Making Pottery Gifts with Elisha

Elisha's first day of maternity leave was yesterday, and we enjoyed it together while Jeremy was at work and John made his way through his "Daddy Do" list.

Actually, John did amazingly well, installing security lights, extra door locks, changing furnace filters and light bulbs on really high ceilings. Then he managed to change a vehicle light bulb that the service stations were going to charge the kids an hour of labor to "figure out," because their car is a Prius, and nobody knows how to work on them. They opened the compartment to change the bulb during an oil change and said the bulbs couldn't be reached. Oh, yeah. The mighty John figured it out and had it done in ten minutes.

Elisha took me to her favorite gift-making place. It's called Arts on Fire, and is a pottery shop here in Shreveport, where you paint the unfired pottery and then they fire it for you. Of course, it looks very dull and bland before it's fired, so it's hard to tell what color you're really painting, but she said that you get used to that. I think I still prefer plaster craft, which is basically the same thing, but it's done on pre-fired pottery where what you see is what you get.

Still, we had a great day. Elisha picked a gift for my mom's 90th birthday next month, and I painted a piggy bank for their baby. I wish I had thought to take more photos of the pig once I had finished painting it, but I forgot. It looks pretty boring the way it is now, but I added some little animal stencils and JTH, the baby's initials. He'll be the third JTH, by the way, following John Thomas and Jeremy Thomas. I love the name Jeremiah True.

I actually tried to talk John into Jeremiah when Jeremy was born, but John preferred the name Jeremy, and now I'm glad he did, since my first grandson will get the name I've always loved so much.

It was a wonderful day, full of painting and laughing. The owner is an interesting woman named Quincy. She gives just the right amount of help—whatever you need without telling you how she thinks it should be done. She's warm and friendly and handled the table full of pre-teen giggling girls having their first-time painting experience with only one mom to watch them with such ease I thought she'd been doing it for years.

Elisha filled me in. Quincy had never painted before, when the shop owner decided to sell out. One of her twin daughters loved to paint there, so she and her husband decided to buy the place. And that's how history is written, I guess. Our children introduce us to the some of the best paths in our lives.

Shreveport is having a Blues and Jazz Festival today, and we're going to try to get to that, as long as Elisha is feeling up to it. She's still sleeping right now, since with only 3-4 days left until the baby's delivery date, she's up and down all night visiting the euphemism down the hall. As all good babies know, it's important to find mama's bladder and rest there as soon as she gets to sleep. (Thanks for that, Jeremiah True... You're getting her prepared for the ups and downs of nighttime feedings.)

Making Things for Friends

One nice thing about making gifts for people happens when you visit them in their homes and see the gifts in use. There's no greater gift they can give you in return than the obvious pleasure they have in using something you took the time to make for them.

While at Pat and Betty's home we not only got to see—but to enjoy using—the bedspread and pillow shams I had made for them a few years back. She had put them on the guest bed for us. I was really touched. I mentioned that I never did take pictures of the set when I made them, and after we returned home she emailed me a couple of photos. I'm including one here. I think the set turned out really nice, and it's as soft now as it was when I chose the yarn. It's a made-up pattern, so it's one of a kind.

Their home is done in southwestern colors, so it fits right in. Betty was extra nice to send me the photos. I love making things for people, but often forget to get the camera out before I gift them.

String Crochet—The Agony and The Results

In a recent email with my friend Schmath I was commending her on her recently taken up knitting and crochet skills, and how quickly she's come along. We sent about 15 emails or more back and forth. I think it started with me sending her a link to one of my favorite places that sends me a monthly newsletter with free patterns. Obviously they'd love for me to buy their yarn, as well, and I do that on occasion, too.

On one of the messages I mentioned that I had finally kept one of the doilies I made for myself, and that someday when she was ready to try string crochet with the little bitty hook, she should let me know because I have so many gorgeous patterns. The one I kept is a type of 3-D crochet, and it's only about twelve inches, but has a raised pattern on one side. I said it wasn't nearly as difficult as the "circle of doves" I made for a few special people, and she sent me back this small photo.

You can't tell, but it's big. I'll have to ask Schmath to comment on point to point inches, but I'd guess 30?

I had to laugh. How could I forget that I had made one for her when she got married? I will admit that a lot of memories got blown away when I had a couple of very long seizures a couple of years ago. It's just strange that I have absolutely no memory of it at all, even though I can remember buying her an Intellitouch guitar tuner for her wedding shower. She said I also made her a music book to go with it, but that's gone from the memory banks as well. Weird.

So, Schmath, thanks for helping replace some of the empty spaces in my head. It keeps what's left from rattling around. And I hope people will visit your new knitting blog to see how quickly you've learned two of my favorite hobbies and what great things you're already making. I'm impressed. I do wish we lived close enough to distract each other with our music, though. I feel some country gospel coming on.

Baby Blanket and Hat for Max

I don't always get to see the new little lives that my friends and their offspring bring into the world. I've tried throughout the years to at least make something before the baby arrives. This year one of my dearest friends, Jeanne (I was going to say oldest, but...) was expecting a new grandchild. We each had three kids, and raised them pretty much side-by-side.

