The foot for these man’s stockings is a re-creation of a 16th-century stocking foot in the Museum of London (no.A13833). The original was knitted in silk at a gauge of 18 sts per inch (approx. 72 sts per 10 cm), a far finer gauge than is practical now. My version is knitted in Regia 4-ply, at a gauge less than half of the original, so that much detail is necessarily lost.
In the earlier medieval period people wore cloth hose or leg coverings. It was only during the reign of Henry VIII that knitted stockings started to appear in England. These were either in wool or silk but would have been relatively rare. This skilfully knitted silk stocking-foot is the only example of its kind in England. A highly fashionable garment, it was probably imported from Italy or Spain. It may have been sold in one of the luxury drapery shops in Cheapside.
Cheapside, a street in the City of London, has been from its earliest days a center for markets (the name is from the Old English “cēap”, a trade or bargaining) and later in the Tudor and Stuart periods was lined with numerous shops selling luxury goods.
This particular stocking foot is clearly related to the “Barnim foot” with its inverted gusset opening from the center bottom of the heel outwards to the toe along the bottom of the foot, but it is clear even from the single photograph available that there are certain details rather unique to this stocking: the heel flap has a gentle decrease that narrows it towards the bottom of the foot, there is a double line of garter stitch not only along the edge of the heel flap but also along the top of the gusset and a single line along the edges of the sole gusset as well, and the line of garter stitches along the top gusset continues around the wedge toe. I have therefore included all of these details in my version below.
Please feel free to comment on the historical accuracy (or not), or with any suggestions for improving it, or clarifications!
Note that on the first section of the instep gusset, where the decreases come more rapidly than they do later, in order to keep the instep and sole gussets traveling towards each other consistently, you will need to omit some of the decreases at certain points. This is because the sole gusset is decreased at its outside edge every 5 rounds but the instep gusset is decreased (at the same spot!) every 2 rnds, so that if you just work the two gussets side-by-side, as it were, you would have some places where the instep gusset would decrease on 3 successive rounds, creating a crooked line. This omission comes every fifth round, up to rnd 30.
These instructions presume some familiarity with sock foot knitting, and, obviously, that you have just knitted the leg of a period stocking with a center-back “seam” stitch.
Cheapside Foot (v.1.3)
Heel flap
Work all sl sts p-wise with yarn to WS. You do not need a marker for the center of the sole at this point, because the seam st will indicate it.
Set-up: From beg of previous rnd (center sole/seam st), work ¼ the total number of stitches in the stocking. Turn, and working flat, work these sts and the same number of sts on the other side of seam st, for ½ of the total number of sts in the stocking less 1 (the seam st). You should have the same number of plain sts on either side of the seam st, i.e. an odd number of heel sts. Work heel flap over these sts, keeping seam st as set.
• Row 1: Sl 1, K to end, keeping seam st as established.
• Row 2: Sl 1, K2, P to last 3 sts (keeping seam st as established), K2, P1.
• At the same time, work mirrored decreases at each side of heel flap (just inside the garter edging) 4 times evenly down length of heel flap (e.g., on rows 9, 17, 25, and 33 of a 34-row heel flap).
Rep these 2 rows until you have worked the same number of rows as there are sts at the top of the heel flap. (8 sts dec’d)
Turn heel
• Row 1: Sl 1, work to 2 sts before marker, K2tog, sl m, SSK, work to end — 2 sts dec’d.
• Row 2: Sl 1, P to last 3 sts (keeping seam st as established if desired), K2, P1.
Rep these 2 rows 4 times more, for a total of 10 rows except on the last row work the seam st together with its neighbor, for an even number of rem sts — 11 sts dec’d.
Work half of the sts. Fold heel flap inside out, RS together, and work a 3-needle bind-off on these sts. 1 st rem. Do not cut yarn.
Place marker, pick up and K 1 st for each sl st along edge of heel flap, plus 2 more at join to avoid a gap at that spot. Place marker. Work across instep sts, place marker, pick up and K 2 sts before heel flap (again, to avoid a gap later), then 1 st for each sl st along rem edge of heel flap, place marker, pick up and K 1 st, place marker for beg of round. There is 1 st on either side of beg marker at the sole.
Shape instep and foot gussets
Work in the round, beg at center sole. Right-leaning lifted increase (RLI) = With the right-hand needle, lift the stitch below the next st on the left-hand needle, and place it on the left-hand needle, being careful not to let it slip under the next st; K the new st. Left-leaning lifted increase (LLI) = With the left-hand needle, lift the stitch two stitches below the st on the right-hand needle, leaving it on the left-hand needle, and K this new st.
Note that on the very first round worked only, there is only 1 st on either side of the round marker, so Kfb may be easier — on all successive increase rnds, work mirrored lifted increases. It is easier to work the RLI one st to the left, which is a knit st, rather than in the garter column.
**Important: In order to keep the two gusset shapings consistent, you will need to omit the sole gusset decrease on every fifth round, from Rnd 5 to Rnd 30 — see note above.
• Rnd 1: K to 1 st bef m (first sole marker), Kfb, sl m, K to 2 sts bef m (first instep marker), K2tog, sl m, K across instep sts to marker (second instep marker), sl m, SSK, K to marker (second sole marker), sl m, Kfb, K to end.
• Rnds 2, 4, 6, and 8: K to m, sl m, P1, K to 2 sts before m, K2tog, sl m, P2, K across instep sts to 2 sts before m, P2, sl m, SSK, K to 1 sts bef m, P1, sl m, K to end — 2 sts dec’d.
• Rnds 3, 7, and 9: K.
• **Rnd 5: K to 1 st before marker, LLI, sl m, K to marker, sl m, K across instep sts to marker, sl m, K to marker, sl m, RLI, K to end — 2 sts inc’d.
• **Rnd 10: K to 1 st before marker, LLI, sl m, P1, K to 2 sts before marker, K2tog, sl m, P2, K across instep sts to 2 sts bef marker, P2, sl m, SSK, K to 1 st before marker, P1, sl m, RLI, K to end.
Work as established, keeping the two gussets increasing or decreasing as established with the exceptions noted above, and at the same time keeping as established the column of 1 garter st each side on outside of sole gusset and the column of 2 garter sts on instep side of each instep gusset.
Work until you have the desired number of foot sts.
Continue sole gusset
Next rnd: SSK, K to m, sl m, M1, K to m, M1, sl m, K to 2 sts bef instep sts, K2tog, K to end.
Work 3 rnds even.
Rep these last 4 rnds until all sole sts are between the two markers.
If necessary, work even until desired length of foot less 2 inches.
Toe
• Rnd 1: Work to 3 sts from end of needle 1, K2 tog, K1; on needle 2, K1, SSK, K to end; on needle 3, K to 3 sts from end, K2tog, K1: on needle 4, K1, SSK, to to end — 4 sts dec’d.
• Rnd 2: Work plain.
Rep these 2 rnds until sts have been reduced by half on each needle. Work Rnd 2 only, until there are 2 sts on each needle. Work a 3-needle bind off, graft, or cut yarn and draw the end through the remaining sts — though note that grafting is probably not correct for a period stocking. (The ones in these photos have a drawn-up finish.)
Common heel and wedge toe adapted from Nancy Bush’s Folk Socks (Interweave Press, 1994), and foot adapted from Anne DesMoines’ “Barnim-Style Stockings” in Knitting Traditions magazine, Spring 2014 issue.
A Bluestocking Knits 