anything for Gram

See this Gram o' mine?

I know she looks pretty harmless in this picture, but she's hot stuff and we'd all do anything for her, and we get in all kinds of (wonderful) predicaments because of her. You see, Gram caught the travel bug about 10 years ago. She wanted to go to Scotland and needed some travel partners, so my extended family packed up and trekked off with her. And that's when the travel bug bit me.

She manages to get us to go far and wide, and even to some destinations closer to home. See the picture above? That's at a casino. If you know me, you might know how unlikely I am to spend an evening at a casino. But Gram? Gram lurves the casino, so off we went because, you know, we'd do anything for Gram. Yes, I did some knitting there. Yes, I have to admit it was fun. (BTW, does anybody notice the similarity to another photo? Gram was the mastermind behind that excellent trip too.) Portugal for Christmas the year after my dad died? Yup, Gram jumped on that one too. She didn't go to Italy with us in 2004, but she did that and more with her AARP group that year.

So anyway, half a year ago, Gram had just gotten home from a tour of Russia and the Baltic states. I called to hear about her trip and ask if she wanted to come to Greece with us. "Oh no, honey, I'm getting too old for trips like this. I think I'm done with the big trips." Yeah, right. Less than half an hour later, she wanted to know how much the deposit on the trip was, and we all know where that led.

Okay, so we're relaxing at a cafe on Santorini and she pulls this little maneuver: "Greece sure is nice, but you know where I've always wanted to go? Hawaii. I've never been there and now I'm getting old, so I don't think I'll make it before I die." And then she smiles because, you know, with prosthetic knees and a triple bypass, she didn't think she'd be able to get to the Acropolis either.

Ha ha ha. We're on it Gram. Locked and loaded, Feb. 2008. Because you want to go and we're selfless like that. :-)

And since I know you're all wondering, 87.

p.s. Don't forget to enter our contest below!

on turning 90, the crafty bits

Some of you may remember a year ago, when we all (along with some of our New York relatives) trucked to Pittsburgh to celebrate my awesome Grandma's 89th birthday. Well, that was just a warm-up for this year's festivities. You see, when lots and lots of people love you and you are turning 90, that's good reason for a whole weekend of celebration! There was a pool party and open house, Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game with concert by O.A.R. (I didn't know of them, but sure did like them) and outstanding fireworks show, a church service in which the pastor referred to Gram as his girlfriend Jessie and a reception in the church's welcome center afterwards, and a lunch out for the friends and relatives who could stick around for it.

So now you know the big pic of how the weekend went, but since this blog's focus is on our creative stuff, here's a bit more detail on how the handmade things fit into it all.

Leah cross stitched and framed a little pic of her Great Grandma's favorite bird.

I, along with help from my sister, made Gram a pillow. You've previously known of this pillow as the "secret project." It was inspired by The Pillow of Sei Shonagon (scroll halfway down the page), but of course I complicated the heck out of the thing.

My version contains the signatures of ~250 well-wishers, including old friends, overseas penpals, her doctors, garden club pals, church members, relatives, and Historical Commission members. These signature snippets of fabric were then fused onto strips of muslin and woven into a background of holey handknitting and sewn to a purchased pillow.

There have been hints in past blog posts about what an epic undertaking this project was, including multi-state travel, dealings with pen companies, stuffing a zillion envelopes (earlier on the very day that we found out Gram had a mild heart attack!), help from people in other states (thanks, Nancy! thanks, Irene!), finding a pillow that was the right size/shape/color, soooo much secret communiction, knitting the background...oh, and Gram has so many friends that this originally one-sided pillow turned into a two-sided project, so back to the knitting again! Either I cast on the wrong number of stitches or my gauge changed along the way because the 2nd panel isn't as big as the first, so I was sick about it for a while, but finally made it work. Then, at the very end, I discovered that PERMANENT marker is not necessarily waterproof, but Scotchguard to the rescue to help get me over one last big bump in this road. An album with some more pics of the process can be found here.

