When we got married, I was told on no uncertain terms was I to break up the family set: Kyle’s & mine were to stay on the Reiter mantel. We were in a basement suite our first year, and anyway I didn’t have a fireplace to hang anything. It felt so strange not to have stockings, so as a temporary measure I bought some cheapies from the dollar store and tucked them to hang out of high drawers in our games cabinet, just so I could see the familiar sight.
Grandma graciously gave me the cutoff remains of what supplies she had; a bit of red flannel, a short string of pearly sequins, red eyelet ribbon, and green quilt backing for a tree skirt—which I did make that first year. But I did not possess the needlework ability that I do now, and though she’d given me two blank stockings, I knew I wanted a matching set… and there wasn’t enough material for our future kids’. The supplies went into storage.
