Cabled Christmas Stocking in Caron Simply Soft - Downloadable PDF

Cabled Christmas Stocking in Caron Simply Soft – Knitting Pattern by Kathy Perry

This free downloadable PDF knitting pattern by designer Kathy Perry guides knitters through creating a beautifully detailed Cabled Christmas Stocking using Caron Simply Soft yarn. Finished at approximately 7 inches wide by 16 inches tall (from top to heel), this festive holiday decoration is a show-stopping addition to any mantelpiece. The stocking features rich cable textures across its body, a contrast-color cuff, and classic stocking shaping including a worked heel — making it a rewarding project for knitters who enjoy structured, technique-rich work.

What Is Being Made

The pattern produces a single knitted Christmas stocking intended as a holiday decoration. With its generous sizing and intricate cable braid panel, it is designed to be displayed rather than worn, making it a keepsake-quality seasonal piece. The stocking is worked flat and features a folded contrast cuff, a cable-textured body, and short-row heel shaping for a realistic, three-dimensional stocking silhouette.

Design Details and Construction

The stocking is constructed in clearly defined sections. The contrast cuff is worked first in Stockinette stitch, incorporating a turning row to create a neat folded hem. Color changes within the cuff add visual interest before transitioning into the main body of the stocking. The body is dominated by a wide Aran Cable Braid panel spanning 70 stitches, which gives the stocking its signature textured, heirloom appearance. The heel is shaped using the Wrap and Turn short-row technique, a method that creates smooth, gap-free curves without leaving holes in the fabric.

Techniques Used

• Wrap and Turn (wrp-t) Short Row Shaping – used to form the heel of the stocking; the yarn is brought forward, a stitch is slipped, the yarn is returned, and the slipped stitch is replaced on the left needle before turning. Wraps are worked together with their wrapped stitches on subsequent rows to keep the fabric smooth.
• Color Changing – the cuff incorporates three colors of Caron Simply Soft, requiring clean yarn changes between sections.
• Folded Hem Construction – a turning row (worked as a knit row on the wrong side) creates a crisp fold line for the contrast cuff.
• Cable Chart Reading – the Aran Cable Braid pattern is presented as a chart, requiring knitters to follow a 10-row repeat across a 70-stitch panel.

Stitches Used

• Stockinette Stitch (St st) – used throughout the cuff and as a background stitch in portions of the stocking body; knit on right-side rows, purl on wrong-side rows.
• Aran Cable Braid Pattern – a 10-row repeat worked over a panel of 70 stitches, combining cables, knit, and purl stitches to create a complex interlocking braid texture.
• C4B (Cable 4 Back) – slip 2 stitches to a cable needle held at the back of the work, knit 2, then knit 2 from the cable needle; creates a right-leaning cable cross.
• C4F (Cable 4 Front) – slip 2 stitches to a cable needle held at the front of the work, knit 2, then knit 2 from the cable needle; creates a left-leaning cable cross.
• Knit and Purl combinations – wrong-side rows throughout the cable panel are worked by knitting the knit stitches and purling the purl stitches as they face the knitter, maintaining the established rib and cable structure.

Materials

• Yarn: Caron Simply Soft, an aran weight yarn (170 g / 6 oz; 288 m / 315 yds per skein). Three colorways are used:
  • Color A – Autumn Red (9730): 1 skein
  • Color B – Dark Sage (9707): 1 skein
  • Color C