Thoughts on visiting another country (sort of), missing my mom, and on growing older...and of course, there is knitting!


We went for a ride on BUS-B (the Butt-Ugly Silver Bike) today, around two hundred miles with no real destination in mind. We ended up in Holland...Holland, Michigan, that is, a lovely town a couple of hours away from home. Holland is in an area that has been heavily settled by immigrants from the Netherlands, and which includes the towns of Zeeland and Hudsonville (home of wonderful ice cream!), and the city of Grand Rapids (home of the Meijer store chain, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum and Library, and the Frederik Meijer Sculpture Garden, and of my old friend, Phil...Hi, Phil!). It is a lovely set of towns there, the Dutch influence strongly evidenced in the tulip farms, windmill-, Delft pottery- and klompen-themed tourist attractions, tidy hip-roofed houses, neatly groomed lawns, and businesses whose names are filled with the letter 'y' and double vowels, beginning with 'van' or 'van der' and ending in 'ema', and 'stra'.

The route covered a particularly beautiful section of Michigan. Rolling farmland, orchards and vineyards lined the roads. I saw many apple trees of all varieties, growing unattended near abandoned remnants of old farmsteads and fruit stands, the branches heavily loaded this year with fruit. Last year's fruit crops in Michigan were decimated by extremely high temperatures and very limited rainfall. It was wonderful to see how nature has come back so strongly. I wondered if any of the trees I saw today in the middle of nowhere might be 'lost' or 'forgotten' strains. They were all most certainly hardy varieties, able to survive with no pruning or pesticides for many years, judging by the heights they'd attained.

I bought five pounds of freshly-picked blueberries at a farm market. This was their last day of picking for the year, so I am very glad we went out on this day. I bought ten pounds at an Amish stand north of the town where I work earlier this summer, but put most of those in the freezer for pies and cobblers this winter.. I love fresh blueberries, and will probably eat most of the ones I bought today like candy! There were many fruit stands open along the route. Most still have plenty of tomatoes, cucumber, sweet corn to offer, and some had freshly-dug potatoes for sale, as well.


We hosted, as we do each summer, an extended version of my husband's family reunion in early August, and had a wonderful time, as always. We did have one fairly unruly and disobedient young man present, and he decided to hide one of a pair of walkie-talkies, rather than share it with the other children. Today, I spent most of the morning excavating a storage area on the second floor of the house in an effort to find said radio and let me tell you, when you often work six-day weeks, spending half of one precious day off on such a pursuit does not put one in the best of moods. The lost is, however, now found, and while searching I stumbled across some forgotten things that were stored up there.

Quilt blocks: Double Irish Chain and Robbing Peter to Pay Paul patterns

My mother was a quilter. She loved cutting up yards and yards of perfectly good fabric, sewing it back together, and assembling it into beautiful blankets or pillows, which she would then hand-quilt and give to those she loved.

When she died, I was given her fabric stash, patterns, quilt stencils, tools, and unfinished projects, and today I found a box containing several works-in-progress and leftover parts and pieces from finished quilts. In the box were extra blocks from a quilt she made as a Christmas gift to my husband and I nearly twenty years ago. It was amazing to see how bright the blues and creams of the fabric were when they were new, as the actual quilt has been much-used and shows its age. I also found unused blocks from the quilt she made my son as his graduation gift. That was the last project she completed, as she died unexpectedly, early in the morning after his high-school commencement. I have the very last project that she began, a pillow top worked in the Polynesian style, her favorite, with a pink design appliqued on a cream-colored background. Her needle is still tucked into the fabric, just as she left it when she went to bed that evening.

My mother has been gone more than fifteen years now. The pain of her absence has faded with the years, and it is only on certain occasions that I realize just how much I miss her, and how much we lost when she passed on. She left us with a strong legacy of love and generosity, great humor and patience (most of the time!), but a fairly impressive vocabulary of foul language for the times when that patience failed her, an intense desire to hug and be hugged, to help others, to work hard and never say “I can't...”, to cherish family and friends, and to enjoy each day. Her childhood was difficult, her last years filled with pain and illness, but her love and laughter always shone through.

