So, a few weeks before Christmas my lovely cousin (who I NEVER get to see) asked me to make her boyfriend a crochet Christmas stocking in U of M colors. I thought I would super impress her and asked if she wanted a matching one, and then I further blew her mind by telling her I would totally have it done in time for Christmas! After realizing I have no patterns for a stocking handy, and deciding I didn't have time to write one, I started my internet scour of great stocking patterns.
Several Google searches led me to the Martha Stewart craft site. Let me say before I get into the meat and potatoes of this post that I despise Martha. Nothing is ever as easy as she says, and it never looks like the picture when your done. That said, I did indeed click the forbidden link and was directed to an entire slideshow of 13 different stocking ideas.
I started looking through them, and came across the Sweater Stocking. Cute? Yes. Functional? Yes. Sounded too good to be true already. In just 6 simple steps (the tutorial is less than 1 printed page) and one simple template, you too can make a sweater stocking! The first thing I did was confirm with Cousin that a sewn stocking would be ok. She said yes. Printed the template and directions, went to the local resale shop and bought a XXL Banana Republic, navy blue sweater for $10.00, then took my goodies home and dusted off the sewing machine.
By this time, its the week before Christmas. It will never make it from Michigan to Virginia on time, and I'm feeling like a super failure. I FB my cousin to tell her how utterly sorry I am, and she then tells me its ok. She event throws a "Damn Martha" in there to make me feel better. Honestly.
So where am I at with this project now? Starting from scratch with some good ole' yarn and a hook. The moral of this story is, Stick with what you know, save the experiments for less urgent times. And I should throw another moral in there for good measure: Its NEVER as easy as Martha says!
Several Google searches led me to the Martha Stewart craft site. Let me say before I get into the meat and potatoes of this post that I despise Martha. Nothing is ever as easy as she says, and it never looks like the picture when your done. That said, I did indeed click the forbidden link and was directed to an entire slideshow of 13 different stocking ideas.
I started looking through them, and came across the Sweater Stocking. Cute? Yes. Functional? Yes. Sounded too good to be true already. In just 6 simple steps (the tutorial is less than 1 printed page) and one simple template, you too can make a sweater stocking! The first thing I did was confirm with Cousin that a sewn stocking would be ok. She said yes. Printed the template and directions, went to the local resale shop and bought a XXL Banana Republic, navy blue sweater for $10.00, then took my goodies home and dusted off the sewing machine.
This is when the laughter turns to tears. My first mistake was attempting this while Noah was awake. I was constantly telling him to stop taking the scissors, don't play with needs, stop unplugging the machine, don't adjust the tension, blah blah blah... He finally went down for a nap when huge mistake No. 2 occurred: Overconfidence. Her simple, "life is but a dream" tutorial made me feel like Martha herself. I was about to turn a discarded sweater into Holiday Craft Greatness. NOT! What I ended up with was a lopsided, frayed disaster.
By this time, its the week before Christmas. It will never make it from Michigan to Virginia on time, and I'm feeling like a super failure. I FB my cousin to tell her how utterly sorry I am, and she then tells me its ok. She event throws a "Damn Martha" in there to make me feel better. Honestly.
So where am I at with this project now? Starting from scratch with some good ole' yarn and a hook. The moral of this story is, Stick with what you know, save the experiments for less urgent times. And I should throw another moral in there for good measure: Its NEVER as easy as Martha says!
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