Christmas Stockings

These stockings were woven on palm-sized frame looms, which makes these a great project for holiday traveling.

The patchwork construction of the stockings (each square is woven separately and then sewn together) means you can create these out of odds and ends from your stash. There's no rule that each square has to be the same color.

Project details

It takes fifteen colored squares for the body of the stocking and four of a fluffy white yarn for the cuff. The squares are assembled with a blanket stitch in a contrasting color.

Equipment

• Large stocking: 3-1/2 inch square frame loom. I used the Hazel Rose Tiny Weaver Square Loom.
• Small stocking: 2 inch square frame loom. I used the 2-inch Hazel Rose Multi Loom.
• Weaving hook
• Yarn needle
• Scissors

Yarn

You will need a worsted to light-worsted weight yarn for the main color and a fuzzy worsted to bulky-weight yarn for the cuff.

Large stocking: 90 yards of the main color and 25 yards for the cuff.

Small stocking: 60 yards of the main color and 16 yards of the white.

The yarns used to weave the stockings pictured in this article are:

Plaid stocking: The main color is Red Heart Classic (worsted, 100% acrylic, 3 oz/146 yd) in Shaded Green and the cuff is Caron Bliss (bulky, 60% acrylic/40% nylon, 1.76 oz/82 yards) in Snow. The body of the stocking was sewn together with Caron Simply Soft (medium, 100% acrylic, 3oz/165 yards) in Rubine Red, the cuff in a smooth white yarn.

Red stocking: The main color is Caron Simply Soft (medium, 100% acrylic, 3oz/165 yards) in Rubine Red and the cuff is Caron Bliss (bulky, 60% acrylic/40% nylon, 1.76 oz/82 yards) in Snow. The body was sewn together with Red Heart Holiday (light worsted,97.5% acrylic/2.5% metallic, 4 oz/295 yd) in the color Green/Silver, the cuff in a smooth white yarn.

Note: The Caron Bliss is a bit heavy for this type of small loom so when you get to the needle weaving part, you will be doing it mostly by feel as it is difficult to see where to put your needle in all that fuzz! Feel free to chose another yarn if you prefer. It will be just as cute.

Weaving the Squares

For each stocking, you will weave 15 squares in the main yarn and four squares in the cuff yarn. You will use the method below for each square.

Note: The following directions are for a frame loom with a 1/4-inch spacing between the nails, such as the Hazel Rose Tiny Weaver Square Loom. If you are weaving on a loom with finer-spaced nails, such as a Weavette or a Hazel Rose Multi Loom, please instead follow the weaving directions you recevied from the manufacturer for that loom.

Continue weaving as in Steps 2 and 3.

Bring a new yarn loop up to the next free nail on the left, weave your hook through from the right, catching the yarn and wrapping it around the next pair of free nails on the upper and lower right

As you weave, straighten your weft shots by pressing them into place with a packing fork or fingers. Do not pull on the loose end of yarn to straighten the yarn, as that will overtighten the weft.

Do not pack too hard, the cloth will look a little open at this point but will draw up later when it is off the loom and no longer under tension, and even mroe when you wash it and it fulls.

Finishing
When you reach the last nail, measure the free end of your yarn to about three inches longer than the diagonal width of the loom and cut. Weave this last yarn tail through.

Thread the end into a sharp yarn needle and sew it back into itself as in the Russian Join.

Pull tight and trim the loose end.

Assembling the Stocking

Sew the squares together using the blanket stitch. Hold two squares, wrong sides together, and blanket stitch over the edges. Do not pull the stitches too tightly. Open and press flat.

Sew the four cuff squares together using a smooth yarn in a matching color. Sew the body of the stocking together in a contrasting yarn.

Assemble the squares as shown in the following picture.

Now it is time to fold and sew the stocking seams. Sew the seams in the same blanket stitch that you uses to connect the squares; using the coordinating yarn for the cuff and the contrasting yarn for the body of the stocking.

1. Fold along Line 1 and sew the sides of the stocking together using a coordinating color for the cuff and contrasting yarn for the stocking body.
2. Fold along Line 2 and sew the upper edge together with the bottom of the flap folded over in Step 1.
3. Fold along Line 3 and sew to the flap from Step 2.
4. Fold along Line 4 and sew all three sides.
5. Add loop for hanging the stocking by crocheting a chain loop at X.

Hazel Spencer has been playing with yarn for most of her life. Having taught art to elementary school kids for seventeen years, she got to use looms ranging from cardboard and twigs through inkles and table looms and has lately been struggling to figure out a large floor loom. But her favorite looms have always been those that can be hand held and carried along. She and her husband build a line of frame looms for weavers who share her preference.