I’m always busy making Christmas gifts up until the last minute. My go-to last-minute gifts are usually hats or cowls. But let’s be honest, very few children are excited to receive a hat or cowl.

While I relish my role as the maker of practical items children have to feign gratefulness for each year, this year I’d like to make them something they’ll be genuinely excited about. I don’t expect them to be thrilled about the stocking itself, but I’ll fill it with chocolates and candy canes. (They’re small and have poor taste, so I won’t have to spend much on the sweets.)

Knit in a chunky wool, the main body of this stocking can be knit quite easily in an afternoon. Block it overnight and it’ll be ready to stuff with sweets by the next morning!

If you have a little more time, you can add pom-poms, tassels, or other embellishments. If you have some basic sewing skills and sewing machine, I’ve included simple instructions for adding a fabric lining, which will help the knit fabric keep its shape over the years.

So you won’t have to worry much about gauge, tracing your finished, blocked stocking makes the lining template. This method ensures your lining will fit no matter the final size of your stocking, but, obviously, if you’d like to attain the measurements listed, you’ll need to knit at the gauge suggested.