Friday, December 07, 2007

Meg's KAL stocking finished + Surprise!

We have a finished Christmas stocking! It's attractive and 'ginormous' because I knitted it in worsted as a decorative element, not in J&S shetland as a usable Christmas stocking for someone. I used Coats and Clark and Lamb's Pride and mystery yarn. The first two are courtesy of Yarn Elf...the mystery yarn was part of my unlabeled stash baskets. They were knit on #4 circs, except the hem knit on a #2. DH insisted that it go in the middle of the fireplace between our stockings rather than in the stairwell or on the front door. (Which meant a new place for my quilted and embroidered Christmas mini-quilt I'd created years ago.) He wants anyone who comes to see the stocking. Gotta hug that man!



Stocking has been a real joy as my companion the last few weeks. The name on it "God Jul" basically means "Merry Christmas" in Swedish. I used a Celtic Alphabet generator to come up with the lettering and the number style on "2007" inside the hem. (The KAL will remain up on Meg's website until the middle of January.)




I also added a star on one side of the name section, which matches the stars further on down the piece.




As I always try to knit projects that have elements I've not done before. This one has an afterthought heel which worked up well. And, I had not knit a message in a hem before, so that was fun! I did not make any afterthought pockets since it wasn't going to be a person's stocking. But what a great idea it is to knit pockets into stockings to hide yet more gifts! There is duplicate stitching for the yellow in the stars which I had worked once before. Yet, I had done duplicate stitching in embroidery years ago, so it wasn't a totally new concept.




The substitute postal person still has not brought my stamps, but did find the correct box in which to place this calendar that Marilyn van Keppel puts together from Retreat 2.75 pictures for those of us who wished one. What a joy it is. Marilyn did a great job!

Thank-you, Meg for the many possibilities, for hosting this KAL and for Retreat 2.75!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good work, looks nice. Yes, DH deserves a big hug because he supports your knitting. Yes I understand the stocking be a companion. I still have several to go, along with a shawl. It is good to learn new things. On the KAL I think I would knit a one row in a section like the heel in a differnt color to make it easier to do it at the end.

Anonymous said...

The stocking looks marvelous! I'll have to print of the KAL so that I can knit one after the holidays.
Don't forget, big stocking yield big presents!