Happy Friday to all, and to all a Free Pattern!
This week, we bring to you the Poinsettia Stockings (link here), a simple but beautiful home accent available in both knit and crochet versions! Rachel Brockman and Ashley Jane McIntyre (that’s me!) teamed up to bring you this festive duo inspired by the quintessential holiday flower, the poinsettia.
Here’s a bit of fun history that you can take along to holiday parties! The poinsettia flower is native to southern Mexico. There, it is called the Flor de la Noche Buena, meaning, Flower of the Holy Night. This name was actually given to it due to its resemblance to the renowned Star of Bethlehem. This perennial shrub can grow 10 to 15 feet tall in the wild, and flowers during the winter season. I learned this from Almanac.com, and you can read more about its various uses, popularity, and lore there. For now, let’s get back to our inspired stockings!
Deluxe Stripes comes in 9 different self-striping colorways which are perfect for giving simple projects an effortless bit of wow-factor. We decided to use color 310 Poinsettia as our guiding star for the design, leaning in to its classic holiday shades. This worsted weight yarn comes in 100g balls (218 yards) and is made of 75% super wash wool and 25% nylon. The bit of elasticity from the nylon was specially chosen by our design team to make this an ideal yarn for fast and cozy self-striping socks, like the Deluxe Socks. However, you can go beyond socks and make anything, like the Azelea Shawl, Art Class Cardigan, or of course, the Poinsettia Stockings.
Accenting the stocking as a complimentary color is our Deluxe Worsted Superwash in 738 Christmas Green, which matches a shade of green from the Deluxe Stripes used as the main color in the stocking. This yarn is made of 100% superwash wool and comes in in 100g balls (218 yards). It has a whopping 68 colors to select from, making it one of the ultimate stash staples, and is perfect for finding perfect matches to multi-colored yarns.
My favorite thing about this pattern is that you have access to either a knit version or a crochet version. It’s always so wonderful to be able to include both skills for the same piece! How many of you will try out both of them? If you know how to knit and crochet, this could be a great way to incorporate different fabric textures for a way to make your stockings stand out uniquely in addition to mixing and matching color options.
Whichever version you choose, be sure to share photos of your work on social media, and tag us in the post! Follow & tag us on Instagram at @Universal_Yarn and use the hashtag #UniversalYarn, or find and follow us on TikTok or Facebook at @UniversalYarn. We can’t wait to see all of the beautiful festive creations that our fiber friends come up with.
Happy Stitching!
Ashley Jane McIntyre