I look at my hands, the fingers beginning to ache and twist with arthritis, and my knees, grinding and painful with the same, and realize that she had two artificial knees by the time she was my age! I remember her asking my sister and I to come help her wash windows, as it hurt her hands to do that, and realize now that yes, it surely does hurt one's arthritic hands to wash windows! I limp through the house and understand that it's only a matter of years, and not very many years, before I will be walking with a cane or will have to have my joints replaced with titanium and stainless steel, and I wish I could talk to Mom about that. It frustrates me and makes me angry to walk so slowly and hesitantly, to have to take stairs two-footed instead of dashing up and down them, and to be stopped mid-stride when a knee seizes and binds (my mother's foul vocabulary doesn't make it hurt any less, but it gives me something to do while I wait for the pain to stop!) at this really not-so-very-advanced age that I have attained.

I wish that she could meet my grandchildren. She was gone many years before they were born, and I know she would have loved them.

I wish that she could see the store I manage. She would have loved it, too, and would have been very proud of the work that I do there.

I wish she could see this house that we are building.

I wish that she could have ridden on one of the motorcycles I've ridden over the past twelve years...she loved my little MG Midget that I drove before my son was born. I didn't ride motorcycles while she was alive.

I wish she could have met the friends I've made in the last fifteen years. She would have loved them, and they would have adored her.
I do miss her. We were so very, very lucky to have her in our lives.

Mom, probably around 1982

Robby came for a visit. He loves to just hang out by the little stream in my back yard, much more so than my other grandchildren. Andrea and Layla worry about snakes and bugs, and Ethan is just much too active and 'busy' to be attracted to that sort of quiet time. I made a little net from a thin, cotton bag, an old wire coat hanger, and a handful of tiny brass safety-pins, and Grandpa made a handle for it from a paint roller handle extension. Robby spent nearly six hours wading in the stream, catching minnows and water bugs, and generally having a splendid time!

Wading in the stream...and growing so tall I can hardly believe it

Waiting for the big ones

Pudgy came to help

All of the best stuff is under the bridge...

Lunch break while Grandpa takes a turn

I recently was given the opportunity to review a knitting book that will be published this fall. The title is Follow the Yarn, the Knitting Wit and Wisdom of Ann Sokolowski, by Reba Linker. It is an exploration of a friendship that grew between two women as one taught the other to knit. It is a chapbook by which to learn knitting skills from basic to advanced, but more than that, it is the story of how one person can inspire, teach, and empower others, while sitting at a table and making loops in string. The reader will find tips and tricks, stitch samplers, beginning and finishing methods and techniques, as well as a chronicle of relationships forged with fiber and sticks. One can use the phrase “knitting together” in various ways, and Ms. Sokolowski and Ms. Linker certainly knit together in the very best meaning of the phrase.

I am honored to have been allowed to read an advance copy of Follow the Yarn, and wish great success to Ms. Linker in its publication.Follow the Yarn will be published in paperback this fall, and will be available at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com
In the meantime, readers can get a pdf copy of Follow the Yarn by donating as little as $5 to our Indiegogo campaign at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/follow-the-yarn/x/3505993 (campaign ends July 9), or they can get a FREE CHAPTER of Follow the Yarn by signing up at: http://eepurl.com/A6w8v (emails will be kept strictly confidential - they will NEVER be given to a third party)
Last but not least, learn more at http://www.RebaLinker.com



Of course there has been knitting. I have finished this pair of socks:

Walking Through the Maze Gardens, probably already posted, but it won't hurt anyone's eyes to see them again!

And this pair:

Fall Creek Rib, a prize I gave at the Tennessee Lunch Run last April

and this pair:

"The Captain's Steps", designed and knit for the Captain's Wife

Both of the last two are of my own design. I have begun this pair:

Beanpole Socks, a mystery knit-along, pattern by Hypercycloid at Ravelry, yarn is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock in Falcon's Eye, and a soft yellow from Louet Gems Opal

and this pair:

Another pair of "The Captain's Steps" socks, this time for the Captain, himself

and this pair:

Katwijker Frok by Erry Pieters-Korteweg, my favorite Dutch sock-pattern designer, in "Torrid Affair" hand-painted yarn from Rhichard Devries

and have several projects waiting to be begun. Idle hands are, after all, the Devil's playthings. . . : )



Be well. Be strong. Be happy.

A Taste of Blackberries...

is the title of a beautiful, heart-rending story for kids. The perimeter of the yard at our house is filled with wild black raspberry bushes. The brambles are vicious and they often leave me scratched and bloody when I mow, but the berries are so sweet and juicy and flavorful that I always watch with great anticipation for the first ripe fruit of the summer. My oldest grandson is a very good berry-picker, and he always enjoys helping me harvest and eat them.

