The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

In 1981, when my first niece, Lisa, was born, I decided to make her a Christmas stocking. I had never made a stocking before, but when I was growing up, I and all of my siblings had these wonderful felt stockings that had been made by my grandmother. Each one was unique and we really enjoyed having them.

So, little Lisa was born in September of 1981 and her Auntie Barb made her a stocking. (On a side note, my grandma taught me to "put a sock in the sock," so the stockings I made are lined thanks to my Grandma's tip.) Well, the next baby born in our family was Lisa's little brother, Brian, so I wanted to make him a stocking, too. Then a few months later, on my 21st birthday, my nephew, Stanley, was born, and naturally I had to make him a stocking. The next year, Stan's little brother, Billy, was born and of course I decided to make a stocking for him as well.

Without making a conscious decision to make stockings for all of my nieces and nephews, one birth led to another and with each a stocking was made. The challenging year was when all five of my siblings had babies (Annie, Laurie, Kalie, Kyle and Ben). I definitely got behind that year on making Christmas stockings! Oh, you know I had to make a stocking for my Matty, too!

Here are photos of some of the stockings:

Sadly, I do not know what happened to the stocking that my Grandma made me, so my hope is that the stockings I made for my nieces and nephews are still hung by the chimney with care!