Counting

Counting what, you may ask?

Well, look here and count these stockings:

How many did you say? Seven? Yeah, that's how many I counted, too. Danggit! There's supposed to be eight. But did I finish George's stocking in time for Christmas? Noooo.

Mark's mother makes these stockings for everyone in the family. Her Aunt Margie started it way back in the day, making one for her and her brother and sister, and Cindy just sort of took the tradition and ran with it. She has made them for her children, her children-in-law, all 27 of her grandchildren, the spouses of her nieces and nephews, and their children. Cindy has had some close-knit years (hahahaha). In 2002, three of her children got married, and there were three grandchildren born that year, just in her family. And then, in 2004, six of us had babies, so that was six stockings by Christmas. I don't even know the birthdays or anniversaries of the rest of the Mason clan, so I have no idea what she's been up to. Once, she was involved in a Christmas service project to help a family in need. Why does she do this? Because she's amazing. She knitted stockings for the mom, the dad, and all seven (I think) of their children. She said they timed it, and discovered that she could knit a stocking in about two hours of work. Whew! I bet there was smoke coming off those needles!

A few years ago, she handed out Aunt Margie's pattern, all typed up and printed on festive red and green paper. I think she was worried that the pattern would go with her to the grave if she didn't get some other family members in on the tradition. Now, I had just learned to knit, so I thought, yeah, some day Cindy is going to go to that great knitters' paradise in the sky. And someone down here is gonna need to be able to do this.

So I decided to take a stab at it.

Yeah. Even with the very generous help and coaching I got from my wonderful mother-in-law? Nuthin. I must have counted stitches and counted rows and ripped out inches for hours and hours. I've knitted the same seven inches about four times. But I'm still not done. I got close, once. And then my toddler ripped my needles out, and ripped the knitting back several inches. [insert sound of repressed frustration here] This knitting Christmas stockings thing is not for sissies. And I'm bummed, too. I REALLY wanted to get a photo of my little baboon in his Christmas stocking while he still fit! Next year - assuming I get it done by then (after all, Yvette spent her first two Christmases sharing my stocking with me because, again, same problem) - he will probably be too big. [insert sound of resigned disappointment here]

So, counting. Counting stockings, counting stitches, counting rows, counting to ten so I don't lose my temper, counting the number of times Cindy has sat down with me to explain "turning the heel", counting all the stockings she has made, counting the days until my next Christmas stocking deadline.

But I'm stubborn. I'm gonna do this. Seriously. I mean it this time.