Growing up, the tradition at Christmas was to have Christmas dinner on the eve of Christmas day. After dinner, stockings were hung and my sibs and I were shuffled off to bed so Santa could come. As an adult, I have heard some tales about this gift or that requiring assembly that only a child can handle. Our stockings were red felt stitched with white yarn and decorated with white felt cutouts, commercial and not very sturdy, fading and failing a bit more each year.
When I married and we started our family, I was committed to handmade stockings for each of us. I bought a crocheted pattern kit for hubby and decided that the same pattern could be made for me. The yarn for his is nice and firm and holds it shape well, mine on the other hand stretches and distorts. As each child was conceived, I bought a crewel work stocking kit which I lined for stability and wearability for each of them and the first two children got theirs for their first Christmas, the youngest didn’t get his until his second Christmas. Hey, after all, I had three children under the age of 7 and was outnumbered even with hubby’s help. Each of those stockings moved with the adult child to their new home, except eldest son’s and he generally spends Christmas here.
The tradition allowed the children to have their stockings as soon as they came downstairs to the living room, but the rest of the gifts had to wait for breakfast and the Christmas story.
When our second grandchild came along, daughter asked only a month before Christmas if I would make her son a stocking. Not having enough time to do a crewell work one and having yet to make socks successfully to knit one, I quilted it. It is cute, but firm and tight and hard to stuff.
Two years ago, daughter was due with her second in late November, but she asked way in advance and my knitting had improved to the point where I felt I could handle not only knitting the stocking, but doing colorwork to have a pattern on it. This stocking led to youngest son, who had also had a child that year asking if I could do one for his two children and our eldest grandson had never gotten his own stocking, so he also entered the queue. That meant I had 4 knit stockings to complete and send off by Christmas,
Traditionally, the toe of the stocking holds a small mesh bag of gold foil covered chocolate coins. They have become more difficult for me to find here in the mountains, but generally I can get them at Target. Not this year. There will be no gold foil covered coins, but the other traditions will live on.
I hope you and your family celebrate your special holiday with love and peace.
Cabin Crafted 