It's that time of year again – the final countdown to Christmas is here! Many of us have already decorated our homes, but what if you need new stockings for your mantel? This week we have two different quick & easy knit holiday stocking patterns to share with you. Plus Kelley has tips for easily adding beads to your knitting and how to pick up an afterthought heel with lifelines. 

Quick & Easy Knit Stocking Patterns

This week Kelley shared a free stocking pattern from the Alpaca Direct website and a paid pattern from Ravelry, she used Vintage Chunky to knit hers. In the video above, Kelley shows how to add beads to the stocking using a crochet hook. The Ravelry holiday stocking patterns by Faye Kennington were knit by Meg using Plymouth Encore. Both patterns can be knit up in just a couple evenings, and they're totally customizable! 

How to Add Beads to Your Knitting

There are several ways to add beads to your knitting – but Kelley's crochet hook trick is the easiest! When you get to a stitch that needs a bead, slip the worked stitch off of your right hand needle and hold it in your left hand. With your right hand and a crochet hook, thread the bead onto the crochet hook and pull the yarn loop through the bead with the hook. You'll want to use a crochet hook small enough to go through your beads, but large enough to grab the loop. 

How to Make Afterthought Heels Easier

An afterthought heel is when you knit a sock (or stockings in this case) as a long tube and add the heel after the rest is completed. When you're knitting the tube and get to the round before where the heel should start, identify the center of the heel placement. Knit a quarter of the stitches before the heel, and a quarter after and place a lifeline through them. Finish the round. Then knit those same stitches with waste yarn. Return the stitches to the left needle and knit with the working yarn. Place a lifeline through those stitches. Now you'll have two rounds of working yarn with lifelines through the heel stitches, and one section with waste yarn. When you go to knit the heel, pick up the top and bottom stitches using the lifelines! This takes the headache out of picking up stitches and helps keep those stitches secure when removing the waste yarn. 

Have you, or will you knit stockings for your family?