Day three of the Twelve Days of Christmas Crafts series…Hand Knit Christmas Stockings.
My Grandmother was an award winning and very prolific knitter. She won blue ribbons at the Minnesota State Fair year after year. Her sweaters and afghans are epic. 
Fortunately, I inherited many of her beautiful sweaters and a couple afghans. Unfortunately, she notoriously had questionable taste when it came to picking yarn colors. She really liked the unnatural colors. Even though the craftsmanship was exquisite , the colors(mostly the colors), sizes, and styles of the sweaters prevent me from wearing them often, if ever.
I’ve had space bag full of sweaters under my bed for years just waiting to be worn. I revisit them once in a while to see if any of them have come back in style. I’ve been thinking of dyeing a couple of the sweaters that are a good fit, but too crazy colored, so I can wear them, but just haven’t made the time to do it. So, I decided to make one of the sweaters and a shawl into Christmas stockings for my kids!
This particular sweater my gramma made for my mom, and my mom wore this one a lot. It has fond memories. I’ve been conflicted about repurposing these for a long time now, and finally came to the resolution that it’s better to use them than let them sit under my bed. Even if the they don’t serve the original purpose. 
This beautiful shawl has a fringe along the edge that I love. 
I laid an old stocking on top of the sweater for a template and cut all the way around. 
The fun part is you can position your stocking to take advantage of the details like buttons, pockets, a change in pattern, or seams. At first I thought I didn’t want any of those details on the stockings. This stocking for instance has a pocket on one side that I just couldn’t avoid when cutting, so I figured I’d hang it on the back(against the fireplace to hide it), but when I hung it on the fireplace I realized how cute it is with a little greenery and some winter berry tucked in the pocket. 
I actually like the oddly placed details like the seams and the pocket because it reminds of the original garment and my mom tucking her hand in that pocket. tear.
I sewed all the way around the stocking with the wrong sides together, flipped it right side out, turned over the top cuff and attached a loop of ribbon for hanging, and voila …ready for Santa. 
A very special stocking for each of my kids that will always have fond memories and a story to tell.
I can’t wait to tell the story of these stockings to everyone that comes over this holiday season. What do you think? Would you do the same thing with hand knitted sweaters?
Check out day 1-paper fan ornaments, and day 2-Christmas Lumbar pillows, of the twelve days of Christmas Crafts if you haven’t already.
Merry Christmas!
Joseph Lombardo says
December 7, 2018 at 12:44 pmI was wondering what was going to happen with those sweaters.
I think repurposing is better than no purposing.
You definitely did the right thing.
They’re good looking stockings!