Knitter for Hire

A lady came to me earlier this year, wanting me to make a Christmas stocking. I thought it was a little early, but the story was actually sweet. Both her sons had these stockings made for them when they were young, and one had gotten married. She wanted one for her new daughter-in-law next year. There was no pattern, and no idea what the original yarn was, but I was able to chart it out with my mad sock+colorwork skills.
Son's on the bottom, new version on top:



The real trouble wound up being the yarn. These were odd vintage colors, and I could not find the right combination of color and weight. The hobby stores were useless, and the shops weren't exactly featuring Christmas colors this spring. I finally ordered the yarn in the right colors and the right weight from the LYS, but unfortunately they delivered the wrong weight, twice. The lady was a little cranky it was taking so long.


Once I had the yarn, it was quick work. I had already charted out the patterns, so it took less than a week to do the whole thing, which was not a stretch at all. She wound up being absolutely delighted with it, which always makes me happy. I passsed on the pattern and leftover yarn, just in case she might need another stocking at some point.


In Summary:

Yarn: Brown Sheep Co. Nature Spun Sport, in vintage Christmas colors, 1 skein each color

Pattern: My own, charted from a vintage stocking

Needles: Size 5 (3.75 mm) dpns

Time: About a week of actual knitting

Cost: I made money on this one! Yay me!