Last summer's extreme heat and drought meant that there were few berries, and those that survived were small and seedy.  This year, however, we have had plentiful rain at just the right times, and the bushes are heavy with fruit.

Yesterday evening after work, I went out and picked berries. It started to rain as I worked, but the overhanging trees kept me nearly dry.  I left many raspberries behind for the birds and deer, but harvested enough to make a splendid batch of jam!

There was rain again today, heavy rain with lightning and thunder.  At its highest, the little stream was even with the top of the bridge, but it had subsided a bit by the time I got home.

The waterfall at the far end of the yard sang as the stream spilled over the stones.

Come sit with me on this summer porch

and watch the rain...

More stitches...

 I forgot this pair yesterday...
Secret Fan pattern designed by Adrienne Fong, round 1 of Tour de Sock.  The yarn is a bamboo/wool blend and was not fun to work with, as it was very splitty.

This is the very lovely beginning of the round 4 socks.  Beautiful hand-dyed yarn, Denali sock from Pagewood Farms, beautiful beads from Earthfaire, pattern name is "Walking Through the Maze Gardens."

Yum.

When I told of my international visitors in yesterday's post, I forgot to mention the family from Northern Ireland who graced my shop with their presence on Monday.  Mom and Dad, and three glorious children ages 14, 12, and 9.

The children stood near the counter and talked with Judy and me for quite a while. They told me that there is nothing at all to do in Ireland, because it rains all of the time, except for one or two days every year...

when, of course, they are in school!

: D

They told me that their favorite thing about America so far was root beer floats, and they are drinking as many of them as possible while they are here, as they cannot get them in Ireland.

Root beer floats are among my favorite things, too.

Smart kids!

Some Knitting...



Sometimes I can share things that I'm thinking about, and sometimes I can't. :) For this post, I'll just show what I've been knitting.

Sock Madness: Greenhouse Socks, knit with yarn that I won in a drawing in one of my Ravelry groups for finishing the Dutch Fish socks:



Lebowski Socks for Tour de Sock Stage 3:

Yarn and beads for Tour de Sock round 4:

Haley's Roses socks for Michelle:

 A Christmas stocking for my friend's mantel, knit from a Civil-War-era pattern:

Socks for Ms. Nina's granddaughter:

Another wonderful prize package from one of my Ravelry groups. My orange Dutch Fish socks have been very lucky for me!

Not knitting, but a wonderfully stormy sky that I saw on my drive home one evening:

In my little store in a little Amish town, I have had in the last week, visitors from Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Israel, England, and New Zealand. 

It just amazes me.

I read this quotation on a sign the other day:

If women ran the world, there would be no wars...

just a lot of jealous countries not speaking to one another!

We cannot control the wind, we can only adjust our sails...
A dear friend used to say that to me. I just wish that I'd become a better sailor at some point in my life so that I would not be endlessly running out of control before the wind.
...and, speaking of sails, Flying Dutchman socks:

I am, once again, engaged in Sock Madness Forever, a sock-knitting competition at www.ravelry.com.  The Flying Dutchman is the Round 2 pattern.  I've been put on the fastest team again this year.  There are some scary-fast knitters on my team, most of them being Dutch or Scandinavian, and these past two years I've learned a lot about stroopwafels and lutefisk. It took me about five days to knit my socks, but some of the knitters were done in just two days! One woman on my team had her first pair of socks disqualified on a technicality, and then cast on, knit, and finished her second pair in less than ONE DAY!!!
I did not choose my yarn wisely for this pair. The blue is harsh and it wants to felt and the color bleeds when washed.  They're pretty, but won't be as wearable as I like my socks to be.

This was the Round 1 sock, Sockdolager (it's a long story):

I don't love them...the pattern is pretty, but the yarn has too much purple (it looked blue in the store, I swear!).  They'll do a good job of keeping my feet warm, or maybe I'll gift them to someone else who will love them more than I.

