Thursday, December 07, 2006

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  • By the Chimney

    And the stockings were hung by the chimney with care . . .
    -The Night Before Christmas, Clement Clarke Moore

    I'm glad you all liked my our Christmas decorating. You'll be pleased to know that the beau and I are still on good speaking terms, so long as I don't publish any photos of him crawling under the tree on the blog. Fair enough, I suppose.

    Several of you requested a closer look at the stockings, and some even thought that I had knit them. Not quite, but I did make them.
    I made these stockings last year shortly after Christmas. (I do most of my Christmas crafting after Christmas, it seems. Beforehand I'm too busy knitting gifts, and afterwards it helps prolong the season for me.) I needed a new stocking, you see, because Santa had put a little too much coal in it. Real coal, not just that overpriced Restoration Hardware stuff. It's a family tradition.*

    You probably do not recall that my original plan last year had been to knit Christmas stockings for the family. Let's face it - that's a lot of work, especially when they need to be lined, and I was on a stashalong at the time, and, well, I had other things to knit. So I decided it'd be fun to play with felting sweaters, and betook myself to the thrift store for sweaters to felt. I'll save the crafty details for the next post, but I think they came out quite well.

    And since I'm now using them in San Diego, isn't it a good thing I didn't put any names on them? Some day I'd love to make the beau and myself gorgeous Fair Isle stockings in real Shetland wool, or maybe some heavily patterned Aran ones, or something. But you didn't really think I'd knit for him this year, did you?

    *A friend of mine has a theory that there are two types of families in the world: Those who get toothbrushes in their stockings and those who do not. We've always fallen squarely in the toothbrush camp - Who doesn't want to open more presents? And even though I am far from home (and working a 30-hour day from Christmas Eve through noon on Christmas day), I'll still get the family experience - my mom's package full of little stocking stuffers has already arrived . . . and it's overflowing. Perhaps we should hang two stockings each this year?

    16 Comments:

    Blogger cindy said...

    What a super idea.....felted sweaters for stockings! Neat!!

    12/07/2006 1:36 PM  
    Blogger Elisa said...

    The stockings are great. Yes, please, on the crafty details - that looks like a perfect January project.

    12/07/2006 2:12 PM  
    Blogger Jenn said...

    The stockings are great! I have two bags of sweaters waiting to be felted, and have some of those in mind for a few.

    12/07/2006 2:35 PM  
    Blogger Elinor said...

    Mmmm, you make me want to hit the local goodwill shop! Those are great! My parents suck at the Christmas routines so now that I'm an adult, I'm all about stupid stocking stuffers (don't forget toothpaste to go with all the candy) and homemade ornaments - one new one each year!

    12/07/2006 3:07 PM  
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Hi Theresa! Your decorating and stockings came out great! Enjoy your moments despite the workload! We Miss You but as they say, "All hearts come home for Christmas!" Love, Mom

    12/07/2006 3:20 PM  
    Blogger jennie said...

    Brilliant idea with the stockings... I should try that. We have handknit stockings at my house (back in the day, my mom was super crafty. she doesn't knit anymore, though). My mom always complains that she made them too large (they are awfully big) and so every year "santa" fills a considerable portion of those stockings with things like toothbrushes, soap, deoderant, even underwear. As a grown-up, I'll say I appreciate it much more now than I did as a kid. It makes me happy to know that other families do this too!

    12/07/2006 5:29 PM  
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    SUCH a great idea! Did you just felt, cut, and sew? Or was it more complicated than that? I'm pretty much never going to make a detailed fair isle stocking, so something like this may be the closest I come.

    12/07/2006 7:14 PM  
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    What a great idea....the stocking are wonderful.

    12/08/2006 8:45 AM  
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    I'm trying to decide which is mine?

    12/08/2006 2:25 PM  
    Blogger AR said...

    The stockings are gorgeous! Great idea. We get toothbrushes in our stockings and candy. Silly Santa.

    12/08/2006 5:18 PM  
    Blogger silverarrowknits said...

    The stockings look so cozy and Christmasy! They really are lovely

    12/08/2006 11:39 PM  
    Blogger Anneliese Kelly said...

    What a great idea! You'll have to teach me how.

    We always get a book, a CD and a gift certificate to Barnes & Noble for more books and CDs. No toothbrushes. No coal, either, though Santa used to leave a sleighbell at the bottom.

    And just a few weeks ago, shopping for Christmas party supplies with my mom, I saw a bag of sleighbells at the local craft store. Now the last mystery has been solved. I was a little sad.

    12/09/2006 7:04 AM  
    Blogger Rebecca said...

    WOW! I love these stockings! What a super idea!! I do hope you post the directions because I would like to give them a try. I have a sweater in my car ready to go to the thrift store but think I will snatch it out of the car this very minute!

    Is this the first Christmas you will not be with the fam? My nursing school daughter keeps reminding me that this will probably be the last Christmas she will get to spend with us..sigh

    12/09/2006 8:02 AM  
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    The stockings are so cute - I did some potholder/oven mitts like that last year. The sewing can get heavy. I had to change the needle a few times because I would break it.

    Toothbrush. Always an orange or tangeringe in the toe.

    12/10/2006 5:53 PM  
    Blogger JayJay said...

    I guess we must fall into the category of those who don't get toothbrushes. My family was never into the stocking thing at all, really. However, I'm all for any excuse to have more decorations, so we may have to start the tradition!

    12/13/2006 8:21 AM  
    Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Good Job! :)

    8/20/2008 5:52 AM  

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