After her death he became despondent, losing his inheritance to bad investments. And he worried that his daughters could not be married.

You see, in his village it was traditional for the father of the bride to provide a dowry. The bride would give the money or property to her husband when they were married.

Unfortunately, this man had no money or property. Apparently he worried quite a bit about his daughters who took good care of him and never complained.

One day, St. Nicholas passed through the village. He heard about this man and his daughters, and wanted to help. Because he knew the nobleman would refuse charity, he decided to help him secretly. So, he waited until dark. During the night, St. Nicholas tossed three pouches of gold coins down the man’s chimney.

The pouches fell into the girls’ stockings that they had washed and hung by the fireplace to dry. The girls showed their father the coins the next day. He used the money to marry off each girl. Everyone lived happily ever after — as they usually do in these legends.

Children throughout the village starting putting out their Christmas stockings hoping St. Nicholas would stop by and fill them. Since then, the tradition has spread. Children all over the world hang Christmas stockings year after year also hoping St. Nicholas will leave them gifts.

It’s a cute story.

Is it true? Well, it is a legend.

How do Christmas stockings vary?

A Christmas stocking could be as simple as a child’s regular stocking hung up Christmas Eve. Or more often it could be a special stocking or sock that’s hung with the Christmas decorations.

Are your Christmas stockings throw-aways? Used only once or twice, and then discarded?
Or are they treasured heirlooms, meant to be lovingly passed down from one generation to the next?
Maybe they’re in-between the two. Sturdy enough to last several Christmases, but not likely to survive from generation to generation.

Sometimes it makes a difference in whether your Christmas stockings are store bought or handmade. And sometimes it doesn’t —

Who made your Christmas stockings?

A relative or friend, probably a crafter. Ah these stockings may be destined to be treasured! Carefully wrapped and stored each year, and brought out with the other Christmas decorations. There may even be a story like how Great Aunt Martha made them for all the children.
Special ordered and personalized, either by hand or machine. These may have motifs and colors to suit the recipient. While it may take less time on the part of the giver, just as much care may go into choosing the right one.
Mass produced Christmas stockings can be nice, too. And no, that’s not just an afterthought! If you’re a crafter, you can personalize them with a child’s name. Sometimes it’s enough to know you picked out this stocking for a special child.

So, who brings your Christmas stockings?

Santa Claus or St. Nicholas is traditional in many places. The children often hang the stockings and Santa Claus or St. Nicholas fills them.
Sinterklauss brings Dutch children gifts in their wooden shoes.
The Three Kings fill some children’s shoes with presents in France, Spain, and Mexico.
La Befana visits Italian children on Epiphany, January 6.
And there are more stories designed to teach children about the Christmas story. How Jesus is The Gift to the world, and how He received gifts at His Birth.

Candy Cane Christmas Stocking

Christmas stockings are a neat way to create memories and to remember past Christmases. And you don’t have to have a lot of expensive presents to do so.

Keep knitting to your heart’s delight — or someone else’s,

The Knitting Yarn

Update 12/11/2011: Get my Christmas stocking patterns to knit by clicking here right now.

Bibliography for Christmas Stocking Legend: Christmas socks, accessed 11-12-10.

Bibliography for information on who brings Christmas stockings and gifts: Legend of Christmas Stockings, accessed 11-12-10.

Filed Under: Christmas Tagged With: Christmas, christmas stocking, christmas stockings, Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus, technorati, The Knitting Yarn

Looking for knitted Christmas stocking stuffers?

November 6, 2010 By Ina Gilmore 1 Comment

Remember the childhood excitement of Christmas?

Being so excited you were sure you wouldn’t sleep? And suddenly waking before dawn, ready to see what Santa brought in your Christmas stocking?

Maybe even under the Christmas stockings.

In good times, sometimes it’s easy to forget that simple is exciting too. This year many folks are considering cutting back for the holidays.

When thinking of simple Christmases, I think first of the Christmas Laura and Mary spent in Kansas Territory in Little House on the Prairie.

Image via Wikipedia

Their home was small, and isolated from their neighbors. If you recall, Mr. Edwards ran into Santa and brought some of their gifts. The girls of course were thrilled, as were Ma and Pa Ingalls.

