Ive had the same Christmas sock since I was three years old. My aunt is an avid knitter, and after my brother was born, she made a colorful set of Christmas socks for my whole family. You can buy a colorful stocking to hang on the fireplace at Christmastime in almost any retail store these days, but there is nothing like an old-fashioned, homemade Christmas stocking.
When we unpack our decorations during the holiday season, and start to prepare for the coming holiday, I look forward to hanging my Christmas stocking more than any other tradition. It is the same sock that has been hanging in my house at Christmas since Ive been old enough to remember. My special stocking brings back so many memories from my Christmases as a child. When I see my sock each year, I think about when I was a child and I would wake up on Christmas morning to see my Christmas sock so overstuffed with toys that Santa had to place it on the couch because it wouldve fallen off the wall if hed tried to hang it back up after stuffing it. Luckily my aunt made my Christmas sock using a pattern that allows for the yarn to be stretched so that it can hold maximum gifts. Im pretty sure she planned it that way.
My Christmas sock is made mostly of bright red yarn, with green and white accents around the top and bottom. It has a picture of a Christmas tree on the front made out of green yarn, with small bells attached at the edge of each branch on the tree and my name is written across the top of the sock in white yarn. It was made in the seventies so it has that classic garish look so popular during that decade. The Christmas socks I see in stores are usually tastefully done, in muted, rich Christmas colors like maroons and dark green, but I wouldnt trade my sock for even the most beautiful modern Christmas sock in any store. The memories my sock holds far outweigh its somewhat tacky appearance.
I hope to one day be able to create the same kind of memory for my son. Id like to make him a Christmas sock of his very own that he can keep throughout his whole life. I picture him someday having a family of his own and each Christmas when he pulls out his decorations, he will laugh and tell his children that his sock is so old that he can remember finding hot wheels and little toys in it on Christmas morning.