Several things have happened since my last post.
My father's wife died, after a five-year battle with brain cancer.  Dad seems to be doing well, and his strength and energy at the age of eighty-six continues to amaze me.
My son and his family lived here for a couple of months, but have now moved on once again.  I hope that this time they will begin to make the necessary decisions to make them independent and stable, for the sake of their four children if not for their own benefit and ours.
My employers bought a much-larger store in the town where I work, and moved my shop into it. I've not only gained a lovely place to go every working day, but have also gained a new and wonderful co-worker named Judy, who is also becoming a good friend!
My granddaughters are enrolled in a new school at their new home and struggling, but it looks as though they're getting lots of help. This school puts a lot of emphasis on the arts and both girls are already involved in after-school artistic endeavors. One will be appearing in the school's performance of "Annie" in April.


I knit this sweater for my son when he was a little boy, and it has been worn by one of his old teddies ever since Nick outgrew it.  One day when Robby was here, I took the sweater off the bear and had him try it on.
The neck is badly stretched and Robby is already too big to wear it, but it was nice to see him in what was once his daddy's favorite sweater. Here is a picture of Nick wearing the same sweater, many years ago.

Robby had asked me to teach him to knit. I told him he had to stop wearing his Velcro-closed shoes and learn to tie shoelaces, and once he did that, I'd try to teach him. His first lesson was just recently:

I found large, sturdy wooden needles and chunky yarn, cast on a few stitches, and showed him the basic knit stitch. I slipped the right needle tip into the loop on the left needle, wrapped the yarn around and used the tip to pull a new loop through, and he said, 
"Really, Grandma? Seriously? That's all there is to it?" and gave me a skeptical look. 
We sat together and knit for a bit. He would work a stitch or two, and I'd work five or six. We completed a few rows.  He wants to make a hat and we'll dye it bright orange when it's finished, as orange is his favorite color.
I've been teaching some ladies to knit socks at the public library, just casual classes that I'm doing for free. We started with five students and are down to one regular one and two who pop in when they can. It's been fun to share my addiction and help some nice people learn to do something new.
One of my students brought in these socks:

This is what Lois had to tell me about her socks:

"The socks were knitted by Elizabeth Humiston, from New York State.  They were given to Grace Tavernier of Bristol IN.  Grace lived on US 120 kind of between Middlybury and Bristol,  IN very near Eby Pines  where they raise Christmas trees.
Grace lost her mother as a young child.  She had one brother.  They lived on adjoining lots as adults.  When her father remarried Grace went or was sent to live with an Aunt and Uncle.  As an adult she lived in the same house that she grew up in.  She and her husband, Minor Tavernier (my uncle) took care of her Uncle Ad  Hill until his death then they inherited his farm.  I also have some old silver plated utensils that have the initial H on them. Grace was born August 9th, 1893 and passed on March 26 1973.  She had a bad heart. 
The socks have  one very tiny hole on the leg , perhaps a snag.  They do not look like they were worn much and are made with thread, not yarn. 
Since Grace Tavernier was born in 1893 I figure these socks could be 120 years old as of now.  The note Attached to the socks says they are over 100 years  old.   According to that note I believe it is written in Grace's handwriting these socks were already 100 when she wrote the note as an adult.  I'm thinking maybe it would be closer to say 120 years by now.   Who Knows?  This note is written on lined notebook paper with a fountain pen in beautiful cursive.  It was pinned on the socks when I brought them home after Aunt Grace passed away.  The note is yellowed now and wrinkly.  It says," This belongs to Mrs. Minor Tavernier (Grace), White Pigeon.  "
I did not write the note so perhaps my Aunt did.  Maybe they really belonged to  the Aunt that raised her.  Grace (my Aunt) never had children.
The socks measure from top to bottom of heel 12" and from toe to heel 7".  I have no idea who Elizabeth Humiston was.  I don't believe she was a Tavernier relative.  Perhaps the Hill family knew Elizabeth."
They are quite lovely and I am so honored that she shared them with me.

There has been knitting that I do love. I found on Ravelry a Dutch knitter named Erry, whose patterns are just beautiful. All are based on traditional Dutch fishermen's ganseys and she includes little stories about the stitches and their histories. I've knit three of them now and will be casting on to knit a fourth very soon.  The first was the Cabled Spakenburg socks that were in an earlier post.  Number two was this pair: 

The Bell of Arnemuiden, cast on in February and finished just a couple of hours ago. I wish I could better show the texture of the stitches.