I've been planning this project since the ride home from Gram's birthday last August,

actively working on it since May of this year,

and it has consumed my spare moments and my thoughts for the past two solid months.

And I'd do it all again in a heartbeat.

Love you, Gram!

Gram rocks the 'burgh

When you think of somebody's 89th birthday party, there may be a rocking chair in the imaginary scene, but for my Gram's 89th birthday party, the entire city of Pittsburgh was rocking! Family and friends came in from three states for a surprise celebration that included a baseball game overlooking the fantastic city of my childhood...

followed by a concert and fireworks (with full moon!)...

and gifts of homemade peach chutney from Jesse and a cross stitched and beaded pin made by Leah.

Next day, food and festivities and a visit to the zoo, complete with a live band and baby elephants and, as always, lots of love for my supercool Gram!

K.D. weekend

For the third year in a row, May Day arrived and I was completely unaware of the date until we received a flowering May Day celebration plant from some wonderful friends. Just to the left of these cheerful flowers on my desk is a cross-stitched lop-eared bunny picture made by my Gram many years ago and sent in a card that said "Somebunny loves you." I framed it and have had it near my desk ever since. Gram is 88 now and doesn't do much cross stitch anymore because she's busy solving crossword puzzles and trotting around the world to see interesting places! This weekend, she's at the Kentucky Derby, and when the Preakness and the Belmont happen, she'll be at those too. Can't wait to hear all about it!

With these cheerful things on my desk yesterday, despite the dreary, rainy day, I was able to get my work done quickly and decided it was as good a day as any to swatch for the Durrow-like sweater I planned to make for Jesse. I've never had sweater amounts of yarn in my stash before, so being able to shop in my own stash and have multiple possibilities in front of me was really fun! I figured out yardage with the borrowed McMorrow yarn balance from the same thoughtful friend who brought the May Day flowers, knit some swatches and, because they're coned weaving yarns from the yarn tag sale Bonanza two weeks ago, I washed the swatches to get the spinning oil and lanolin out of them and watch them bloom. Nice changes with that, so I'm looking forward to the transformation of the finished sweater too!

Since the Magknits debacle left me with only the text portion of this pattern in the Wayback Machine/Internet archives and Jesse and I weren't too crazy about the original cable anyway, we browsed Leah's cable Stitchionary and settled on the Genesis Hall cable. A few hours later and I'm up to the elbow -- woot!

We have some pretty exciting things to look forward to this weekend, so in between those events, while Gram's romping at the Kentucky Derby, I'll be Knitting Durrow. Excellent!

keeping it G-rated

I love many of the patterns in Charlene Schurch's Hats On! Leah does too. She started one yesterday and I'll probably start one today. Both of us are sticking close to home with rotten colds this weekend, so we've had lots of time for indulgence in our yarny projects. We had this vintage wool from my Gram's stash...

(Whaddaya think? Is that stuff older than older than this knitter?)

and we had some Kool-Aid, thanks to Scott and the handy dandy local supermarket...

so now we have some fresh colors with which to work.

They're subtly variegated, which we both like, and we're looking forward to using these yarns while on vacation with Gram, so she can quit ribbing me about how I've had her wool for a couple of years now and still haven't used it. As if she was going to get right to work on it any day now if she still had it. ha! ;-) (Yes, we love Gram. Yes, we are ecstatic that she'll be arriving in CT in only 2 more days!)

The title of this blog post refers to the beauties below.

Scott picked them up today, after they had time to anneal at the studio after his beginner glassblowing workshop last weekend. We've been fondling these...uh...spheres ever since he walked through the door with them after another afternoon of...uh...glassblowing, proud as a peacock. So you can imagine the titles that are popping into my head this morning as I write. Oh, poop, I just can't help myself. Nice balls, eh?

right here, always

Thanks, everybody, for the kind words through blog comments and emails. Gram passed away this morning. She had an awesome life and lived it to its fullest up until the very end, surrounded by so many people who loved her every step of the way.

