White Doily

As I mentioned earlier, I want to show off a bit, so here are a couple of pictures of something that I am rather proud of, a white doily that I made for my mother. It was her Christmas present and I think she liked it.

The design is from a pattern book and is specifically called pineapple because of the shape of each motif. However, I think that, from this angle, those motifs look more birdlike, dovelike, which is beautiful when you consider the next picture.



The pineapple motifs really look like doves flying toward the nativity scene! I was amazed when I saw this picture, since the pattern didn't look like this until I photographed it.

The doily rests on the mantlepiece in my parents' living room, so I am fairly certain that my mother liked her Christmas present.

New Year, Productions and Values

The new year has started off well, am feeling a lot more like myself, after the troubles at the end of last year.

I have a good resolution, I am actually going to get more pictures onto this blog, to show off my completed projects a bit more. I don't intend to turn this into a mini-Ravelry, but I do enjoy showing off once in a while (I am a boy, after all).

Also this year, I am going to set about making some new crafting friends, and I have already started on that. HI KEEGAN!

May this year be more comfortable for all of us than last year; may we see our stashes grow; may we see our children succeed in life; may there be a warm hat on every head and a loose cotton shirt when the weather is warm; may the weather treat us more kindly; may our love be returned in like measure and more; and may we share our lives and our projects to all our mutual admiration.

Holidays, Holy Days, and Then Some

My best of holiday wishes go out to all of my family, close friends, and acquaintances this holiday season. Some of my friends and acquaintances are Jewish, so I wish them the best Hanukkah ever. Most of the rest are Christian, following a Western tradition, so we are about to celebrate the Lord's birth. I have not been much of a Christmas fan for the past few years, but I am getting back to it now.

I wish for all of us to have a good year in 2010! May we have all the love, support, yarn, food, companionship, good health, good times, safety, and yarn we need in the coming year, and more.

When the new year comes, I am going to say a prayer that it will be better than 2009. Being a reflective person, I spent some time recently considering my life this year. Alas, I found that I spent way too much time being miserable somehow, either unhealthy, exceedingly lonely, marginalized to a degree, unwelcome, absent-minded, having lots of trouble at work (see previous adjective) that I will not allow again, and also some grief. This did not make for a comfortable year 2009, so I am very much hoping that the coming year is going to present a great many greater blessings and opportunities for good.

People Changes

My grandmother's funeral was last Saturday and it was very beautiful, a Mass of Christian Burial at a Catholic church in Sunnyside, Washington. She was laid to rest next to my grandfather, who died in 1962, at the cemetery in Sunnyside. I miss her, but she is on to something better now.

My aunt, with whom Grandma lived for the past couple of years, told me that Grandma did get to use that purple and white blanket a couple of times, so I feel better about it, knowing that I made something for her that liked and actually made use of.

I don't think that I will ever be able to use that same pattern again, no matter who may ask for it.

Fortunately, there are lots and lots of other patterns to use and make beautiful things with, so I will be crocheting and knitting for quite some time to come, I imagine.

A Passing and Reverie

My grandmother died last week, somewhat suddenly, leaving me with a gap in my life and a question, "Did she get the chance to use that purple and white blanket that I made for her?".

It looks like the blanket in question will be handed off to my mother, who has said that she wants it because I made it in the first place. It is nice of her to say so, and it is certainly a nice blanket made with a good pattern.

Wish me well, the funeral is on Saturday.

Memories Also

It was about two weeks ago that I was able to go and visit with my cute little grandmother and bring her the purple and white blanket that I made for her. She loved it, of that I was really sure!

Alas, it seems that she may not have had much time to use it. My grandmother died this morning in Walla Walla, after having a heart attack yesterday. She was 96 years old and she still recognized her grandchildren, grown up as we all have become.

My mother has said that she wants that purple and white blanket, so I imagine that I will be seeing it again.

News, Reviews, and Food

The colder, wetter weather has settled in, and there was even a thunderstorm passing by last night, though occasionally, we actually get sunbreaks. The trees look fantastic, so lovely in their colors.

Still haven't gotten to Walla Walla (yes, the place so nice, they named it twice), to give that purple and white blanket to my grandmother. My mother insisted that I should bring it to her personally instead of just mailing it, but now the weather is looking more like winter, so I don't know what will happen with that.

I have a gallstone, pure and simple. After some strange symptoms, some pain, a ridiculously expensive trip the the ER, and a cold ultrasound, my handsome doctor has informed me that I have a large floating gallstone and it will eventually need some kind of treatment to get rid of it. I would like to knit a net to send into my gallbladder and hook that thing out!

Barbara is soon to have gastric bypass surgery, which she has been preparing for now, perhaps about a year, and in November she will have the surgery done and will be about a month recovering from it at my place. I expect that I will be too busy taking care of a whiny old woman to be able to sit down and knit or crochet very much (did that sound bitchy?), but I will still hopefully be able to finish some projects in time for Christmas.

Knitting, Crocheting - well, I still do them. I crocheted a hat for Jacob, and I knit a hat for Jonas, though I still need to sew up the seams. I will post pictures when they are done, because I think they are noteworthy.
Still a pair of socks to finish, and my mother's tablecloth, but perhaps another little present here and there, including a baby blanket for my cousin's new baby. Pictures will sometime be forthcoming, I guess.