Traditional Top-Down Christmas Stocking

I’ve been looking for the perfect pattern for a Christmas stocking but nothing really appealed to me.  My inner knitting-teacher was demanding a stocking with sock-rules!  So I decided to write a pattern myself using a traditional formula for a top-down sock on double-pointed knitting needles.  As well as knitting a Christmas stocking, this pattern is a great stepping-stone to sock knitting as you can have a go at all the techniques on bigger needles before committing to sock yarn.  If you can already knit and purl with confidence this is a great intermediate project for you.

Techniques (You can find step by step instructions for these techniques in my book Knitty Gritty – The Next Steps):

• Knitting in the round
• Fair Isle
• Swiss Darning
• I cord
• Sewing up