Day 41, 59 to go: Grandma models Rachel’s hat

I am typing this at 30^th Street Station in Philadelphia while waiting for the train that will take me home.  I have an old Dell hand-me-up laptop from my brother for which I am very grateful.  However, for some reason it will not run on its battery.  This made for a very long ride on the Megabus.  The electric outlets on my side of the bus were not working.  When we got to the rest stop, I switched seats to the side that was working.  But the wi-fi kind of went in and out, so I couldn’t write this on the bus as I had planned. (Well, I could have, but it would really have annoyed my seatmate, I think.)

When I got to 30^th Street, I discovered that what I thought would be a half hour wait for my train was actually an hour.  (Darned bi-focals!!! Can’t tell the difference between 19 and 49)  However, when I went up to the track to wait for the train, I discovered an electrical outlet conveniently situated next to a trash can, so I balanced my computer on the trash can, plugged in and here we go. 

The genes are strong with this one.

I made another hat like the “earthtones” one I gave Zoe yesterday.  This is for Mini-Me, Rachel, who loved Zoe’s.  This one appears to be “seatones” --greens & teals.  So here are Zoe and her grandmother modeling the hat in two colorways.  (My mother was the only available model as I was getting ready to leave. Thanks, Mom!) 

This is an example of the difference between the self-striping on Zoe’s hat and the “ombre” on Rachel’s.  The colors fall in an arbitrary way with the ombre.  The band of the hat just happened to be a length that made the same colors fall together in columns as I went around, so it does give a kind of vertical stripe effect as opposed to the self-striping horizontal earthtones. 

Of course the most interesting thing about these pictures is how obvious it is that Zoe got an awful lot of her grandmother’s genes.  Could they have more similar cheekbones, face shapes, eyebrows etc? 

I still have some Christmas presents to work on when I get home, so I don’t know what tomorrow’s crafting will be.  As far as I’m concerned, I have until January 6, Three Kings Day to get the Christmas presents out.  Starting with Borg #7 of 8's birthday last week, we are now in “birthday season” in my family and there will be birthdays just about every other week from now until the first week of July.  Party on dude.

Day 40, 60 to go: Finishing the Hat

The last tendrils of yarn with the finished hat.

I love Sondheim.  I am so excited I got to use the name of a song from Sunday in the Park With George in the title of this post.   Today was actually “Sunday teaching crocheting with Maggie and Lily.”

First, the finished hat. Zoe asked for a hat in earth tones.  I ordered some, but when it came, the yarn designer’s idea of “earth” was coral, shrimp, white and brown.  It was a fairly small skein of yarn and I didn’t have any additional solids to augment it with, so I needed to create a hat that would make the yarn go as far as possible.  This is the finished hat surrounded by the 2 yards of yarn that were left. I can’t imagine coming much closer to designing a hat that would use just the amount of yarn available.

Not a gnome hat

Here is the fabulous gnome-and-hat-loving Zoe modeling said finished hat.  Sadly this shot is a bit washed out, so you can’t really get a sense of the color.  The yarn is called “self-striping.”  This means that they dye several yards of it one color, then the next color for several yards and then the next.  The hat looks like I made it from 4 different yarns, when it was, in fact, just one skein with all of those colors in it. I really like the effect.   Most multi-color yarns are called “ombres” and they have maybe 18 inches or a yard of one color before they switch.  They create a more random color effect.  (You’ll see what I mean in tomorrow’s riding-the-bus hat.)

I worked with Lily (age 5 ½) and Maggie (age 4) on crochet and knit lessons for quite a while.  Lily got the fattest knitting needles I have ever seen for Xmas.  They must be close to an inch in diameter.  I showed her how they worked, but they are really difficult to get the tension right for an experienced knitter.  She gave it a shot, but the two ginormous needles were beyond her (and me.) 

I showed Maggie how to finger-crochet chains.  She was starting to get the hang of it.  I remember doing a lot of that at Grandma’s feet. Sometimes Grandma would even take the really long chains I made and stitch them into a coiled mat I could use as a doll rug.  I was so proud.  Since Lily is intent on learning to crochet, finger-crocheting is Maggie, ever the little sister’s “me too.”

Lily is quite good at chain stitching with the crochet hook.  Using the hook rather than fingers is actually pretty sophisticated.  We worked on some single crochet stitches, but she will need to sit and practice and practice if she wants to learn.  Getting the tension right in the stitches and the feeder hand takes a lot of dexterity.  At 5, she might not quite have the fine motor skills she needs. 

Luckily, I was able to recruit someone to give them follow-up lessons.  Rachel, my Mini-Me niece lives near Lily and Maggie, is a great crocheter (I taught her when she was about 10 and she picked it right up) and most importantly, is a rightie.  She is excited about continuing to coach them.  I think it’s important to let Lily set her own pace so she falls in love with it rather than gets too frustrated by it. 

All the cool kids know how to crochet.

Here is a picture of Maggie, her Mom (Borg #6 of 8) and Lily after the crochet lesson.  On the left, providing an excellent photo bomb is Mini-Me (in case that isn’t immediately obvious) ready to carry on the tradition of crocheting to the rest of her generation.

Rachel loves Zoe’s hat, by the way, so I am making her one in greens and blues.  I also showed her generally how I made it.  She is plotting to have a little crochet circle with her friends to all make hats now.  I think she just needed the concept of how they go together (as opposed to afghans).  I love it. I can’t wait to see what she’ll do.  I gave her a quick Intro-to-Pom-pom-Making tutorial too  Seriously.  I can’t wait to see her hats.

Day 39, 61 to go: more crocheting

Still working on that lacey hat.  It doesn't look like a hat yet, so I will hold off posting pictures until it does. 

