Finished Projects

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I've been working to finish projects using stash.  This sweater, Rambling Rows by Cottage Creations is one of my favorites.  I love mitered squares and combining color combinations.  This project incorporates four colors of Cascade 220 Superwash.  I'm really happy with the way it turned out. 

This baby sweater in Berocco Love It purchased two years ago at Yarnworks in Gainesville, FL, is another of my favorite patterns, # 982 Babies Neck Down Cardigan by Diane Soucy.  I enjoy making top down sweaters; there's very little sewing and I think they are more comfortable to wear when they don't have seams attaching the arms to the body.  This is lovely yarn, mostly cotton with some stretch.

Here's another Rambling Rows sweater, my fifth.  It's knit in Berocco Geode, Cascade 220 and Germantown Worsted.  I think it's perfect for my granddaughter, Linny, who loves purple.  I'm a tight knitter so I used the stitch counts for the 7 to 9 size which came out to the measurements of a slightly large 4 to 6 size.  It should be perfect for her to wear at the end of the summer.  Now I have to come up with complementary sweaters for her brothers.  Fortunately my stash continues to overflow and I just need to rummage around a bit to find something suitable.

I'm working on another baby sweater project right now but it's not something that will lend itself to a work in progress photo.  Once it's done, I'll post it.

The Saga of the Sweater

Years ago, 2007 probably, when I first started knitting again, I bought Lion Brand Pound of Love in four different colors.  I wasn't really confident about my knitting skills and I wasn't ready to make a big investment in yarn.  I still have lots of this yarn in my stash although the cream color is about gone.

In May of 2008 when my mother was very ill, I traveled to Vermont to be with my sister as we sat by my mother's bedside in the hospital.  I packed the cream (antique white?) Pound of Love in my suitcase.  As my mother slipped away, my sister and I sat together knitting.  It was a way to be present and to pass the time. I take great comfort that we were able to do this.  The nurses stopped in often, both to check on my mother and on our knitting progress.  This is the second sweater I completed during the five day vigil. 

Fast forward to the winter of 2008/2009.  DH and I became snowbirds and rented a condo in Crystal River, FL.  The condo community has a wonderful craft group.  I made a number of knitted items while I was there.  And, I brought along some finished objects to show the group.

Two occurences came together just as I was ready to head back north.  One of the women in the group was expecting a grandchild.  Said grandchild was to be born in Uzbekistan.  The condo community was planning an auction event to raise money to decorate the clubhouse.  At the last craft group meeting, I offered the sweater I had knit the previous May as an auction donation.  It was gratefully accepted.

Many months later I learned that the prospective grandmother had bid on and won the sweater at the auction.  She and her husband traveled to Uzbekistan to visit their new grandchild and took the sweater with them.  It was well received.

DH and I are back in Crystal River again this winter and I am enjoying the craft group and other activities.  I even got to meet the young lady pictured above when she and her parents visited a few weeks ago.  She no longer fits in the sweater because she's grown so much.

Today her grandmother sent me a photo of this darling baby wearing the sweater I lovingly knit as my mother slipped away.  Beginnings and endings.  I guess that's what life is about.  I have tears right now but I'm not sad.  In a way, there is a connection between my mother, who loved babies, and this adorable little one who lives on the other side of the world. 

The Paper Bag Players

Saturday we took all four NJ grands to a performance by The Paper Bag Players at the NJ Performing Arts Center in Newark.  The Paper Bag Players is my favorite children's theater troupe.  Their skits are always funny, colorful and creative.  Every prop is made of brown paper or cardboard.  This performance, The Great Mummy Adventure, consisted of entirely new sketches.  While each vignette was amusing, what caught the children's fancy was a chicken that crossed the stage at three strategic moments, each time carrying an important, that is important to the plot, item under its wing.

I was somewhat saddened to see the Victoria Theater was not filled to capacity.  Usually these shows are sell-outs.  I'm wondering if the economy is keeping people home.

Years ago I took my children to see a performance of The Paper Bag Players in Manhattan.  Now, for the past four or five years I've been bringing the grandchildren.  What fun!

Grandkids on Video

I've been video conferencing with my California grandkids off and on for nearly 18 months. They would look at me on the screen and I would look back at them. It was wonderful to see them, but hard to have any meaningful interaction. The picture and sound quality weren't that good and I wasn't sure they really "got it." I hadn't seen them in person for nine months. Seeing them on the screen was nice, but it didn't seem real.

In May, I spent two weeks with them and my husband joined me for the second week. Both kids warmed to us very quickly and we developed rituals, reading books, singing songs, playing games. The children seemed to really enjoy being with us. When Perry really liked something he would say and sign, "More, more!" One of their favorites was singing the hokey pokey.

I've been home for a little over a week now and tonight we had a video conference. Both children recognized us immediately. We sang songs and Perry signed, "More, more," as if we were there in the room with them. It was ten minutes of real connection.

It's so hard to have grandchildren (and their parents) who live so far away. I'm booked for another visit in August and really looking forward to it. In the meantime, they will be nearby in my computer.

Here's a screen shot of the two kids watching me on their Mom's computer screen. You can see they are really engaged.