There was a moment when I thought, "I can't believe she's gone." But then I looked around. I was sitting in my office and noticed...

~ the little framed cross stitched love bunny that she made for me 20+ years ago, hanging to the left of my desk

~ the framed prints from our trip to London and Scotland (home of her ancestors) ~12 years ago, hanging near the bunny

~ the just-finished-blooming orchid on the corner of my desk, from our trip to Hawaii a few years ago, a trip which was prompted by the dreamy wish of an enthusiastic globetrotter while we were in Greece

~ the vase with a sprig of viburnum flowers in it, perfuming my office this week, from a plant bought as a housewarming gift for us 17 years ago by...you guessed it

~ the Monet print hanging on the wall, the frame for which used to hang on the wall above the sofa in Gram and Pap's TV room

me and my Gram, playing on the beach in South Carolina, 11/09
In that moment, with that glance around me, I regained my perspective. She's still right here, in our memories, in our hearts, and in our surroundings, remaining a big part of our lives forever. We were so incredibly fortunate to know her, to be on the receiving end of the joy she was known to spread far and wide, and to wrap her in love in return through our words and actions.

when Gram comes to town

My grandma has been here from Pittsburgh for the past week, so we've been enjoying as much time with her as possible. Much excited chatter from all of us about her upcoming trip, cruising with a bunch of friends in her AARP group to visit most of the countries surrounding the Baltic Sea -- Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia! Go Gram!!

This is Leah with her GiGi (short for Great Grandma) watching backyard fireworks from my mom's deck after lobsterfest - mmmm.

And here's a pic of Gram with her great grandkids (Zach 7, Leah 8, Jesse 11), to document how fast they're growing.
And here she is, celebrating her 87th birthday (with a lone 2 candle?), the ever-present crossword puzzles within reach.
We took her to the airport this morning, so she's back in Pittsburgh by now and looking forward to a day at Kennywood amusement park tomorrow. Always something interesting going on, always something fun to try!

Live Dangerously, Don't Swatch hat

I cast on this hat on Christmas eve and finished it Christmas day. It's for Scott, to keep his bald noggin warm and possibly enable him to trash the now-grungy Steelers hat that my dad gave him years ago. Pattern is the Live Dangerously, Don't Swatch Hat from I'm Knitting As Fast As I Can blog. The gray yarn was purchased at Plimoth Plantation this Thanksgiving and the greenish stripes are our first (lumpy and uneven, but loved) bits of handspun, made on the drop spindles around the time when this blog was brand new. New stuff learned because of this pattern: Emily Ocker's cast-on, M1R and M1L.


Y'all won't believe what I did yesterday. I spent the evening at Mohegan Sun casino, being a high roller on the nickle machines! This is just about the last place on earth you'd expect me to spend an evening, but my Gram just loves casinos (she'd fit right in with those gambling Jamiesons), so I offered to take her to one yesterday. Mom and Bren joined in too. I won a few cents here and there, and so did everybody else, but mostly we just had a good time together. Hey, I'd do anything for/with Gram...even hang out in a casino. After I blew through my designated $20 "investment" for the evening and was waiting for Gram to get her fill, I did get a little sock knitting in. I bet not too many socks have been knit among those slots. :-)

swirls and squares

After having a no good, awful, terrible Thursday last week, we skedaddled out of here for five fabulous days in Pittsburgh with my grandma. Relaxing and fun, and always good to spend time with Gram!

Before we left, Leah crocheted another Malabrigo Swirls Cap, this one to keep for herself. Still needs buttons.

I knit a couple of Turn A Square hats for charity, using handspun wool and alpaca yarn. Thick, warm, soft, quick, easy. Yay.

