Letters
Hung by the Chimney with Flair
Dear Ann,
Here’s a Seasonal Activity that I can recommend: before Hanukkah is over, mend a dear one’s Christmas stocking.
Goddaughter Rose, of Providence, Rhode Island, has suffered an injury to the Christmas stocking she has enjoyed since the age of 1. Over its long summer’s nap, the stocking was attacked by attic vermin, species unknown.
Store-bought (Garnet Hill) but good.
Investigators suspect a mouse. The investigator who is Rosie’s mother suspects that perhaps a bit of chocolate or other leftover treat was left in the stocking after last year’s celebrations. Rose has refused to answer on the grounds that she may have done that.
My theory, and it may be crazy but hear me out: Chex Mix.
The hole is in an Awkward Spot, right on the front, the same side that says ROSE.
I was requested to make repairs. I’m not a mender, or a very good one, but the task seemed squarely within the four corners of the godmother job description. I will do my duty to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of this stocking.
I briefly flirted with making her a New Ancestral Christmas Stocking. It’s such a fine version of the classic old-school stocking, I’ve always wanted to make one, and the appeal of just starting over is very strong. Truth be told, I’d rather knit for ten hours than mend for one.
But if you want to knit a kid a stocking, you have to get there early. In this case, I was 16 years too late.
I dithered about materials for a bit. The stocking is machine made, at a small gauge; it’s a little starchy. I needed something thin, in colors that would fit in.
Wie Geht’s, Knitty City?
My LYS, Knitty City, came to the rescue by stocking these little Regia nubbins of Stopf-und Beilaufgarn, which translates to “darning and reinforcement thread.”
I set to work while watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The best description for my method here: winging it. I didn’t want to do a proper woven sock darn because of the placement. I felt like the patch should be knitted. I picked up stitches along the bottom and sides of the hole, with a safe margin for unraveling, and started knitting.
I’m not sure if my little checkerboard of green and white is very effective, but it’s cheerful.
I switched to red. I triangulated a bit at the top of the patch. I sewed it down along the free edges. I turned the stocking inside out and wove in the ends, and worked an overcast stitch to encase any loose stitches around the hole.
It still needs a little work—or a complete do-over—but you get the idea.
The pom pom is for fun, and will serve in future years as a reminder of Auntie Kay’s great pom pom enthusiasm of 2018.
A little more fussing, a shot of steam, and back it goes to Rhode Island. I’m voting for storage somewhere besides the attic, and sending the Regia thread with it, just in case.
Love,
Kay
P.S.
Thank goodness I had help.
The sound effect for this photo is continuous high-pitched whining, due to A Stranger being in the apartment.
Sweet Rosie is indeed lucky to have you Auntie Kay. This reminds me of an old acquaintance who was an avid needle pointer. She began the Christmas stockings while kiddos were in utero. She kept the stockings in a safe designed to survive a house fire knowing that some things just can’t be replaced.
My mother-in-law has needlepointed stockings for her kids, their spouses, and their children. They are literally works-of-art. Ours are definitely headed to the safe after Christmas. Good idea.
Kristen
Good job, Kay. But what fabulous sweater is on your pup?
It’s called Voff! It’s a tiny Icelandic sweater.
Such a great idea to use sock reinforcement yarn, and also turn it rather than darn. The patch of the pom pom will forever be a reminder of a dear godmother (and a little helper) who “got er done”. A very sweet addition to the family holiday history. I’m also thinking that maybe the stalking can be returned inside some kind of sturdy plastic container to be used year to year for keeping it fresh and safe.
Knit on!
Boy did my spell check make several glaring mistakes! I feel so embarrassed but I think you’ve got the idea anyway: “knit rather than darn”; ” the patch and the pom pom”; stocking, not “stalking”. Oh well. Happy holidays!
Hi-larious, as always. This reminds me that I need to mend the angora of Santa’s beard on the stocking made by her beloved Grandma for my now 25-year-old daughter. She’ll be home in 18 days–I’d better get on it….
I love your Visible Mend. It works perfectly!
Should varmints ever return for further havoc-wreaking, there’s one thing you could do to make your godmotherly task easier. You mention sewing down the free edges; instead, at the beginning of each row you can catch a side stitch on your left hand needle and knit or purl it together with the original first stitch on that needle. Your patch is secured as you go. Then when you get to the top, thread onto another needle, from the fabric just above the patch, the same number of stitches you have on the patch needle and . . . I know, shudder . . . Kitchener stitch them together.
I just spent a ridiculous number of hours patching many-holed pair of gloves (Robin Melanson pattern, houndstooth check, I loooove them), thinking the whole time how much I’d rather just be knitting another pair, if only I had the time.
