3rd Place, Non-Professional Non-Original Without Instruction

My inspiration is my new daughter-in-law, Jesse. For years, I have stitched a Christmas stocking for each member of my family. My most recent pieces have been for grandchildren, so this stocking is more sophisticated, using Melissa Shirley’s painted canvas, Candy Cane.

I experimented with many different stitches and found the effect I wanted with French knots. I increased and decreased the wraps of the knots: the first and last rows of the candy canes have one wrap, the second and sixths rows have two wraps, and the middle three have three wraps. Each candy cane appears mounded, and the stocking looks as though there is a bouquet of candy canes! While the Neon Rays gave the shine I wanted, the thread tends to skip so some of my knots are not uniform.

Thousands of French knots later, I am incredibly happy with the results. The best Christmas gift this past year was that Jesse loves it!