Christmas Stocking - 1999

Christmas, 1999 – as my daughter and I were hanging our stockings, we realized that mine was not going to survive another season. It either had to be retired or there would be nothing left to save. Each of our stockings were hand-knitted; my mother had knitted mine when I was an infant, my husband's grandmother had knitted his when he was a baby, and my daughter's was knitted by a friend when she was born. This was particularly poignant as my mother had passed away just a few short months before. Knitting is not my specialty; instead I decided that I would make a Victorian crazy-quilt style stocking. All of the fabrics are white – silk, satin, cotton; all of the threads and embellishments are red, green and gold. The name on my stocking was Mary J. – odd that it would have my last initial, but I felt it was important that it be included on my new stocking as well. My old stocking now proudly hangs next to the new – and is accompanied by special instructions to Santa not to actually place anything into that stocking (as if he didn't know!).