A labor or love and a test of patience

I got a beautiful Grandson back in September. December rolls around and we have been unable to find the child a stocking. We have shopped every store we can think of and have still come up empty handed. I really wanted to make him one to match his Mothers. Hers had been made from antique linens, as had my other daughters. Since I was fresh out of antique linen and had no desire to look for any, we neared Christmas without a stocking.

My DH (Dear Husband) was out shopping one day and called to ask if we had found a stocking yet. To which the reply was, "no".
"Quit looking", he said, "Ive found one"!
He arrives home with a beautiful pale blue "Baby's First Christmas" stocking.

Well...It will do for this year, even though it doesn't match the others, but we are still in the market for a stocking. That's when I entered Create For Less's 12 Days of Christmas sweepstakes. (Have I told you that I am the luckiest person I know?? I win something almost every month!!)

"What did you win?", you must be asking yourselves.

I won a stocking kit! It matched the others we already had and I couldn't have been more excited! That is, until I opened the package! There were 150(!!) pieces of felt that had to be embroidered, beaded, sequined (some had to have all three!) and stitched together, BY HAND!! I started immediately because; a) I was afraid I might lose interest before I finished it, and b) I figured it would take me a year to complete it!!

Days, weeks, raw fingertips, and strained vision went by and still I persevered. Finally, on the morning of January 18, 2011 (not quite a month after I started it), I finished it!!! I took an extra step, in that I lined it upon completion.

My Daughter made the comment that she felt sorry for any Grandchildren that came after this one.She said she was certain that I would NEVER attempt anything like this again. I told her she was probably right.

Im looking into glitter pens and furry red stockings for any that come later!'