Stocking Love

A year and a half after casting on, I have finally finished knitting my green stockings. These were mostly inspired by knickerbocker stockings designed by Henrietta Ryder of Richmond in North Yorkshire, who delighted in designing fold over stocking tops. However, the embroidery that I have added on the side panels was inspired by loferl, the embroidered calf warmers worn with lederhosen in Bavaria.

On most historical patterns for long (knee-high) stockings, the decreases that shape the leg down to the ankle are placed on the back of the leg, either at the centre back or at each side of a calf panel. However, I wanted the side panels on my stockings to run vertically top to bottom. Placing all the leg decreases behind them would have made the panels angle a little diagonally from nearer the front of the stocking down to the side of the stocking at the ankle. So I placed some of the leg decreases on the front panel. Not half of them though; because the calf muscle creates more fullness in the back of a human leg, than the front, there do need to be more decreases at the back than the front. I settled on having approximately one quarter of the decreases at the front, and this has worked well. 

I have of course shared pictures of my lovely new stockings with friends, one of whom asked what I will wear with them, leading to the following exchange:

Me: “I’ll probably mostly wear them under trousers.”

Friend: “Nooooo….that must be AGAINST THE LAW?  Too much work & beauty to be hidden.”

So I have received advice on what to wear with my new stockings. My favourite suggestion was from my friend Freyalyn, who suggested shorts. I think long green shorts with turn-ups above the knee would look very smart with them. What shoes though? Another friend suggested red Mary Janes, which I also think would look great with them. Though maybe with green shorts, green socks and red Mary Janes I would look too much like I work for Father Christmas? Hmmm…