Number three pair is here: 

Haring uit Maassluis, or Dutch Fish as I call them. Fish, Dutch, orange...All of this amuses me, and I know these will become favorite socks. I bought white yarn and dyed it myself using paste food colors in orange and brown. Three of my grandchildren were here to watch the dyeing process, and they think that I must be quite magical to be able to turn white yarn to orange in my slow-cooker! :D 






And then, there are these:

The pattern is Zugspitze, named for the highest mountain peak in Germany. I saw Zugspitze when I visited my friend in Europe last year and I love these socks...except...I used several small balls of leftover yarn from my stash to knit them.  The colors did not match exactly, but that was ok. What was NOT ok was that apparently some of the yarn that I used was not superwash, and my lovely socks felted in places the first time I washed them. :(

Enough for now, and far too much.  Happy first day of April to you and yours. May it bring you much joy!
Published 2 April, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day...

to all who love

to all who are loved

Well, let's see if this works...

It's been another long, dry spell for blogging. The dialup Internet has not allowed me in to the blog for weeks and weeks.  During that time much has happened and at the same time nothing much has changed, but that's life, isn't it.  This will be a long post, as I have much to share and who knows when I'll be able to log in again?

Ignore the weight-loss tickers to the right of the page. They are the result of a bet with three of my motorcycling friends and I'm struggling with the formatting.  I am hopeful that the actual weight loss will be easier than setting up the tickers, but so far my own weight has not changed much.  The guys are doing well, though!

So I think it was well before Christmas the last time I posted.  Since then, there has been much knitting, the death of another old friend, a visit from my brother, an evening with the Harlem Globetrotters, a whole lot more knitting, the re-addition of six more people to my home, an adoption of the feline sort, and probably a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember at this moment.  

At this moment the house smells quite wonderfully of fresh baking raisin bread.  My oldest grandson had a bad dream and came into my room to wake me for comfort. We couldn't get back to sleep so at 4:45 a.m. we were up and in the kitchen, starting the bread machine.  The bread should be ready around 8:00 if you're in the neighborhood.

So. Back in mid-December I posted a contest for a free e-book of knitting patterns.  The winner was  barazile, from Ireland!  There is a link to her blog in the comments on the December 19th post. 

Here is a little story:

A little story

Once upon a time, a little doll lived in a little shop. She was quite homely, with staring eyes and a cheaply-made cotton dress, but she was very friendly and dear. A hard-working young woman named LaVerda loved her so much, and wanted to take her home, but alas, a dreadful accident happened: the little doll took a terrible tumble from a high shelf and broke her little head quite badly!

The good shopkeeper (that’s me, silly!) mended the little doll as best she could, but there remained a bit of her scalp that had fallen down inside of the little molded face, and a little hole remained that could not be repaired.

The poor dolly sat for months and months, over most of a year, with the sad hole in the top of her head. She feared that she would sit on the lonely shop counter forever, and would never have a warm and loving home to call her own. Whenever Miss LaVerda came to the little shop to work, she would take her up and talk to her and tell her how much she was loved, but still the little doll sat, sad and lonely, as the days passed.

One day, the good shopkeeper found a bit of warm woolen yarn and began to knit a little cap for the dolly. She knit a feather-and-fan crown for the cap, with reverse stockinet stitch for the back, and adapted the ruffled skirt from the Knubbelchen pattern to make a little tail at the bottom to keep the dear dolly’s neck warm. She sewed two bits of red satin ribbon to the cap for ties.

Then the shopkeeper took up her wool and needles once more, and knit a simple garter-stitch shawl for the little doll. She cast on two stitches, then worked an easy dishcloth-style pattern, slipping the first stitch of every row, then wrapping the yarn over the needle once and working the rest of the row in Knit stitches. When the piece seemed big enough, the shopkeeper worked one row thusly: Sl 1, (yo, k2tog), repeating (this part) across the top of the shawl. She then knit back one more row across the edge and then bound off as loosely as she could, although she SHOULD have used a larger needle to do that because it’s too tight, dangit, and won’t stretch as far as I want it to and...oops, I have gotten off track, haven’t I?

The shopkeeper took the little shawl and bonnet to the little shop and dressed the little doll in them. She tied the cap’s red satin ribbons under the doll’s chin, and slipped the button from the doll’s bib through the lacy edges of the shawl to hold it closed over her chest. The sweet dolly was so warm and cozy, and there was no longer any sign of her frightening adventure and dreadful fall, except for a tiny mended crack down the center of her face!

