(2) and (3). The knee, and the leg down to the heel, are generally plain knitted; it is only children’s stockings that are fancy knitted.
(4). The heel, is worked as straight knitting backwards and forwards; by knitting first one row plain and then turning back and knitting it purl. It is shaped to the foot by the intakes at the top.
(5). The foot is knitted plain, with intakes from the heel onwards, to get rid of the superfluous stitches. Then knit a plain piece, without a seam-stitch, till you begin to decrease for the toe, which can be worked in several different ways.
To ensure the right proportions between the several parts of a stocking, the following directions should be attended to. An ornamental top must never be taken into account, in measuring the length of the leg. When the top part is finished, you make the seam, at the beginning of the first needle of the round, of one, or two purled stitches, or sometimes, a narrow pattern of purled stitches. This marks the middle of the stocking. For ordinary-sized stockings, knit plain from the top-band, till the knitted piece, forms a square.
For stockings that are to cover the knee, knit half as much again, that is one and a half times the width of the stocking. This brings you to the calf of the leg. Pull the third stitch after the seam, over the second, and knit together the two last but one before the seam. There should be 12 rounds between each of the first 3 or 4 intakes, and after that 8, until this part is one and a half times the width of the knee in length, and a quarter narrower.
For the ankle, knit a plain piece, half the width of the knee in length, without intakes.
For the heel, count the stitches on the four needles, exclusive of the seam, and put two stitches more than the quarter of the whole number on to the needles, to the right and left of the seam.
For a heel to fit well, it should be as long as it is wide. In order that they should wear better, the heel and the toe are often knitted with double thread. Coton à feutrer D.M.C[A] is made expressly for that purpose, and should be wound round the thread of which the whole stocking is made. For the instep, the part between the heel and toe, you must go on decreasing from the heel, until you have 2 stitches less on each needle, than you had at the ankle. Then knit the plain part of the foot, which should be as wide as the ankle, after which proceed to decrease for the toe, which should be a quarter the length of the whole foot. In spite of this careful subdivision, it is always well to count the stitches, to ensure perfect regularity. The number of stitches cast on, at the outset, for the same-sized stockings, must depend upon the size of the wool or cotton; we can only give the numbers approximately. Our calculation is based on the use of 5 needles; the given number has therefore to be cast on four times.
| Coton à tricoter D.M.C Numbers to be used | Number of stitches to be cast on one needle for stocking ordinary-sized | Number of stitches to be cast on one needle for stockings that are to reach above the knee |
| 25 | 32 | 36 |
| 30 | 34 | 38 |
| 35 | 36 | 42 |
| 40 | 40 | 46 |
| 50 | 42 | 50 |
Scalloped edge (figs. [355] and [356]).—This is the simplest and strongest edge you can have for a stocking, and is called the cat’s-teeth edge.