This holiday stocking features a beautiful blend of short-row shapes with stranded colorwork. It also uses two different braid / plait techniques: the Lateral Braid, and a Latvian Plait. Both of these techniques are easy to learn even for the novice knitter. Several Youtube links are included in the pattern for reference. The body of the stocking has a provisional cast-on and is knit sideways and then grafted. Stitches are then picked up for the cuff which is knit in the round.

I encourage everyone to shop local throughout the year, but most especially during the holiday season. The fibers used for this stocking are: Farm Fresh “North Country Cheviot”, a DK Weight, locally sourced 100% New England Wool, and Making Tracks “Vermont Vice” with “Razzle Dazzle”, 100% American Falkland Wool, all from Junction Fiber Mill in White River Junction, Vermont. The mill itself is a small batch wool processing plant run by two sheep farmers and friends, Amanda and Peggy. You can learn more about their processing and yarns here: https://www.junctionfibermill.com/

NOTES:
Learning the Latvian Braid - A great video tutorial can be found online by the Paper Tiger, entitled “How to work a Latvian braid in the round | KNITTING TUTORIAL” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAmDr9UKrH0

The stranded colorwork used in this pattern entails several sections of long interior floats. You will want to catch these as you knit using any method you prefer. A great video example of this is available by Knit Purl Hunter, called “Stranded Knitting - Catching Long Floats” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD7arufsuvg