Jan’s Memento Sock Ornament
Identifier
2026.001
Title
Jan’s Memento Sock Ornament
Creator
Janet Johnson Stevens (7 December 1931 - 22 September 2018)
Date
2013
Format
4½ inches tall by 3 inches wide at foot (14 cm tall by 8 cm), excluding hanging loop. (The scans of the sock are 7½ inches tall by 4 inches wide.)
Description
This miniature sock ornament was designed and made by my mentor, Janet Johnson Stephens. It uses commercial sock yarn. The ornament is worked back and forth and seamed along the top edge, rather than worked in the round as a traditional sock. It is open inside, which means you could put a few pieces of candy or a rolled up dollar bill inside.
Jan was an enthusiastic knitting ambassador and a lover of people. She served on The Knitting Guild Association Advisory Board from 2006 to 2012. She was a founding member of North Georgia Knitting Guild. She was also a member of Atlanta Knitting Guild.
In October 2013, The Knitting Guild Association and the Crochet Guild of America held their annual conferences jointly in Concord, North Carolina. Jan encouraged the decision to combine conferences both to save money and to give yarn enthusiasts an opportunity to see what the other group had to offer. Jan liked to bring people together.
Jan’s declining health was already influencing what she could do. I drove us the four hours from Atlanta to Concord; and we shared a room. Jan used a scooter to get around. I took some excellent classes; but I also spent a fair amount of time accompanying Jan. At the banquet, Jan was honored for her years of service to TKGA.
As we walked around the conference, it seemed Jan knew nearly everybody. She had a lot of these little Christmas stocking ornaments and was giving them to people as she met them. It took me a day or so to realize Jan knew this would be her last TKGA event. She knew this would be the last time she saw many of these people. She was saying goodbye. The little ornament was a memento of her friendship.
When I see this ornament, I am reminded of Jan. Sometimes I’ve pinned on this ornament when I’ve attended the NGKG guild holiday party, as a way of signaling, “Yes, I was honored to be a friend of Jan Stephens.”
Jan was an enthusiastic knitting ambassador and a lover of people. She served on The Knitting Guild Association Advisory Board from 2006 to 2012. She was a founding member of North Georgia Knitting Guild. She was also a member of Atlanta Knitting Guild.
In October 2013, The Knitting Guild Association and the Crochet Guild of America held their annual conferences jointly in Concord, North Carolina. Jan encouraged the decision to combine conferences both to save money and to give yarn enthusiasts an opportunity to see what the other group had to offer. Jan liked to bring people together.
Jan’s declining health was already influencing what she could do. I drove us the four hours from Atlanta to Concord; and we shared a room. Jan used a scooter to get around. I took some excellent classes; but I also spent a fair amount of time accompanying Jan. At the banquet, Jan was honored for her years of service to TKGA.
As we walked around the conference, it seemed Jan knew nearly everybody. She had a lot of these little Christmas stocking ornaments and was giving them to people as she met them. It took me a day or so to realize Jan knew this would be her last TKGA event. She knew this would be the last time she saw many of these people. She was saying goodbye. The little ornament was a memento of her friendship.
When I see this ornament, I am reminded of Jan. Sometimes I’ve pinned on this ornament when I’ve attended the NGKG guild holiday party, as a way of signaling, “Yes, I was honored to be a friend of Jan Stephens.”
Provenance
Jolie A. Elder
Collection
Citation
jolieae, “Jan’s Memento Sock Ornament,” Center for Knit and Crochet Digital Repository, accessed July 14, 2026, https://digital.centerforknitandcrochet.org/items/show/41057.
Added by jolieae
Comments