Maybe you can throw in some anti-varmint nuggets. The patch will only add to the charm of the stocking over the years. I still have my felt department store version lo these many, many years. (Hahnes? Bambergers?)
I just finished a Christmas stocking for a brand new grandneice. That makes 15 stockings in the past 40 years. I did just realize nieces, nephews and their children have stocking but not their spouses! I should create 9 more asap.
I love what you did! No way was the repair ever going to be invisible, so this serves as a very happy memory jog for Rosie in the future…..and the Pom Pom is terrific! Good job!
Now I’m thinking about those Ancestral Christmas Stockings for my three grands, but not for this year. If I get an early start (like tomorrow!), maybe they’d be finished for 2019????
My thought exactly! I started an ornament collection for each great- and grandchild (6 altogether) last year (knitted mini sweaters last year, mini stockings this year with each kid’s initial on the front) but thinking they’d love a big stocking to be filled year after year as well! Excellent year-long project in the good will yarns for longevity!
Will = wool
Oh, the pom pom on the toe is absolutely the best part! Now I’m thinking, could I adorn my knitted socks with pom poms for when I wear them with sandals…your Loome tool has turned me into a Pom Pom Queen, can’t stop making them. They look very nice on wrapped presents too.
The irony of the previous post lauding tiny machine knit stitches and now to mend the same. That’s just how knitters roll. Noting the owner of the stocking is now 16 alerts me to the fact that I have been reading here for quite some time. When I saw her name my mind’s eye recalled a toddler so sweet.
Or wait – you could just make an even bigger pompom and stick it over the patched area! A pompom on the ankle, such a festive touch!
Way to go sis! I hope you washed your hands good so you don’t get vermin flu. Jus’ sayin’
Olive was whining because strangers taste better with ketchup, and you wouldn’t go get her some!
Lucky Rose:)! She will have the added blessing in the years to come of pointing out her beloved Godmother Kay’s repairs to her Christmas stocking and every Christmas and Hanukkah she will think fondly of you:)!
That’s what I call a mitzvah!
Nice work with the Regia sock-reinforcement yarn! I sorted my stash this spring and summer, and was surprised and pleased to see how man of the bits of Regia I had collected. I think that they are the best choice for sewing knitted embellishments to knitted items, and only wish that they came in more colors. Also, I it still makes me laugh to remember Ann’s story from the Outside the Lines book about her own hand-knit Christmas stocking featuring “the Dutch twins and hunchy Santa.” Finally, how could Rose have left any chocolate uneaten? That’s downright unnatural…
Poor, poor Olive. I don’t think you understand how truly difficult it is to be Olive!
Fabulous! I vote for keeping attic storage and handwahing before storing. Xmas stuff is ‘sposed to be in the attic!
I haven’t had to repair a stocking yet, but I did have to make one in the style (and extremely solid extruded petroleum-product bright red and green yarn) of my mother-in-law, stocking-maker extraordinaire, who developed dementia by the time her youngest grandchild was born and couldn’t make him a stocking. As the mother of said grandchild, I wanted him to have a stocking like the big kids, including his siblings. This yarn was somewhere in the Aran/bulky range, and she knit on size US 2 needles. Oh, and she used a recipe, a list of suggestions, not a pattern. I could knit two rows before my hands cramped. It was an adventure. But now that my little guy is five and old enough to realize things like “Hey, my stocking looks different from everyone else’s,” I’m really glad that his stocking does NOT look different from everyone else’s. 🙂 And I applaud your mending— much better than I could do.
So impressed by your perseverance and thinking processes. Kudos godmommt!!
This story touched a cord in me. I have the red felt stocking my Mom made for me over 50 years ago. I still hang it every year, even though it has a green patch on the toe courtesy of my 11-year-old self. Varmints in the attic also like walnuts.
Love it!! How can anyone not smile to see this hanging on the mantle? 🙂
Jealous!! I wish I were………..good enough to save a sock….. I wish I could make a sock!! Happy Holidays!
Ah, this was so fun to read! They’re never too old 🙂 My 14-year-old nephew moved in with is this summer. When I hung up the stockings I’ve knit for my three (younger) children — which took me 3 years — my 6-year-old exclaimed that I HAD to make nephew a stocking! After he admired the kids’ stockings (which are crocheted and cross-stitched), I knew it was true but kept thinking about how my kids had to share stockings til I got them all done 🙂 This post inspired me to cast on now! His will be knitted in bulky yarn.
Encouraged by your fine example, I am inching closer to my sock-mending basket.