Knit charming knee-length woollen winter stockings – see the free instructions!

Leg

Cast on 76 (80) stitches on the knitting needles with C1 and distribute the stitches evenly on the four needles. The row change point is between the IV and I needles.

Make a “knit 2, purl 2” rib in the round until the piece’s height is 3 cm. Knit 1 row more and evenly increase 2 stitches at the same time. The piece has 78 (82) stitches.

Start with the stranded knitting in the round at the 1 st row of chart A on the 3rd (1st) stitch. Knit the stitches 3–80 (1–82). Knit the rest of the rows in the chart. At the end of the chart, the piece has 56 (60) stitches. Distribute the stitches evenly on the needles, ensuring that the row change point stays in the same place and each needle has 14 (15) stitches.

Heel flap

Knit the heel with C1. Start with the heel flap by knitting the stitches of needle I on needle IV = 28 (30) stitches. Leave the other stitches waiting.

Turn the piece and make reinforced knit:

1st row (wrong side of the piece): Slip the 1st stitch (yarn on the wrong side of the piece) and purl the other stitches. Turn the piece.

2nd row (right side of the piece): *Slip 1 stitch (yarn on the wrong side of the piece), knit 1 stitch.* Repeat *–* until the end of the row. Turn the piece.

Repeat rows 1–2 for a total of 14 (15) times (= 28 (30) rows). Knit the wrong side row as above. Turn the piece.

Heel turn decreases

Continue with the same reinforced knit as above. Knit the right side row of the heel flap until 10 (11) stitches remain, knit 2 stitches together on the back loop and turn the piece. Slip the 1 st stitch, purl 8 (8) stitches and purl the next 2 stitches together. Turn the piece. Slip the 1st stitch, knit until there are 9 (10) stitches left, knit 2 together on the back loop and turn the piece.

Continue the decreases in the same way so that the side stitches decrease by one on every row and there is always 10 (10) stitches in the middle of the heel. When the side stitches end, distribute the stitches on two needles, 5 + 5 (5 + 5) stitches, and make a reinforced knit with the first 5 (5) stitches. The row change point is now here.

Gusset and foot

Knit the heel flap’s 5 (5) stitches. Pick up 14 (15) stitches on the left edge of the heel flap by knitting. Pick up 1 stitch between the heel flap and needle II and knit it through the back loop. Knit the stitches of needles II and III. Pick up 1 stitch between needle III and the heel flap and knit it through the back loop. Pick up 14 (15) stitches on the right edge of the heel flap by knitting. Knit the 5 (5) stitches of the heel flap.

Continue with these 68 (72) stitches of plain stitch in the round and start with the gusset decreases: knit the last 2 stitches at the end of needle I together and make a “slip, knit, pass over” decrease at the beginning of needle IV. Make the decreases every 2nd row until the piece has 56 (60) stitches: 14 (15) stitches on each needle.

Knit plain stitch until the sole is 13 (14) cm long. Then start stranded knitting from chart B. The motif is repeated 4 times on a row. After the rows in the chart, knit plain stitch with C1 until the sole is 20 (22) cm long or the little toe is covered.

Toe

Complete knitting the toe with C1. Continue with the plain stitch and start the decreases for the toe: at the end of needles I and III, knit 2 together + knit 1, and at the beginning of needles II and IV, knit 1 + make a “slip, knit, pass over” decrease.

Make the decreases as above on every 2nd row until there are 28 (32) stitches left in the piece. Then make the decreases on every round. When there are 8 stitches left in the piece, cut the yarn, pull it through the stitches and bind off well.

Knit the other sock in the same way.

Finishing

Bind off the yarn ends. Embroider the birds using duplicate stitches. Gently wet the socks and dry them lying on a flat surface. Steam if necessary.