(I asked the kids to sit here for this pic, but the whisper and the arm around the shoulder were not posed. :-)
Leah spun this alpaca skein, again for charity. She tends to under-spin/under-ply, so this skein was a breakthrough for her.

Plenty of quiet early morning knitting time for me while we were at Gram's -- during which I thanked RebeccaZ/Maniacknitter every single day because she suggested subbing out P2togTBL for slipping the two stitches knit-wise with the yarn in front, and then purling them, like a SSK. This made the La Novia scarf infinitely easier to knit! Thanks, Rebecca! Pics to come.

a weekend in the 'burgh

Leah wanted to celebrate her 9th birthday with her Great Grandma in Pittsburgh this year. It ended up that was also Mother's Day weekend, so my mom joined in on the fun and we all headed to Pittsburgh. There was fun for the knitters and fun for the glassy guy and a Pirates win for Gram the Fan, meals with extended family, and an all-around good time. Click the album for many pics and captions. My favorite of these is our traditional height comparison between Jesse and Gram. The boy has grown a bit between 2006 and 2007!

Pittsburgh 2007

When we got back home, Leah used some of her birthday money to buy herself a pair of Crocs. They're fine shoes for showing off handknit socks. :-)

More kitten pics coming soon!

sweetness

I'm commuting to Massachusetts x 6 hrs/day 3 days this wk and helping Scott with bakery/pizza oven events 5 days this week and working my regular job in between (and being surprised with long phone calls from old friends -- hey Boom! hey Lauren!), so that doesn't leave a lot of stitching time for me right now, but I wanted to share a pic of the work of another stitcher from long ago.

This sweet sweater and bonnet were crocheted for my mom when she was a baby. They were made by my grandfather's cousin, Sister Mary. (Yeah, a nunnish sort of sister. We have quite a few of those uber-religious folks in the family. To be clear, I am not one of them. ;-) They're crocheted with peach baby wool, trimmed with angora and the most precious little embroidered flowers at the yoke and front of the bonnet, above the ribbon rosette. My Gram must've forgotten she had it when Leah was born, but when we cleared out Gram's apartment, it was found in a box with a christening outfit and a note about who made it, for whom, and a question of whether my sister or I might like it someday when we have babies. Well, we missed that chance, I guess, so I have offered it to the next most likely relatives to be able to put it to use. If they don't want it, into another cedar chest (mine) it'll go for the next generation, a handmade gift for a future baby, from someone who was herself a baby almost a century ago, and appreciated by all the generations in between.

flutter 2

When I knit a Flutter scarf for my Gram last xmas, my mom liked it a lot. In January, she bought some yarn and asked me to knit her one.

It got put aside while I made some other things along the way, but as I was finishing it up last week, I realized that I continue to love everything about this Miriam Felton pattern. The 8-row repeat for the main length of the scarf is easily memorized, making it an excellent take-long project. I used exactly one skein of Alpaca Sox yarn, which is interesting because I know I needed to tap into a second skein for Gram's scarf, yet hers turned out shorter. Difference in blocking by hand (then) vs. with blocking wires (now), I think.

The only modification I made to the pattern was moving the provisional cast-on to the one-third point (~30 repeats) so it would land toward the back of the neck, rather than at the midway point, which causes it to be front and center when wrapped around the neck. It's only the slighest bit visible anyway, but I think moving it to a more discrete location was a good idea.

...and then there was one. That's right, folks, I have a grand total of ONE project on the needles! It's a gansey for Scott. I realized yesterday that I only barely showed it way back at the beginning, and I only have the upper half of the body to do at this point. Meanwhile, I am crazed with must-knit sweater patterns in A Fine Fleece and will most certainly be casting on for one of them very soon.

