Whatever the roots of the tradition, the hanging of stockings is one of the most popular rituals of Christmas Eve and before mass-produced designs became available many socks and stockings that were hung up with seasonal anticipation were knitted by hand.
Why do we put up stockings at Christmas?
One of the strongest arguments is based on the Dutch tradition of children leaving shoes stuffed with straw by the hearth for Sinterklaas’ reindeer. The next morning, they would find sweets left behind as a sign of gratitude. As the tradition spread over time, the shoes became stockings.
Another popular story is of a poor man who could not afford the wedding dowries for his three daughters. After hearing of the family’s plight, Saint Nicholas crept into the house and left a bag of gold coins in each of the daughter’s socks that were drying by the fire. The satsuma which is often left in stockings today is said to represent a bag of coins.
Stocking construction
All stockings today are based on the traditional sock shape. The three main types of heels for regular socks:
1) Short rows
2) Peasant heels, where a section is knitted using spare yarn that is later removed and the heel worked in its place
3) Heel flaps
We recommend either of the first two methods if you are going to knit your own stocking as these give you a more angled foot and a neater finish. In order for your stocking to lie flat when it is hung, you will need to work the toe to give a vertical edge as opposed to a horizontal one which would be used on a regular sock.
Colourful Christmas!
Many stockings are knitted in bright holiday colours like red and green and feature modern Christmas intarsia motifs or traditional Nordic designs. Motifs such as stars and snowflakes are timeless and look really impressive. The technique involves stranding the yarn across the back of the work – remember not to pull the yarns too tightly or the fabric will have no give. If you need a refresher on Fair Isle or intarsia knitting, don’t forget to check out our free online tutorials. If you prefer crochet, we’ve got not one but two great patterns here on the LK website - check them out here and here!
Have you made your own Christmas stockings before? We’d love to see them - email us your pics or post them on Twitter and Facebook!
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