crochetguideKnow these stitches: chain, half double crochet, single crochet, slip stitch
Materials and yarn planning
Yarns we’ve reviewed that suit it: Lion Brand Basic Stitch Anti-Pilling yarn, Lion Brand Heartland yarn, Lion Brand Wool-Ease worsted yarn. For the hook, choose by size and handle.
Yarn estimate: the 1,866 half double crochets of the two panels at about 6 cm of medium yarn each come to about 112 m of red, and the 336 single crochets of the cuff at about 4 cm each to about 13 m of white. Allow about 10 m more for the seam, the loop and the tails.
For an exact figure in your own yarn, weigh a washed swatch in the pattern stitch: the weighed-swatch yarn calculator scales it to each flat panel or strip. Allow a little more for seams, edging and tails.
Finished size and gauge
At 14 half double crochets and 10 rows per 10 cm, the foot is 34 stitches by 12 rows (about 24 by 12 cm) and the leg 21 stitches by 25 rows (about 15 by 25 cm), so the stocking stands about 37 cm tall, plus about 6 cm of cuff. Another swatch only makes the stocking bigger or smaller in the same shape. For a wider leg, add the same number of stitches to the foot and the leg, and 1 more single crochet to each cuff round for every stitch you add. These are calculations from the counts, not a measured sample.
The gauge calculator compares your swatch with the pattern. A stitch name you do not know is in the abbreviation chart; a UK pattern’s names are in the US/UK term reference.
The pattern
Count rows for this patternPanels: make 2
- Chain 36. Row 1: half double crochet in the third chain from the hook and in each chain across: 34 stitches. The skipped chains do not count as a stitch.
- Rows 2–12: chain 2 and turn (it does not count), half double crochet in each stitch across: 34. This is the foot.
- Row 13: chain 2 and turn, half double crochet in the first 21 stitches only: 21. Leave the other 13 stitches unworked; they are the top of the toe.
- Rows 14–37: chain 2 and turn, half double crochet in each stitch across: 21. This is the leg. Fasten off.
Join the panels
- Lay one panel on the other, both the same way up, so the edges match and both toes point the same way. Rows of half double crochet look much the same on both sides, so either side can face out.
- Join the red yarn at the top corner on the toe side. Single crochet through both layers down the front of the leg, along the top of the toe, around the toe, along the sole and up the heel side to the top. Work 2 single crochets into the side of each row, 1 into each stitch along the sole and the top of the toe, and 3 into each outside corner. Leave the top open and fasten off.
Cuff and loop
- Round 1: join white at the heel-side seam. Chain 1 (it does not count) and single crochet in each stitch along both top edges: 42. Join with a slip stitch to the first single crochet.
- Rounds 2–8: chain 1, single crochet in each stitch around and join: 42.
- Loop: at the heel-side seam, chain 15 and slip stitch into the same stitch. Fasten off and weave in all the ends.
Check the work
Each panel has 34 stitches in Rows 1–12 and 21 in Rows 13–37. The cuff has 42 stitches in every round, 21 from each panel.
- If a panel leans or narrows, count the stitches at the end of each row: a stitch lost at a turn is the usual cause.
- If the two panels differ in height, lay them together before joining and add or undo a row on one of them.
- If the cuff flares, work it with a hook 0.5 mm smaller.
Updated . Stitch counts checked row by row; we haven’t crocheted a sample of this one yet. How the patterns are checked. Keep your yarn label, hook and swatch on the printable project worksheet.