Recently, I read an article concerning medical education and about how the next generation has so little experience with craft skills that they’re not able to perform practical tasks such as cutting or sewing in surgical applications. We’re losing a generation with the dexterity to work with thei hands.
My mother always knitted and I remember getting her handmade sweaters at Christmas during the late ’70s. Later, she quit knitting and turned her attention to needlework. It is through this particular craft where her legacy of handwork lives on at Christmas time through Christmas stockings. My mother made stocking not only for each of her children but also for their spouses, for the grandchildren and even for some of the great-grandchildren. We were always amazed at the speed at which my mother could create and finish a stocking. She worked on them year-round. As you can imagine, with 12 children almost as many spouses and over 25 grandchildren this kept her busy for a couple of decades. After she completed stockings for her first generation she kept a stash of one or two completed in an octangle coffee table in her home for the inevitable announcement during the ’90s of a new grandbaby’s arrival. My mother provided two things to mark a baby’s arrival; a new
This makes me so grateful for the line of women I’m part of who work with their hands. My grandmother and mother each in their own way worked with their hands. I am the receiver of many tangible reminders of their love to create and share. Christmas in my home contains many proofs of that art and love.
I am grateful for the practical skill of creating with my hands that I learned from my mother and have shared with my children. At Christmas, we pull out the stockings and tell the story of Grandma’s love and why she made these beautiful stockings for them. My mom lives near but really can’t remember that she made these stockings. They are here as a reminder that she created something that lives past her memories and remains in ours.
What Christmas handwork has been made for you or by you?
My mother use to paint ornaments, so we still have a surviving collection. She also was a big believer in kids’ crafts, which I continued- so many years we’ve had the traditional popcorn and cranberry strings, paper ornaments, cinnamon/clove cut out ornaments to name just a few.
I remember making paper chains! I forgot until you mentioned. How wonderful to have some of those precious works of your Mother’s hand.