Ruthless Knitting

Materials
Any worsted-weight yarn may be substituted for the original Bernat yarn specified. You will need approximately 100 yards of white, 90 yards of green, and 70 yards of red for one stocking, as well as small amounts of pink, peach, or brown (for Santa’s face), black (for the four eye stitches), and white angora or an angora blend (for the fuzzy beard). I found that Cascade 220 comes in excellent Christmas-y red (9404), green (8267), and white (8010), and they also have a good pink (9477). I used Takhi Jolie (an angora blend) for the beard and some leftover black alpaca for the eyes.

I work my stockings on straight needles (US size 7) all the way down to the foot, changing to double-pointed needles for the final green and red stripes.

Reading the Chart
The key to the chart symbols is as follows: red = solid square; white angora = plus sign; face color = empty inverted triangle; black eyes = solid triangle.

The photographs should be used as a guide to interpreting the charts. The cast-on row and first eight rows of ribbing are not depicted on the chart, though they are included in the pattern instructions. The solid line below row 10 does not indicate a color change: it is there only to indicate that the letters must fit on the chart between row 1 and row 10. Note that the background color of the stocking changes from white to green gradually on rows 17-31, and then it changes back to white on row 71, where there is a double line. The pattern does not indicate what decreases to use on rows 39, 49, 59, and 69; I pair SSK on the first two stitches with K2tog on the final two stitches.

Color Work
Most of the color work on the stocking should be done in intarsia, although some small sections can be stranded. Keep in mind that red will show through if carried behind white, so each of the letters in the name at the top of the stocking must be done with separate bobbins or strands of yarn — colors should not be carried between letters. Likewise, the two candy canes at the bottom of the stocking will require separate bobbins or strands of red yarn.

I find that it works better to do the eyes, nose, and mouth in duplicate stitch after the Santa heads have been completed than to try to work intarsia in five colors at once.

Bell placement
The pattern does not indicate where the bells ought to go, what size they are, or how many there are. On the stockings my grandmother made, she placed three bells on the transition points between the green and white in the top third of the stocking: one each on the first stitch of green, and one on the lowest white stitch before the Santa heads. The bells are each about the size of a dime.

Decreases
Where the pattern indicates slip 1, K 1, psso, I use SSK instead.

Skill Level
This is an intermediate or advanced intermediate pattern. If you have made a sock before and understand the basics of intarsia, it should be well within your grasp.