Recipients of the glass buttons we're giving away have been contacted by email. Thanks, everyone, for playing along and offering to put them to good use!

warms the heart

I finished the second mitten of the pair I was working on in Florida. This is Pattern 25 (catchy name, don't you think?) from Knitting Marvelous Mittens. The corrugated ribbing went much faster on the second one. I made a mistake in the third row of colorwork on the first mitten, so I purposely made the same mistake (swapped the colors) to match on the second one. Because this design is not easily shortened for a smaller size, the thumb gusset starts higher so the hand portion is shorter for the adult size that I made, rather than having the thumb gusset start just above the cuff and lopping off the top of the pattern for a smaller hand size. This makes for some mighty long cuffs, which ends up being one of my favorite things about them. I swear I will never skimp on mitten cuff length in the future! I have a feeling this won't be the last pattern I knit from this book.


Just for the fun of it, I also wanted to show these :::ahem::: vintage mittens that my Gram knit when I was a kid. They're on my hands for this picture, but they're Leah's size now and she wears them on a regular basis. I'm pretty sure that when Gram made them for her young granddaughter in the 1970s, she never imagined that they'd also warm the hands of her great granddaughter!

I keep knitting from stash, but the stash doesn't seem to be getting any smaller. I'm having fun putting good yarn to good use, though, so I keep chipping away at it. The moment I saw the Thorpe hat on Through the Loops, I knew it was next up as a stashbusting project. While listening to classic radio shows' Christmas specials (including Miracle on 34th St. and It's a Wonderful Life) on CD from the library the past couple of evenings, I used three balls of leftover yarn, including some handspun purple, handspun gray angora, and gray ragg wool. I knit two strands together for a very thick hat and used up every last bit of all three balls. Actually, I ran just a tiny bit short on the gray. There's a strand of substitute gray in each braid. Shhh!

Okay, warm hands? Check. Warm head? Check. Got 'em covered. You know what warms my heart? When the kids were checking out all the ornaments on the tree (again!) while we were listening to those old-time radio shows and Leah stops at this hardanger ornament, 20+ of which were stitched by me 13 years ago as favors at my sister's bridal shower, and says,...

"Mom, will you teach me how to do hardanger?" Mmm...hardanger. You bet I will, Goob!

ice

No doubt about it. Yesterday had a distinct, though unintentional, theme.

It started with ice skating with friends in the afternoon. Kids "forgot" their wrist guards. Luckily, all wrists and other joints remained intact this time.

Then came Gram's choice of this Ice Princess necklace. The focal bead is Scott's lampwork, a dichroic glass bead complemented by a mix of sterling silver, rose quartz, Swarovski crystals, glass seed beads, and a Bali silver magnetic clasp. Despite how happy I've been with my photos of dichroic glass on a black base, I've been unable to get a decent pic of dichro on a clear base. You can just barely see the pink shimmer in this focal bead, but trust me when I say that this necklace sparkles beautifully.

More icy goodness with the surprise of free box seat tix to the Hartford Wolf Pack hockey game in the evening, where we were joined by more friends. Jesse and Scott enjoy watching hockey. Leah and I were happy to be there, but just as happy to knit in times between hullaballoos on the ice.

Finally, we're firming up plans to visit the Ice Hotel in Canada this weekend or next. And when I say "finally," I really mean FINALLY because we've been wanting to visit this place for years and it looks like this is the year it'll FINALLY happen!

A very (n)ice day indeed, except that part where Gram got on the plane to head back to the 'burgh, but we'll see her again soon, if she can squeeze us into her social calendar! :-)

Otherwise, not much news in the knitting department. I'm working on a scarf in handpainted laceweight wool and am in the mindnumbing portion where it seems that I knit and knit and knit, but the ball of yarn is not getting any smaller. I am certain that this is directly related to how excited I am about the fair isle hat-in-progress and the Philosopher's Wool sweater that I'm anxious to cast on!

flutter

Flutter scarf by Miriam Felton,
a pattern I could not have enjoyed more and plan to knit again

knit in Classic Elite's Alpaca Sox yarn,
mostly while we were at Cape Cod in August

sent off to my awesome Gram as a big warm hug all winter long!