Another belated Christmas reveal
Christmas in Tallinn stocking from Knitting on the Road
Hifa 2 in Currant, Ballet Pink, and Spinach
US #3 needles
A stocking for my beautiful sister-to-be. She’s more of a pink girl, so I pushed the color spectrum toward the girly side. But optical illusion is a beautiful thing – it came out looking red and white just the same! I loved the pattern, especially those little horizontal braids. I added an extra repetition of the colorwork chart for a more generous length. And I made room in the “cuff” for her name, because I like names on stockings:
Yep, I made a little goof in the R and messed up my tension trying to fix it. But overall this project went pretty quickly, and it whetted my appetite for more stranded colorwork (witness the mittens, plus another project I’ll talk about later). If I knit another of these — and given that my beloved husband ended up getting his presents in my leopard-print rubber galosh because we couldn’t find his stocking, it seems there’s need — I’ll use Hifa 3 instead. The two-ply was a little light and a little inconsistent in… I think spinners call it grist? I love me some traditional Norwegian wool, though, and the colors of the Hifa are rich and delicious. As much as I appreciate the many gorgeous luxury fibers available to knitters these days (have you looked at the ridiculous bounty of mouth-watering options available from Fleece Artist/Handmaiden alone?), I think I’d be happy to knit nothing but old-school wool for the rest of my days. What a shame that I’m forced to spend so much of my time with laceweight cashmere these days! Shed a little tear for me, friends. I vow to take a picture of the ivy lace stole this weekend.
Posted: January 19th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Pretty stocking! I’m with you, I’d be totally happy to knit with nothing but old-school wool. Not that I’ll complain about the merino/silk blend that is currently gracing my needles!
Posted: January 19th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Me three! Mmm…wool…
I thought about knitting a stocking this year, but I got bogged down in other projects. I really love the handknit stockings, though. We used to use ones that resembled ski stockings — really long and fairly narrow. My mom always put oranges (clementines or mandarins) in the toes, then some chocolates above those.
Posted: January 19th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
The stocking is perfect and I agree, names at the top are a key stocking element. I love the grabby/rustic feel of the real woolens, though lately I’m craving lots and lots of smooth merino to keep me warm and cozy.
Your comment provided me with PERFECT blog fodder on the Jane blog. We’ll have a little guest post from our boss (probably Erin & I responding to his comments) soon. I only wish I didn’t have to do the rest of my job and could just blog Jane for a while.
Posted: January 20th, 2008 at 6:57 am
wow, i’m in awe of you! that’s really magnificent, heirloom worthy colorwork.
Posted: January 20th, 2008 at 11:24 am
What a lovely gift, I bet Marika was so happy to have a handknit that the slight difference on the R was unnoticable. It doesnt get better than wool, does it? Though some cashmere through the fingers is awful lovely too 🙂
Posted: January 20th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
It looks gorgeous! And if you hadn’t pointed it out, I don’t anyone would have notice the R! Looks amazing, no matter what.
Posted: January 21st, 2008 at 5:06 am
Oh! The stocking is lovely! And I’m with you – I love me some old school wool.
Posted: January 21st, 2008 at 5:21 am
very pretty! funny how the pink views as red next to the white!
Posted: January 22nd, 2008 at 3:12 pm
There are so many options available to knitters that sometimes it feels hard to go into a shop and just find normal workhorse old-school wool.
Posted: January 22nd, 2008 at 4:29 pm
Those braids are cute, huh? They are so simple and look so clever. I did those on the Fiber trends swirls hat – the braids have a great look. Your sock is beautiful.
Posted: January 22nd, 2008 at 6:39 pm
wow, wow and wow!
Posted: January 23rd, 2008 at 9:09 am
It’s beautiful, and I’m sure she loved it. You may turn her into a knitter-to-be soon with all of these tempting knitted gifts.
Posted: January 23rd, 2008 at 1:38 pm
What a great stocking! I really love the contrast braids too.
Posted: October 20th, 2011 at 10:02 am
Beautiful job! I am having a hard time getting the pattern from Ravelry. Would you mind emailing it to me? My email is butterflyem4@hotmail.com. Thank you!
Emily