A Mysterious Stocking

I had a lovely time at the Nordic Knitting Conference, held at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle. If you haven't been there, you should definitely visit the site before the new museum is built. Right now, it is housed in an old school in Ballard, and while it has it's disadvantages, visitors also know the school is a bit of the local history as well.

One can wander in and out of exhibitions, visit the museum for movie lunches and soup, or attend excellent events like the knitting conference. More on that later.

During my trip, my zen knitting was a Christmas stocking for a dear friend. And, life has caught up with me. While I quietly make fun of people who get stuck in the time warp of knitting expectation (that is, "I must make this acrylic, intarsia, Santa stocking for my great-nephew because I have made 93 others for the rest of the family"), I have been caught in a trap of my own making. Maybe if I didn't love the Gjertsens so much, or maybe if they didn't have great kids, I wouldn't have had to make three 4+ foot long, stockinette alpaca Christmas stockings.

But since their kids Valor and Grant Perseverance have one (oh yeah -- I made those, too), how could I let little Mystery Lord not have her own?

Doesn't look so bad on its own, does it?

And, yet, here it is with a sock I normally wear with boots.

And, here it is on my almost-5'7" baby girl.

Abby will felt it and add a hanging tab, and then have the chore of filling it with goodness every Christmas of little Mystery's life.

For those who aren't familiar with the Gjertsen's story, here is the link to their blog: http://www.houseofgjertsen.info

Merry Christmas, Mystery!