The shopkeeper wrapped the dolly in a bright and cheery red-and-white dishtowel, because she knew that Miss LaVerda liked the pattern, and tied the package up with a blue bow. She placed the little gift in a spot where she knew it would be found when Miss LaVerda came to work the next day, and left it with a little pat, and a wish that the dear little doll would always be loved.

Merry Christmas, LaVerda! :o)

Some Miscellaneous Knitting That Could Not Be Shown Before Christmas:

 

Incognito Cowls for the grandchildren.  These can be worn instead of scarves to keep their little necks warm, or can be pulled up to cover the lower parts of their faces, giving each of them a funny mustache!

 Knubblechen: little dolls knit from some of the Big Bag O'Sock Yarn that I got at Tutto last February. They are quite soft and cuddly, and I love them very much!  These four were knit in worsted-weight yarn for the grandkids, but I've knit three more in leftover sock yarn and have two more on the needles for baby gifts.

If you know me, you know that I do not care for the color purple (although the book and movie of the same name are among my favorites), due to a bad relationship with a purple-loving former boss.  I had a great many bits and pieces of purple sock yarn and I thought if I used them to knit a pair of socks it might help me get over my aversion for the color.

Here are the socks.

It didn't work.  I'll wear them, but I still don't like purple.

These, however, I love.  The yellow striped yarn is my treasured Opal Bee yarn, held in my stash for several years now.  I had only some leftovers from socks that I had knit, along with some of the same yarn that was leftover from a friend's socks, and I didn't think there would be enough for a full pair, so I added some black and some wonderful honey-gold yarn to make enough, using those colors to stripe the cuffs, heels and toes. 

Did I mention that I LOVE these socks?

I also love these...yellow, my favorite color, was the theme for one of my online sock-knitting groups, and knitting a pattern from a new-to-you designer was the theme for another.  This is the quite splendid Lang Jawoll yarn in a quite splendid yellow, and the pattern is Cabled Spakenburg by Erry Pieters-Korteweg, a designer from the Netherlands.  She has adapted stitch patterns from traditional Dutch fishermen's sweaters to knit socks for her family, and this design is one of hers. 

Erry's notes about the source of her pattern:

" Designing for my son with shoe size 14,5/49,5 a pair of socks based on the gansey of the fishermen from Bunschoten/Spakenburg, a fisherman’s town in the Netherlands. Fishermen from this fishing village had two ganseys; one for during the week and one for Sundays. The one for during the week was knitted huge, like twice the size wanted. Then the gansey  was put into hot water, and rubbed and pounded until it shrank to half. This procedure resulted in a very  heavy, and wind-­ and water-proof sweater. For Sundays the gansey was knitted with a thinner kind of blue
yarn, called ‘sajet’. The dominant motive were cables with bands in stockinette stitches in between. More about these sweaters in the book Nederlandse Visserstruien by Henriette van der Klift-­Tellegen (Bilt 1983)
The book has also been translated in English."

I was able to locate a copy of the book in English through Michigan's Inter-Library Loan program, and it was a very interesting read!  I'm planning to use another of Erry's designs for my February Knit-Along socks.  Her patterns are beautifully written and result in some lovely socks.

These are socks knit for one of our motorcycling friends in trade for a pair of heated riding gloves that were too heavy for Frank to wear while operating his motorcycle.  Frank's bike is orange, as were the bikes that belonged to our friends Ross and Steve, and this yarn is left over from socks that I knit for them.  I bought the yarn several years ago from Astrid's Dutch Obsessions in Zwolle, Netherlands, to continue in the Dutch theme. I didn't have a lot of the orange yarn left, so used brown for the heel flaps and heels.  When I finished, I had just a few yards left of the orange yarn.

This is Pearl.  She adopted us last fall. She is a very loving kitty, and makes me realize how much I've missed having a pet.

Friday evening, we were treated to a Harlem Globetrotters game at Notre Dame.  I have seen them many times on television over the years, but this was my first time to see them in person.  They are impressive basketball players, and fun (and very funny) to watch,  but what most stuck in my thoughts as I watched them was the history behind their team. Thank you, Michelle, for a wonderful evening and a MOST thoughtful gift.


