News from the Nice List

Striped Christmas Stockings July 06 2018

New! Striped Christmas stockings for 2018

striped hand knit Christmas stockings


About our yarns May 29 2018

Quality hand knit Christmas stockings begin with quality yarns. Here is the amazing story behind the yarns we use to knit our stockings.


Hark! A new angel Christmas stocking May 08 2018

New for Christmas 2018! A personalized angel Christmas stocking!


Elf hand knit personalized Christmas stocking May 07 2018

New for Christmas 2018, an adorable elf hand knit personalized wool Christmas stocking!

Elf Personalized Christmas stocking


Red white and green personalized Christmas stockings April 24 2018

We love classic red white and green striped Christmas stockings mixed the lodgey themes of the reindeer snowflakes and classic Christmas trees.

For Christmas 2018 reinvented this collection giving it an updated look and changing up the themes just a little bit. 

Red and white hand knit personalized Christmas stockings


Christmas stockings are the perfect personalized wedding gift April 18 2018

Personalized Christmas stockings are the perfect wedding gift for a new couple. Starting married life with matching hand made Christmas stockings kicks off a tradition that you can give for each new member of the couples family! Christmas stockings are beloved gifts that will be used and cherished year after year. 

personalized wedding gifts Christmas stockings


Christmas Stockings frosty Snowmen Hand Knit October 06 2017

Celebrate Christmas with adorable snowmen Christmas stockings from Hand Knit Holiday.

Our snowmen stockings are designed to be mixed and matched with each other or any of our adorable character Christmas stockings. 


Santa Stockings September 08 2017

Christmastime is such a special time of year thanks to Santa Claus. Of course he is a favorite to decorate our Christmas stockings. 

Hand knit personalized Christmas stockings


New Personalized Christmas Stockings September 06 2017

Personalized Vintage Christmas Stocking
Candle Tree Christmas StockingPersonalized Train Christmas Stocking
Bernat Santa Christmas Stocking

Hark! It's Christmas stocking season! September 04 2017

We spent all spring and summer knitting our Christmas stockings and are so excited to announce that they are ready for personalized and delivery now. 

Love snowmen? We do too! We have a new snowman stocking this year, frosty with his hat slightly askew sure is a jolly guy! You know, the children say he can laugh and play, just the same as you and me.

The new frosty stockings are is available in red or green. We also have our classic snowmen stockings, also available in red and green. 

Of course we love to personalize your stockings too!

Personalized Christmas stockings

Snowman Christmas StockingPersonalized Christmas StockingPersonalized Christmas Stocking Hand Knit Frosty Snowman


Santa Train Christmas Stocking June 16 2017

It may be the beginning of summer, but it's always Christmas here at Hand Knit Holiday! We've been working hard since January on lots (and lots) of new Christmas stockings! We had so many great designs it was hard to pick what to launch. As we're working on new photography, I'll share some of the new designs  here, so be sure to check back.

Our Bernat stockings have been best sellers for many years, it may be the vintage patterns that people are looking to add to, or maybe it's the fun details like sequence and beads. We are very excited to add to this collection with an adorable Christmas train stocking.

Bernat Train Christmas Stocking


Christmas stockings for families October 31 2014

Choosing the right Christmas stockings for your family can be a daunting task. If your family is anything like my family they will have their Christmas stockings for their whole life. I get emails from people all the time telling me that they are so happy we use vintage knitting patterns to create our hand knit Christmas stockings because we use the same knitting patterns their grandmother used to knit Christmas stockings for every member of their family!

 

Our collection of hand knitted Christmas stockings made from vintage Mary Maxim patterns are very popular Christmas stockings for children because they feature some lovely Christmas characters. The toy solider designs (seen here and here) are truly timeless character stockings for babies and men. The santa designs are very traditional Christmas stockings and are excellent for kids and parents. The feature a very vintage style Santa Claus and are available in traditional red and green.

If you have a new baby, or are looking for a unique gift for a new baby a hand knitted Christmas stocking is a gift that will last a lifetime. If you are unsure of the sex of the baby, choose a gender neutral Christmas stocking like the rocking horse or Candy Christmas stockings. Once the parents have chosen the babies name they can have it embroidered or they can return the stocking to us and we will embroider the babies name on it for a small fee. 

 

 


Christmas stockings and family traditions July 24 2014

Throughout the year we get lots of wonderful emails from customers who are excited to find someone to help them carry on their family tradition of making hand knit Christmas stockings for new members of their families. They usually begin something like this:

"I CAN'T believe you make the EXACT same Christmas stocking my great aunt Betty made for me when I was a baby! It is 34 years old and I still use it! In fact, you even sell the stocking she made for my brother and cousin! I had a baby last year and my great aunt Betty can't knit anymore. I am so sad because I want my daughter to have a hand knitted stocking - and I even just bought one for my husband too! Thank you!!!"

