I remember taking a knitting class in college, and learning how to make something simple like a scarf or a washcloth. My instructor always showed us the possibilities of knitting, but I honestly never thought I could ever grasp the idea of the more advanced projects (like sweaters and socks). However, one day while browsing Ravelry, I came across a stocking pattern. It had 5 or 6 colors involved, and the novice knitter in me thought…man, there must be a TON of knots all over the back of the stocking. I had no idea how to weave in colors then, so I thought everything was knots, of course.

Then, the crafting bug hit me when I was on the stocking aisle one year. We bought these simple stockings for our mantel, but I just wasn’t happy with it. I wanted something much more personal with more meaning. I figured there had to be an approachable way to make those stockings that I saw on Ravelry, so I did my research. It really didn’t seem that bad, so I bought some red/green/ivory yarn and took the plunge. I started working on these around Halloween, and didn’t finish until early December. I saved the extra yarn specifically for more stockings in the future, whether it be more furbabies or possible human babies. A gal needs to be prepared.

Some knitting notes: For my and my husband’s stocking, I used charts that were included in the pattern. For Millie’s stocking, I googled dog fair isle charts for the paw, bone & fire hydrants. To make the rows fit, I drew my own charts based off of some shapes that I found. I used the duplicate stitch to add our names and ornaments to the trees on my husband’s stocking. I also took notes from Ravelry members, and decreased stitches EVERY round for the toe and heel, instead of every other round.

I’m so happy with how these came out. I had to refer to YouTube quite a few times, but it eventually worked out. I haven’t been able to line them yet, but that will be my project for next year.

I have an interesting attention span with crafts. When I find myself tired of one craft, I just move on to another. I never want to hate crafts, so it’s good to just jump around when one of them becomes boring or tedious. Sewing sort of became that for me. I don’t sew everyday, but I was just getting bored with it and wanted to do something different. Since the weather was cooling down, I forked out the knitting needles.

I haven’t knit in a while, so I had to refer back to my books and some Youtube videos, but it was completely like riding a bike. I was knitting like a mad woman in no time flat.

I told my husband that if he needed any gifts, I could knit some scarves up. He told me he would need 5, so I knew exactly what pattern I needed since I had about three weeks to make these. I bookmarked this pattern 2 years ago, because the design looks great and since you’re using BIG needles, it knits up fairly quickly.

Luckily, the next day Michael’s was having a major sale on Lion’s Brand Thick & Quick yarn, so I stocked up and got started.

As you can see, even the dog helped out (not really), but she was a cute cuddle buddy.

Instead of making these into a cowl, I just knit using double the length of yarn (since these skeins were more than double the length the pattern calls for) into a long, thick scarf.

Since I was in a bit of a time crunch, I would knit every day during my lunch breaks, in the afternoon and before bed. I’m pretty sure I knit one purl one in my sleep at some points. It was worth it in the end, though. Look at how beautiful they came out.

I absolutely loved seeing the reactions of my husbands aunts and grandmothers as they opened these. You could tell at first that they appreciated the scarves, but when I sort of hinted that I made them, their appreciation grew so much more. I love it when people appreciate handmade gifts. It was all worth it!

Did you go handmade with some of your gifts this Christmas?