You’d have to live under a rock to not know that this holiday season has been all Star Wars, all the time… especially if you happen to have little (or even big) boys in the house. One of my husband’s birthday presents was tickets during opening weekend for Star Wars: TFA. We loved the movie and are so excited about the new characters, new droids, new villains… and questions. So many questions!
A few years ago, my mom gave me my old Christmas stocking, which was knitted by my grandmother, not long after I was born. I think every one of the grandkids got one of these homemade beauties, personalized with his or her name. I found a copy of the old pattern, a classic from the mid-40s on the Internet. I love mine, with the fuzzy angora Santa’s beard and the sequin sparkles. So kitchy and cool!
I’ve wanted to make one for J for years, and let’s face it, I’ve only got a few more years where he’ll still put up with this kind of fussy Mom-ness. So I decided to find a pattern and make it with a more modern spin, and personalize it with more than just his name.
I found the original pattern online, and then proceeded to find some really awesome Star Wars Intarsia patterns created by Leah Fenton and available on Ravelry as a free download. I kept it to a simple color combination, to honor the spirit of the original.
I made mine from an affordable, basic cotton worsted weight I found at the local Hobby Lobby. Probably, if I had it to do over, I’d choose a sport or dk weight to make the overall size less gargantuan. But, since I hate colorwork, keeping it larger and easier to manage ensured that I’d actually complete it by Christmas.
I did the lightsabers in duplicate stitch, with a strand of metallic thread worked in. This was the first project where I tried duplicate stitch, so that was a nice bonus! It’s rough in places, but overall I’m happy with the results. Plus, we were done in time for Christmas. May the Force be with you this season, everyone!
fdigitalis.com 