Behind the scenes

I am working on Christmas stockings for Chuck, Kim and Colton. Chuck has a hand knit stocking from his childhood, but I've decided to keep that here for now and give him one suitable for his new role as daddy. I combined designs from two Mary Maxim patterns to make stockings that have different designs on each side. His and Kim's are the same except for background color, Colton's will be a different type of snowman, probably with blue as the background color.

Here is Kim's sock, done except for adding her name.


For those who knit, especially sock knitters, the odd thing about this pattern is that the stocking is knitted flat and seamed when done. I suppose I could knit it as wearable socks are conventionally knit in the round, but I find this method easy when it is time to weave in all those loose ends.

In order to get this pleasant design on the right side of the knitted item

This is what you have on the wrong side. Yikes!

Fortunately, weaving the ends in while watching TV isn't a big problem

Their names will be added soon, done in duplicate stitch which means the names will look like they are knitted into the stocking. Since these stockings have two design sides, I am thinking of adding their first names to one side and Mama and Papa (or Mommy and Daddy) to the others. I'll leave that decision up to them.

If anyone is interested in the pattern, Mary Maxim offers both kits and pattern books here. The yarn used is an acrylic which I find practical for something that is packed away for 11 months of the year without worry of attracting moths. The stockings I made well over 20 years ago still look great and wash well.

I have a table top again!

No burglars absconded with part of my table but that would have been a more interesting story. Only fractions of the table have been visible since Saturday, and those fractions were not clean enough for dining until almost 4:30 this afternoon. Finally done with decorations until the tree goes up, I celebrated by using new cutwork placemats from Kroger. The white dishes are Corelle Enhancement, the red are simple glass plates from Target years ago. The glasses didn't photograph well empty. I should have taken the photo with milk in them. They are clear with a raised red stripe spiraling the glass. The candle holder on the right holds 7 tealight candles with a silver snowflake in front and behind each candle. The vase is holding picks that have previously been in wreaths or in potted plants.



The downstairs bathroom is small and hard to photograph (how do they do take those shots on design shows?) but I took a few photos anyway. This shower curtain was a sale item a few years ago. Looks like I will have to steam the curtain to get rid of a few creases from storage. Guess I am not done after all. Wall art was changed to match the snowman theme. After Christmas decorations are put away, my snow people will come out. The collection has grown so large, it is too much to have them out the same time as the Santas, trees and items that definitely speak of Christmas. This curtain and the snow people will stay out until it is time to decorate for Easter.



Decorating has taken me much longer this year, but I've been switching things around a bit and setting many things aside for our son to use in his home. I've been holding onto things for years, waiting to do that!

After my camera and I both recharge our batteries, I will take more pictures of our Christmas treasures. I love looking at other people's decorations and stories and hope you're enjoying mine.