Materials: 

Worsted weight wool in Red (about 100 yards), White (about 55 yards), Green (about 50 yards).  Sample was knit using Cascade 220.

US Size 4 dpns.

 Instructions:

Cuff:  Using Red, cast on 64 stitches.  Work in K2 P2 ribbing for 8 rounds.

Name:  Using White, work four rounds.  The name is knit in Green and centered on the stocking.  Remember to start at the top of the letter and work down.  Continue to work in stockinette stitch and break off Green when the letters are completed.  Work 4 rows of white, decreasing 1 stitch at beginning and end of the fourth round.  Note:  I had trouble doing the colorwork in the round, so I worked those sections back and forth and sewed the gaps shut when the stocking was done.

Stripe:  Using Red, work 4 rounds, decreasing 1 stitch at beginning and end of the fourth round.  There should be 60 stitches.  Work another 4 rounds, decreasing 1 stitch at beginning and end of the fourth round.

Santas:  Using Green, work 4 rounds, decreasing 1 stitch at beginning and end of the fourth round.  There should be 56 stitches.  To start chart,  knit 13 Green, knit 1 White, knit 26 Green, knit 1 White, knit 15 Green.  Follow the chart to complete the figures.  Work 4 rows Green, decreasing 1 stitch at beginning and end of the first round.  Note:  the w squares on the chart indicate white stitches.

Trees:  Using White, work 4 round, decreasing 1 stitch at beginning and end of the fourth round.  There should be 52 stitches.  To start chart, knit 9 White, knit 1 Green, knit 15 White, knit 1 Green, knit 15 White, knit 1 Green, knit 10 White.  Follow chart to complete the trees.  Work 4 rows White, decreasing 1 stitch at beginning and end of the fourth round.  There should be 50 stitches.

Heel start:  Knit 12 stitches onto 1 needle for half of the heel.  Slip the next 13 stitches onto the second needle for the first instep needle.  Slip the next 13 stitches onto the third needle for the second instep needle.  Slip the last 12 stitches onto the first needle for the other half of the heel (24 stitches on the heel needle).  The rest of the stocking is Red.  Attach Red and work over heel stitches only in stockinette stitch, always slipping the first stitch of each row.  Work 24 rows, ending with a knit row.

Heel turn:  Sl 1, p15, p2 tog, turn.  Sl 1, k8, k2 tog, turn.  Sl , p9, p2 tog, turn.  Continue as established, always working 1 more stitch on each row before decreasing, until all stitches have been worked (16 stitches should be left).  P 1 row.  Knit first 8 sts of heel needle and slip to a spare needle.  Knit the remaining 8 heel stitches.  Pick up and k 12 stitches along the left side of the heel.  Knit across the 26 instep stitches.  With a third needle, pickup and K 12 stitches along heel and k the last 8 stitches.  There should be 20 stitches on the first needle, 26 on the instep needle, and 20 stitches on the third needle. 

Slip the first 2 stitches of the instep needle onto the first heel needle and the last 2 stitches of the instep needle onto the second heel needle.  There should be 22 stitches on each needle.

Round 1:  K to 3 sts from end of first needle, ssk, k1; knit across second needle; k1, k2 tog, k to end of third needle.

Round 2:  Same as round 1.

Round 3:  K around.  Repeat these three rounds until  11 stitches remain on each of the two heel needles.

Foot:  Work even for desired length until toe.  On the sample, the length from the end of the decreases to the beginning of the toe was 3 1/2 inches.

Toe: 

Round 1:  K around.

Round 2:  K to 3 sts from end of first needle, ssk, k1.

              K1, K2 tog,  K to 3 sts from end of second needle, ssk, k1.

              K1, K2 tog, knit to end of third needle.

Work these two rounds until 12 stitches remain.  Graft the toe closed or bind off and sew it closed.

I did not create this pattern.  It is one that my mother used to make Christmas stockings for the children of friends and family.  I no longer have her original early 1950s pattern, just a badly-typed copy from 30 or 40 years ago.  I knit the pattern to test and correct it, but it has not been proofread. The alphabet chart wasn't with the copy, so I made one up to fit the pattern.  I have not knit every one of the letters, so I cannot guarantee how they will come out.

 Paula Trumble, December 8, 2010