We had a lovely, raucous Christmas Eve gift exchange tonight with all of my siblings—including one who was with us via Skype.  I wish we had had Skype when we were kids so we could have gotten to share Christmas Eve with our cousins who were back in the Motherland of New Jersey while we were living around the burgh.

Thank you Miss Lily!

Miss Lily surprised and delighted me by picking out a Christmas present for me at her school’s Secret Santa shop.  Her mother says this was all her idea.  Aren’t these fuzzy pink socks adorable?  We are pink-loving buddies, I guess.

She got a learn-to-knit kit for Christmas.  She wants to learn to knit and crochet.  Her mom (Borg #6 of 8) is an awesome crochet-er, but there is a little problem.  Lily is right-handed and her mom is a hardcore lefty. 

I would just like to point out here that her mother can crochet because I taught her, despite the fact that I am right-handed.  I had been showing my youngest sisters how to crochet, but she wasn’t really getting it.  Usually lefties are good at turning right-handed things around in their heads to figure out how to do a task lefty because they do it their whole lives.  But she couldn’t quite get the crocheting.  So I did.  I managed to hold the needle, yarn and work the way a lefty would.  It was awkward and slow.  I only managed to do it for a few stitches, but that was all it took.  She just needed to see the way her own hands would hold it. There are a lot of moving parts to crocheting.  You really do need to see it in motion a few times.  After she had those basics down, she could "translate" more stitches for herself.

And boy did she go to town after that.  She crocheted afghans for King sized beds for herself and a couple of our sisters.  I have crocheted a lot, but nothing on her scale.  She got really good and prolific.  I am thrilled that Lily wants to learn.  So, tomorrow I am going to take some yarn and my needles over to the family Christmas gathering at my sister’s (#2 of 8) and sit with Lily and see what we can learn.  The kit she got has nice big chunky knitting needles and fat pink yarn, which will be fun to make a scarf out of.  I’d like to start her with crocheting though, because I think it’s easier to learn to handle the yarn and one needle before moving on to knitting with two needles that don’t have a hook on them.

Stockings hung by the chimney with care...

This is a picture of something I made a long time ago which has come to symbolize Christmas at my mom's.  In the late 70s, I was inspired by the idea that Santa had 8 reindeer and my mom has 8 kids.  I made felt stockings with a silhouette of Santa's sleigh for my mother’s stocking and then silhouettes of reindeer on each of the kids’ stockings so that when they all hang in a row like this, it creates the tableau of Santa’s sleigh being pulled by Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and the rest of the team.  (This was so long ago, I made a 9th reindeer with a red nose for Grandma's stocking--she died when I was in college.) The felt stockings were smaller, decorated with glitter and quickly wore out. I remade them about 25 years ago in cotton velvet with red flannel cuffs --leaving out the disco-era glitter.  I still love the way they hang here under the crèche figures. They seem timeless to me. 

I love my sister's handiwork.

When our nieces and nephews came along, one of my little sisters (#7 0f 8) took up the stocking-making gauntlet and made these for them.  So even though I didn't make these, I am including them here because I am so proud of her. (And relieved that someone else took up this task.  At the time, we had no idea the number of grandchildren would stop at a mere 11) The grandkid stockings hang on the banister in the front hall--the fireplace being pretty much at capacity.  I love the way she embroidered the names of each child in glittery white floss on the cuffs. Grandma would be as proud as I am to see her seamstress legacy carried on into a third century.

Merry Christmas!

Day 36, 64 to go: Crocheted lacey hat

Hat-to-be

It was a long day on the bus.  No internet access.  Some crocheting.  And lovely chatting with my seatmate who was on her way from Philly to Detroit.  I do not envy her time on the bus.

So I got this hat started.  It doesn’t look like much but should be more hatty in the next day or so. 

The gnomes are not making themselves.  They did not fit into my suitcase, so I will get back to them when I get home.  Very little fit in my suitcase, and it turns out it’s just as well.  I arrived in “dahntahn” Pixburgh just as torrential rain started blowing sideways.  I was soaked through in about 3 minutes.  As I unpacked tonight, I learned that my hot pink rolling suitcase is not remotely waterproof.  So at least the gnomes are warm and dry back home on my kitchen table. (And probably under a cat or  two)

Day 11, 89 to go: Striped Crocheted Hat

It’s been a challenging day.   Travel days tend to be like that.

Hat

Although I had that tea towel to finish embroidering, it was so dreary and rainy, there wasn’t enough light on the bus to be able to make the tiny stitches necessary.  So I settled for crocheting this hat.  I just made it up as I went.  I was so glad I had this project.  I find the rhythm of crocheting is so deep-seated in me that my mind can just wander and work on all manner of problems and notions. 

It also reminds me of all those nights crocheting with Grandma while we watched tv.  I remember watching her and being fascinated with how quickly she was able to work an afghan.  Today I watched my hands speed through maybe even faster than she did.  It always profoundly touches me when I feel her presence come through me and the memories wash across the stitches.  She died 30 years ago when I was in college.   Yet she still teaches me.

Cat

Since I was at my mom’s, neither Felicity nor Fergus were available to supervise my work.  I did, however, have Monty.  He is such a friendly and handsome boy.  He is a boarder at my mom’s while his family has run off to live in Mauritius.  They will be back to see him every summer, but at his age (12 or 13) they felt he wasn’t up to the rigors of international travel. (When he was younger he lived with his family in Senegal)

Challenging as this travel day has been, at least I wasn’t on the turnpike before this awful spill.  What a way to spend Thanksgiving week. I wonder if they will think of it as Black Tuesday?