Your greatness is not what you have, it's what you give.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Nana's Buttons

It's 8AM and my doorbell rings. There's a FedEx truck out front. What could it be?
My cousin Dana sent an email weeks ago to tell me she had inherited my Nana's button box but she and her sister already had all the buttons they could use in a lifetime.
So she offered them to me and my daughter to share. Amanda is a clothing designer, among other things, so she could always use buttons! Boy Dana! You sure packaged these carefully.
And here they are! Hundreds of buttons that hold hundreds of happy memories of my Nana. She was an Italian immigrant with so many talents. She was an amazing cook and baker and I might have mentioned that she could knit and crochet anything without a pattern. She was one of my knitting and crochet teachers when I was a little girl.
This is the original box which I'm guessing couldn't fit in the shipping box.
It held all Nana's buttons.
These are the three containers I had in storage which now hold the treasures that remind me of Nana.
I hope that someday they will bring happy memories of me to my grandchildren.
Now when are Moose and Leo coming for a visit? I need to get busy making more of those memories with them.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Warm Hands and Heads

Maureen, Carole, and I did a lot of stitch counting tonight. At one point DH asked if he could join us and was unenthusiastically invited to sit. Poor guy thought we didn't want him around. That's an occupational hazard when knitting requires concentration and counting.

Maureen proudly showed us her finished mitts tonight. 
 Carole started a hat with that pretty pink yarn she used before in a pair of fingerless mitts.
 She got the free pattern from a web site that specializes in patterns for chemo caps and such.
 I finished two pairs of fingerless mitts. The first is a free pattern from Ravelry called Treads.
 This second pair was a pattern I improvised based on a 3 X 1 ribbing and working the thumb gusset to 13 stitches using an aran weight yarn and size 6 DP's. These two pairs of mitts fit my grown son but also fit me. The are stretchy to say the least.
 This weekend I got to spend some time with my two favorite little boys! I can't believe how much they have grown! Here they sat still long enough to show me how well their Christmas gift socks fit. It's a good thing it didn't take me long to snap their photo. That little squirt is quite a handful!
My weekend was filled with hugs and sloppy kisses. The best ever!!!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Chicks are taking a day off today but I wanted to send all my readers a wish for love in your lives. It can come from your significant other, a family member, or even your pet but I hope each of you has someone to love and who loves you.
God bless you and I'll see you next week with some finished knitting.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

All Hands On Deck

Three of us have finished one fingerless mitt of the pair we are knitting for cancer survivors of New York Oncology and Hematology.

First up is Karin's. She is using a pattern from Knit Noro: Accessories: 30 Colorful Little Knits
 Carole found a pretty pink yarn after stash diving and turned it into this beautiful cabled mitt.
 I am using a self-striping sock yarn and size 1 needle for a 3 X 1 ribbing. I'm about halfway through the second mitt.
 Maureen is working on the baby sweater and hoping to finish it to get it into this week's donation to The Christ Child Society, Albany Chapter. 
 Here are the items we will be delivering this week.
 Maybe winter will arrive sometime soon so these kids will actually get to wear a sweater or two. We've had a crazy winter and not much snow. It was 42 degrees today!
 I finished my Daybreak Shawl using Karin's hand dyed Periwinkle Sheep Watercolors Sock Yarn.
 The dark teal is "Past Midnight"
 and the light color is "Cloud Dancer".
This pattern was an easy knit but by the time I was almost finished I made the mistake of counting the stitches on my needle. I finally got tired around 500! And there were still more to count. I'm glad I made this with fingering weight yarn but next time I think I'll try it with a heavier weight.