That Christmas they had such treasures as:

A homemade sugar cookie. Yes, one cookie
A single piece of candy
A shiny penny.
A new tin cup.

Austere?

They didn’t think so.

And more recently, a man I know grew up in The Great Depression as the eleventh of twelve children. In good years each child had an orange for Christmas. That’s all: one orange. Yet I never heard him complain. On the contrary, he was delighted to get the orange!

So, it was understandable why as a parent he favored practical gifts such as clothing over expensive toys. And did his children suffer?

The answer is a resounding No!

Is something missing when only the biggest most expensive toy — for children or adults — will do? And the frustration of seeing it cast aside for something else after only a brief time —

It can become an increasing spiral of spending more and more — for less and less return.

You know taking a page from the past can be enlightening. There’s even a Victorian quote for Christmas stocking stuffers:

“Something to eat, something to read, something to play with and something they need.” ~ Victorian poem

Okay, so knitting something to eat or read probably isn’t the best idea.

What do you knit for Christmas stocking stuffers to play with?

While some toys may be too large to fit inside a stocking, they could be underneath the stocking. And your options include:

Doll clothes
Small toys such as balls
A miniature rug or blanket for a doll house
Stuffed toys
Christmas ornaments

Tip: Consider individually wrapping your Christmas stocking stuffers. There’s more excitement in unwrapping many gifts.

What do you knit for Christmas stocking stuffers they need?

Hats
Mittens and gloves
Scarves — may need to go under the stocking
Socks
Slippers

When you’re looking for basic patterns for multiple sizes. check out The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd. With multiple-sized patterns for socks, mittens, gloves, hats, tams, scarves, sweaters, and vests this book is versatile. And it’s easy-to-use with multiple gauges: the math is done for you! The spiral bound book has a hard cover, and opens flat.
Click here to buy now!

Keep knitting to your heart’s delight — or someone else’s,

The Knitting Yarn

Disclosure:

I may have a marketing connection to a brand, topic or product listed on the website. Through the use of affiliate links contained herein, I may collect fees from purchases made.

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Filed Under: Christmas Tagged With: christmas stocking stuffers, christmas stockings, technorati, The Knitting Yarn

How do you make Christmas stockings?

October 11, 2010 By Ina Gilmore 1 Comment

When my friend Erika asked if I could design a Christmas stocking, I thought, “Why not?”

Why let something small—like never having knit one before—stop a knitting project?

Deciding to start at the beginning with some basic research, I plowed into the project. After studying Christmas stockings’ construction, I decided it wouldn’t be any harder than knitting socks. And was pleasantly surprised to find they were easier to knit than I thought.

So just how do you make Christmas stockings?

Knitting Christmas stockings is very similar to knitting socks. Yes, the original Christmas stockings were actually stockings children wore the rest of the year. So, the overall pattern is roughly the same as a sock pattern.
Modern Christmas stockings tend to be larger than socks. Larger in diameter and leg length, although the foot is often knit shorter.
To hide the stocking stuffers from little eyes, their stockings are often knit in stockinette stitchrather than a lace pattern. Stockinette stitch is also a traditional pattern for stockings. Stockinette stitch even gets its name from knitting stockings.

Candy Cane version of Christmas Stockings

Because most Christmas stockings are knit in the round, stockinette stitch is all knit stitches. Many knitters prefer the knit stitch to the purl stitch.
If this is one of your first projects knit in the round, the yarn and needles are usually heavier than those used to knit socks to be worn. This makes knitting Christmas stockings easier, especially if you’re not used to knitting with either a set of double-pointed needles or two circular needles.
Christmas stockings usually are knit from the top down, although there’s no reason they couldn’t be knit from the bottom up. You might have to adjust a motif or graph if you’re knitting your sock in more than one color.
Because the stocking is for decoration, the heel usually looks squared and is often different than the main stocking color.
The toe is often the same contrasting color as the heel.
And left-handed knitters will be happy to note that Christmas stockings can be knit left-handed, too. If the pattern has an asymmetrical motif, you may end up with a mirror image unless you reverse the graph. The good news is most Christmas motifs are either symmetric or can be just as lovely as a mirror image.