Christmas in June

If there's anything to learn from my attempts at knitting in the past, it's that this is not likely to happen:Here's hoping that a significant amount of lead time will improve my chances.

Andy and I have had mismatching stockings since we've been together and I've been fine with that.* But now that Finley's in the mix, I'm looking to get some coordination going on. Though, at the least, Fin needs his own stocking for Christmas, so if I need to lower my expectations, I can just focus on making his and A and I can use our old faithfuls until I can complete the set.

I've been scouring the internet for the last couple of weeks and have had mixed results. It seems that I'm the only crazy with Christmas on the brains. My criteria are: something that I can make and that can be replicated easily down the road in case we add more family members (don't read too much into that, I'm just a "what if?" kind of gal). And while sewing is my craft of choice, it seems like I'll be more likely to find coordinating yarn than an exact kind of fabric in the years to come. (Somehow, though, my mom managed to make matching stockings for children that spanned nearly ten years. Does the universe constantly provide that exact shade of green velvet and red rick rack? Or is she a closeted fabric hoarder? Questions that keep me up at night.)

So this'll be my inspiration for the most part. I pulled it from another blog and I wish I knew the actual source of the picture, because it looks like one might have been able to purchase them ready-made at some point, and shucks, I'm not above that. But google image search is not providing, and the only comparable thing I've found for purchase is too pricey (sigh. etsy.). I love the colors, the length and the blunted toe. I also like the texture, from what I can tell, though I'm open to going for something a little chunkier (added bonus: bigger gauge = faster knitting. Amiright?). Also, my etsy research has convinced me that they need to be lined so as to prevent presents from poking out and general misshapenness.

Here's hoping. I'm going to be exercising and expanding my knitting skills over the next month or so (likely during the hottest days of the summer. Genius, Miranda.). And when I'm taking a break from that, I'll be looking into some kid-proof ornament ideas for the branches that will inevitably be in the Fin danger zone. What better time to start obsessing over Christmas than in the prematurely boiling days of June?

Tra la la la laaaaaa!

*Really! Almost really!