Bryan's Stocking by Carolyn Bell

This stocking was stitched for my son Bryan. It is my second Peter Ashe design. The first one was stitched for my husband. I found this design, with its myriad of colors and details, to be very challenging. It was hard to keep it from being too busy and yet be true to the design. St. Nicholas is so elegant and regal looking and I wanted to treat him with dignity.

I chose to stitch his coat in purple rather than the traditional red as it was painted. It is stitched with Impressions and the leaf garland is floss. The random French knots are Impressions. The boots were done with Silk N Ivory. Beard and hair are stitched in the Outline stitch Impressions and Whisper, the lantern is Marlitt, the staff is overdyed silk in the Outline stitch. The belt is Petite Very Velvet, the buckle and buttons are Marlitt. The bag is done with the Slashed Cross Stitch using Needle Necessities overdyed floss. The trim on the boots and hat is Turkey Work using Impressions. I stitched the gloves with the Upright Cross Stitch with floss, the sleeves are Double Stitch with floss. I shaded the blue background with Splendor, maintaining the same stitch for the ice and snow but changing the threads to Snow. I chose the alternating cashmere stitch because it worked with the yellow dentil border. For the holly band, I stitched the leaves with shades of Gumnuts Stars and Aztec, the berries are Spring. The herringbone borders are shades of colors used throughout the piece.