When you make little knitted things it makes people smile.  They pick up the wee bit of knitting, fondle it, and say “awwww”. Little knit things are, in my experience, a sure hit.

So let those other knitters knock themselves out making full-size stockings in all their stranded knit glory for everyone in their family. (You can make me one too, btw. They are gorgeous!) Let’s make Minis for Christmas. A whole bunch of them. They’re great for tree ornaments, or dangling from the big bow on a present, or stuffed with little candies and given away just as they are. And they are lickity-split fast!

A word of caution about the stuffing with candy… if you buy the candy and then start making the stockings, you may find that all the candy is gone by the time you finished knitting and you’ll have to go buy more. That’s what happened to me. I tried to blame the disappearing candy on the feline overlords but, ahhh, no one believed me.

Some notes on making Mini Christmas Stockings

• I used various colors of Cascade 220 worsted weight yarn. Any worsted weight wool, wool/acrylic blend, or acrylic would work just fine.
• I used size 6 double points. I knit a little looser than most people though. You may find a size 7 or 8 suits your knitting better.
• I kept these stockings on two dpn’s. They are so little and the knitting goes so quick that I never bothered to “graduate” to three needles. I’m sure magic looping or using 2 circular needles would would just as well.
• These are really just toe-up socks with a basic short row heel. But since no one will ever put them on a set a little feet, I cheated and went for the easiest Make One (a backwards e-loop). Also I didn’t worry over closing a gusset hole.
• If you’ve never made toe-up socks, this is a great way to learn! But maybe skip the color changes and the purled rows the first time through. It will be less fiddly that way and go nice and fast.

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Making a Mini for Christmas
a Roving Crafters Pattern from knitsbyjenn

Yarn: any worsted weight

Needle: size 6 dpn’s

Abbreviations

• k: knit
• p: purl
• M1: make one using the backwards e-loop method
• Sl1: slip 1 stitch purl-wise
• k2tog: knit 2 stitches together
• p2tog: purl 2 stitches together

The Toe

with Main Color Cast on 8 stitches using Judy’s Magic Cast On. Arrange the stitches so that 4 are on each dpn.

• Rnd 1: k
• Rnd 2:  k1, M1, k2, M1, k2, M1, k2, M1, k1 (12 sts total or 6 sts on each needle)
• Rnd 3: k
• Rnd 4: k1, M1, k4, M1, k2, M1, k4, M1, k1 (16 sts total or 8 sts on each needle)
• Rnd 5: k

The Foot

with White

• Rnd 1: k
• Rnd 2: p

with Main Color

• Rnds 3 – 8: k

with White

• Rnd 9: k
• Rnd 10: p

Widening the Heel

with Main Color

• Rnd 1: k1, M1, k6, M1, k9 (18 sts total or 10 sts on the first needle & 8 sts on the second needle)
• Rnd 2: k
• Rnd 3: k1, M1, k8, M1, k9  (20 sts total or 12 sts on the first needle & 8 sts on the second needle)
• Rnd 4: k
• Rnd 5: k1, M1, k10, M1, k9  (22 sts total or 14 sts on the first needle & 8 sts on the second needle)
• Rnd 6: k

Turning the Heel (worked not in the round, but back and forth in short rows)

• Row 1: k9. Stop & Turn. (leaving 5 sts on the left needle unworked)
• Row 2: Sl1, p3. Stop & Turn. (leaving 5 sts on the left needle unworked)
• Row 3: Sl1, k2, k2tog, k1. Stop & Turn. (leaving 3 sts on the left needle unworked)
• Row 4: Sl1, p3, p2tog, p1. Stop & Turn. (leaving 3 sts on the left needle unworked)
• Row 5: Sl1, k4, k2tog, k1. Stop & Turn. (leaving 1 st on the left needle unworked)
• Row 6: Sl1, p5, p2tog, p1. Stop & Turn. (leaving 1 st on the left needle unworked)
• Row 7: Sl1, k6, k2tog. Stop & Turn. (leaving zero sts on the left needle unworked)
• Row 6: Sl1, p6, p2tog. Stop & Turn. (leaving zero sts on the left needle unworked)

The Leg (back to working in the round)

with White

• Rnd 1: k
• Rnd 2: p

with Main Color

• Rnds 3 – 8: k

with White

• Rnd 9: k
• Rnd 10: p
• Rnd 11: k
• Rnd 12: p

Bind off! I used the knit 2 together bind off. Its adds a nice, not-too-tight finish.

Now make more. Make a pile of ’em and work on them out in public. People will be drawn to you against their will. They will coo and aww and fondle and tell you which color is their favorite. When they walk away they’ll have a little bit of the Christmas spirit in their eyes.

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P.S. I had a wonderful plan of putting mini stockings on kitty feet, taking pictures, and making that the header picture for this post. It did not go well. Not at all. So no picture. Also, the feline overlords are in hiding and planning ways to punish me.

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