Doing Hardanger on the Christmas train

The Christmas train Lene described is moving along at a pleasant pace here. We had the first substantial snowfall of the season and were all feeling especially festive, so we did most of our Christmas decorating yesterday evening.

Over the years, we've narrowed down our Christmas traditions and decorations to only the ones that have meaning in our lives and bring us joy. Unwrapping each decoration is like discovering a treasure that grows more precious each year. The tiny ceramic elves and delicate blown glass ornaments belonged to my grandma's grandma. The very cool santa decoration was made out of a kitchen grater (!) by Scott's sister, Vickie. The perfectly sewn decorations made by Scott's mom, Pat. The countless ceramic and cross stitched decorations meticulously painted and lovingly stitched by my grandma when her eyes still allowed her to do such fine work. And of course the things Scott and I have contributed.

The kids' Christmas stockings are two of our favorite decorations. Scott made Jesse's stocking, which I'll show tomorrow, and I made Leah's, which you see here today. I altered an Emie Bishop design to make this stocking. I adore Emie Bishop's designs and have stitched many, many of the patterns you can see at her site. The stocking's rosy moire lining peeks out through the linen's many areas of cutwork. It was so much fun to do all the stitch variations in this pattern. You can't see it, but the heel is embroidered, ecru on ivory, "To Leah, Love Mom, 1999-2000."