When I worked as a seasonal ranger for the National Park Service, August 25 was a great excuse for a party. Dubbed “Christmas in August”, we enjoyed more of each other’s company with a dose of Christmas cooking and perhaps a small present or two. When you live in a transient, isolated small community, hanging out together is a pretty popular activity. Most of us wouldn’t be together for the winter holiday and the summer season was beginning to wind down. While there might be mulled cider at “Christmas in December,” there never were stockings and Saint Nick wasn’t even discussed.
Thanks to the NPS for this aerial view.
Now that you know this little tidbit about me, you can understand why debuting a Christmas stocking pattern in late August isn’t so crazy. It gives you plenty of time for you to knit up a couple for this Christmas.
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to reproduce Christmas stockings for a Stoneham, MA family. When their girls were small, a neighbor had knit them each a stocking. Now that the girls are women and building their own families, the parents wanted to add a stocking for the son in laws as well. The original stocking was typical sock construction, with a seam up the back and an attached loop to hang from the chimney. I altered the pattern to work the stocking in the round and incorporated the loop into the stocking itself. For those who hate to seam, this is a simple stocking for you!
I’m planning to riff on this pattern for some color work holiday stockings, but click The Warren Christmas Stockings by Alanna Nelson for your own copy of this classic Christmas stocking to knit in worsted weight yarn.