And last, but most assuredly not least, there has been another passing.  Don (Donnie) A. Moore, a friend of my husband's since first grade and of mine for around forty years, died two weeks ago today.  He was a military veteran, Legionnaire, pillar of his community, father, husband, friend.  He was tireless in his efforts to make his town strong. He was loud, rude, obnoxious, insulting, profane, and terribly, terribly funny!  He was the owner/operator of their local radio station, an ever-present volunteer and fund-raiser, and the sort of man who makes me realize what a complete slacker I am. His shoes will be impossible to fill.

A Contest! A Giveaway! Free Stuff!
A gifted designer from Ravelry has given me a copy of her new ebook to review and one to pass along to some lucky person...if you'd like a copy of your own, leave a comment here at my blog, and tell me who your favorite Hobbit character is.  I'll leave the contest open until midnight, December 31, 2012, and then will draw a name at random to receive a link for the download.

Josie Mercier has designed five patterns for knitwear inspired by the book The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien.  You can see pictures at Josie's blog, and read about her long love of all things contained therein. 
Each brings to mind a moment in Bilbo's adventures through Middle Earth.  I am most drawn to the Elvish Singing Shawlette and the "Pocketses" vest, but I think the Mirkwood Satchel is intriguing as well. My only wish is that Josie had knit some of her projects in lighter colors, or done something different with the backgrounds to show off her lovely knits a bit better.  The charts are clear and look like they'll be easy to follow, and the patterns seem to be well-written.  I'm looking forward to casting on my first Hobbit-y project, and hope that you all will be tempted, as well!

Don't forget to leave your comment below so that you can be entered in the drawing. One entry per person, please.  This is my first real giveaway, and I am easily confused! :D 

Ghosts of Christmas Past

And so, I have put up a tree this year.  It's a job that's always filled with emotion, with memories, with so much of my life.  Christmas was a very special time when I was a child, and for as long as my mother was alive, but it has become more difficult since her passing some years back.

Last year, it was too much to bear, and I could not bring myself to open those boxes and let the ghosts out.

This year, I decided I had to do it. It was poignant. There were a few tears. I am, however, glad that it is done.

My tree is not 'themed', it is not coordinated, it doesn't play music or look especially stylish.  My ornaments are bits and pieces of my life, and each one has meaning.

Here are a few of them:

 

This one is from my first birthday party, in late November of 1957.  My mother bought these Santa ornaments at our local variety store, and each of the children at the party had a little hat with one of these perched atop it.  I have two of the Santas left now.  They are showing their age, but my tree wouldn't be the same without them!

 I bought this little bride on the day that I bought my wedding gown, in 1973.  There is also a silk rose corsage that was given to me by my mother, and a silver swan that came from a shop in the town where my husband grew up.

 There are many miniature books on my tree, including tiny reproductions of the Little Golden Books that filled my childhood bookshelves, a wee edition of A Child's Christmas in Wales, a red-and-gold-bound copy of The Night Before Christmas.  Books are such an important part of my life, I couldn't possibly leave them off my Christmas tree!

This little porcelain doll is one of several that my mother used to decorate her trees.  The snowflake was crocheted by a former co-worker of mine.  We made a deal: she hated to block her work, and I do not enjoy crocheting.  She made the snowflakes, I starched and blocked them, and we divided them between us. 

This was one of the first collectible Hallmark ornaments I purchased.  When you press a button on the back, it plays a recording of Neil Armstrong's famous lunar landing speech.

There are ornaments made by my mom, by my brother-in-law, by my son, by my Cub Scouts, many years ago, by friends, and by me. 

There are whimsical additions, and beautiful ones.

 

And yes, there is even a collection of Star Trek ornaments!

This one plays a special Christmas message from Mr. Spock.

And here are two special friends that I had not seen for several years, since we packed them up after our last Christmas at the other house.  It was such a joy to find them once again!

Many years ago, when I was much younger, I made dolls.  I made them every year for quite a long time, one for each of my nieces.  They were not original designs, in fact for each one I used a purchased pattern, but each one had its own individuality.

These were two of the last that I made, after the girls were 'too old' for Aunt Becky's handmade dolls.

Before these, I never made one for myself, and I have no pictures of any of them!

I hope if one of my nieces still has hers and should happen to read this, that they will email me some pictures of their Christmas dolls.

Each one was made with great love and care.

And so, Christmas is coming.

Be well. Be happy.

Next post, coming soon, a giveaway! I have been gifted by a fellow member of Ravelry with a copy of an ebook of knitting patterns inspired by The Hobbit.

Check back soon, and enter to win it for yourself.