This stocking was made for Laurel’s first Christmas. For years before Laurel was on the way, her mother had fostered hundreds of orphaned squirrels. As a safety precaution, she had taken a short break from handling rodents during pregnancy and nursing. So she particularly enjoyed the squirrel theme.
The Woods Stocking cross stitch designs from ABC Embroidery, www.abc-machine-embroidery-designs.com are absolutely charming. The cross stitch looks exactly as if it were done by hand.   The collection includes the actual stockings pattern, sized for the designs to fit perfectly.
Size of the stocking is one of the most important things to keep in mind when making stockings for children. When her brother Robert was born 15 months later, I made a stocking for him without comparing it to Laurel’s.  As it turned out,  Robert’s is larger by about 30% —a very sizeable increment in a child’s eye. Laurel has asked repeatedly why her stocking is smaller than Robert’s when she is older.
It doesn’t seem that she is going to get over this easily. I’m trying to sell her on the old adage that the best things come in small packages.
