Christmas Stockings & A New Knitting Friend

I spent the weekend relapsing with a cold. This has not been my year for being healthy. On the other hand, it has forced me to take the time to rest and do something quiet and relaxing…..like knitting. This year I’ve finished a few more knitted gifts as Christmas presents. I finished another pair of felted slippers, some wrist warmers and am working on a quick hat. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. I love this holiday!

Years ago, when I was an “at-home mom”, raising my young sons, I had more time to prepare for Christmas. Many happy traditions were started, making Christmas a special time for us to celebrate the birth of Jesus. One of those traditions was making Christmas stockings for family members. One year I made simple felt stockings for my three sons with felted Christmas scenes telling the Christmas story of Jesus birth. The boys loved these stockings and refused to have me purchase new ones, even though silverfish and moths slowly showed their work in nibbling small holes in the felt. This year, I just couldn’t bear to display these stockings any longer, and decided to remake the scenes in new stockings just like the originals. This also gave me an opportunity to add a few stocking scenes for our new members of the family. Below are some of the results. I mentioned that we would be having a guest for Christmas this year. One of my son’s friends will be joining us for Christmas as her family vacations in Mexico. I wanted to make her a stocking. I asked my son what color of felt I should buy? He said she likes black, grey and white. I was a little taken aback. Not black for Christmas! Black is not a happy color. I can’t make a black stocking! What kind of scene can I put on a black stocking? The more I thought about it, slowly an idea came to mind that would definitely depict part of the Christmas story. Below is the result…… She came over the other day and had a chance to see it. She loves the black stocking and says she really likes the scene. Something to warm this mom’s heart. But this was not all…... Lo and behold, she asked if I had some extra knitting needles and yarn because she wanted to knit something. DO I HAVE YARN!!!???

What a joy to behold….a person who knits!!! I was in heaven! How could I refuse her anything? I proudly showed her my stash and had her pick out some straight needles and yarn. She picked out a purple colored wool/acrylic yarn (WoolEase). She said she learned how to knit from her “Nana” but she did not know how to cast on, so I showed her how. She started a scarf. She was a little embarrassed about her skill but I gave her as much encouragement as I could. Everyone starts the same way. It just takes doing and practicing to get better. I hope she continues to learn and practice. I am so thrilled to have someone to talk about knitting.