You have no idea how happy this makes US here at Hand Knit Holiday! Making hand knitted Christmas stockings for families is a true labor of love. It takes a long time to knit each Christmas stocking by hand - between eight and ten hours are spent knitting each one. But knowing that these stockings are going to carry on a family tradition makes the time knitting them well spent. 

 

Thank you & happy holidays


Bernat Christmas Stockings July 21 2014

Personalized Christmas StockingsBernat Yarns was founded in Massachusetts by Emile Bernat in the early 1900's. His company quickly grew to be one of the most respected yarn companies of the 20th century. During this time they published hundred's (perhaps thousands?) of knitting patterns and knitting kits. One of their most popular knitting products was their Christmas stocking knitting kits. The Bernat Christmas stocking kits came complete with a detailed knitting pattern, yarn, and embellishments like beads and sequins. To many families, the Bernat Christmas stockings are treasured family heirlooms. It was a tradition for the knitter in the family to knit a Christmas stocking for new members of the families like babies and newly weds. In fact, my own mother has her Bernat Christmas stocking that was knit for her in the 1940's. She even brings it with her when she travels to our home for Christmas! For that reason we knew we had to find a vintage Bernat Christmas stocking patterns. We searched for months and finally came across two of the original patterns! Since the embellishments we an important design element to the Bernat Christmas stockings we take the time to embellish our Bernat Christmas stockings too! 

 The Christmas tree Bernat Stocking has beads and sequins sewn onto the Christmas tree just as a loving grandmother would have done at the turn of the century.

 

The Bernat Santa Christmas stocking had been knit with a special novelty yarn to make Santa's beard stand out. 

Children of all ages will love these traditional Bernat Christmas stockings!


Vintage Christmas stocking patterns July 19 2014

As a professional knitter I have a real affinity for vintage knitting patterns. I especially love vintage Christmas stocking knitting patterns. I spend (entirely too much) time trolling places like ebay, yard sales, thrift shops, and the internet searching for these vintage patterns. I have amassed quite a collection over the years! 

 

There are a few Christmas stocking patterns that allude me. The Knit-O-Graph company published graph style knitting patterns in the 1950's. Their easy to follow patterns were very popular, especially their designs for children's sweaters, adult and children's socks, and super fun Christmas stockings. Oh how I want to get my hands on those Christmas stocking patterns!!! I know if I am persistent someone will post one for sale on ebay or etsy. 

 

Why are these Knit-O-Graf Christmas stocking patterns so elusive? It is easy enough to find the Knit-O-Graf sweater, necktie, and sock knitting patterns but no Christmas stocking patterns. I believe that is because the Christmas stocking patterns were the most treasured - even today if a family member dies the relatives will often hold on to the Christmas stocking patterns in hopes that someone will carry on the tradition of knitting Christmas stockings for new members of the family. Alas, I will wait...

Or, maybe you have one? Care to share?

Knit-o-Graf Christmas Stocking Pattern


Christmas stocking history July 18 2014

Are you wondering why we hang knitted stockings for santa to fill on Christmas eve?There is a wonderful legend of the history of Christmas stockings.

The story is that a long (long long) time ago there lived a man and his three beautiful daughters. Their mother had died leaving the poor father to raise his girls with little money. He was too poor to afford a dowry for his girls. The father was very worried about what would happen to his daughters as they were quickly approaching the age to be married.  Saint Nicholas was passing through this families village when he heard the villagers talking about the poor girls. St. Nicholas wanted to help but he heard their father was too proud to accept charity. After dark St. Nicholas threw three bags of gold through an open window and they landed in the girls' stockings. When the girls and their father woke up on Christmas morning to find the gold in their stockings they were of course overjoyed. The girls were able to get married and live happily ever after. 

 

This led to the custom of children hanging knitted Christmas stockings in hopes that St. Nicholas would fill them on Christmas eve. 


Welcome to Hand Knit Holiday! July 10 2014

Welcome to Hand Knit Holiday where you can shop for hand knit Christmas stockings. We started Hand Knit Holiday because we knew families were looking for high quality hand knitted Christmas stockings. We offer a variety of hand knit Christmas stockings made from vintage knitting patterns and some of our own traditional Christmas stocking designs.

 

Why do we use vintage Christmas stocking patterns? We work from vintage Christmas stocking knitting patterns because we know there are a lot of families out there who want to carry on a tradition of giving hand knitted Christmas stockings to new members of the family but don't have anyone to knit them for them. We have vintage patterns from companies like Mary Maxim and Bernat - likely the two most famous makers of Christmas stocking knitting patterns from the 1940's and 1950's. Families all over the US and Canada hand their hand knit Mary Maxim Christmas stockings and knit Bernat Christmas stocking by their fireplaces waiting for Santa to fill them. Now you can carry on that tradition with the help of Hand Knit Holiday!

It is still early in the summer so maybe you aren't thinking about Christmas stockings but here at Hand Knit Holiday that's ALL we think about all year long. This time of year we are busy knitting all of our beautiful stockings so they are ready to ship to your house. In the coming weeks you can expect to ready more about our process and a little about our designs. 

Thanks for visiting and stop back soon!