Jeanne's middle kid, Kelley, has moved to Massachusetts, and we were lucky enough to get out there for the wedding a few years ago. She and Marty were expecting a little boy, and I had the blanket and hat all planned out. Then we got back from our trip to Europe and I had the worst arthritis attack on my hands ever. The work slowed down unbelievably. Poor Max is a couple of months old now, and hopefully received his blanket today, so I can finally post the photos of what I put in the mail last week.

I made these extra warm for a Winter baby in one of the snowiest parts of the country. I'm just so sorry it took so long to complete... By the way, when I need to make it extra warm, I use two strands of yarn at a time, which gives me three colors, one of each, plus one of the two together for a tweed effect, which is great for little boys.

This is one of my favorite patterns. I call it the star blanket, but I've also heard it called a snowflake blanket. I like it because of the way you can put the baby's head on one of the blanket points and fold the kid up inside it for extra snuggly comfort.

The hat is something new I kind of "ball-parked," and I'm not sure how thrilled I am with it. I mailed it, but I'm still deciding if it meets my standards. (Yes, I do have some standards.) You may recognize the doll at the top as my little model, who is nice enough to sit uncomplaining on my shelf until I need to make sure things are big enough for a newborn. She appears in other blog entries wearing some of the things I've made.

Happy Half A Birthday

Three days after Christmas, my oldest son Tighe was born. That was a long time ago, of course, but I learned a few things about having a child so close to such a major holiday. The main thing was that even if you're very careful about making the birthday and the holiday totally separate, there's still a very long time before the next gift-giving day comes along.

Six months after his birthday, I got out my cake layer pans and made a special cake. I cut each one in half and layered them as a very tall half cake. We sang "Happy Half a birthday to you," etc. We gave him a gift and celebrated as if it were a natural celebration for every child. We did this until he started school, and did it for each of our three boys the same way, until they started school. They don't seem to remember it very well now, but at the time it was very special, and they looked forward to it.

Now I have a special friend whose daughter was born on December 30th last year. Her half a birthday is quickly approaching. One of my—well, I won't exactly call it a regret, but almost a disappointment in my life—is that I didn't have another son who could have fallen in love with this wonderful young woman. She honestly wasn't the right young lady for any of my sons, and fell in love with a man my husband and I really enjoy. However, I really wanted to keep her. I've done the best I could to make that happen in the only way I could. I keep in touch, and I make things for her daughter. She's not really my granddaughter, but she's grand.

Stacey and Ryan, I hope you always allow me to spoil your kids a bit. It's a privilege. Thanks for sending me a photo of Hanne in the little half a birthday outfit. If it was her whole birthday, I might have sent pants, too.

Human Nature and Procrastination

What is it about human nature that allows us to put so much enthusiasm into one thing while making an equally intense project feel like just so much of a chore? 

When I have baby gifts to knit or crochet, it never seems to be too much trouble to pick up the needles or hook and spend hours working and praying over the project. When my mom wanted a new sweater vest, and we settled on a project with cables running up the front and back, I was engrossed in the growing design. It made me so happy just to work on it. I thought nothing of spending eight or more hours a day with the needles in my hands. Not only was I happy to do it, I felt blessed by the process.

I've been working on a short sleeved sweater for myself for over a month now. I'm slowing down. The back is done, along with one front side and a third of the other. It's really great yarn, turquoise and very soft, so it feels good on the fingers. I can't use the scratchy yarn excuse.

It's the first sweater I've made for myself since high school. I graduated over forty years ago. I keep myself pretty busy with gifts, so it's not like it's been intentional. I've just been very surprised that I can't get the excitement and energy and joy out of the making as I get when I'm working on something for somebody else.

Human nature? Just what's natural about that?

A Daydream: Four of Me

Since there are never enough hours in the day to follow all my passions, I thought back to those days when our three sons played baseball at the same time on three different fields. I had quipped to my Mom that I was either going to have an out of mind or an out of body experience. I thought that, since I couldn't figure out the logistics to the out of body deal, the out of mind would have to do. So far, it's worked for me.

As the years go by, I've never quite given up the notion that if there were more of me, I could do several things at once. I've gotten to the point where my daydream is to have four of me. You've probably met most of us.

Kathleen the Writer: I'll probably forget to eat unless someone comes in and stares at me for a long time. I'll get up in the middle of the night with an idea for that chapter I'm working on. If I disappear in the middle of the afternoon, I'm probably taking a nap. If I'm not there, check the decks. I'm probably on one of them with a stack of printouts and a red pen. If I'm thinking about the best way to edit something, being out with the pines and the deer help me clear my mind.

The Musician: Just stand still and listen. I'm probably all by myself with the guitar or accordion somewhere. Check the basement or or the back deck. I could be out by the fire pit. If I'm learning new music, I'm probably near the computer. What am I playing? It could be anything, but probably something you've never heard before. 

The Crafter:  Most of the time there's a gift in progress, but lately I've started making a sweater for myself. It's a short-sleeved knit I just started. We'll see how much time I actually give to that. Usually it's baby gifts, crochet as often as knit, and sometimes it's bead work or leather tooling instead of yarn, but that's not often.

The Cook-Hostess: Isn't it fun to just make time to spend in the kitchen, fixing things for family and friends to enjoy? It's especially great when guests are coming to visit and you can let them know how special they are.

Good things to bake and wonderful recipes to prepare keep calling me, but there's only one of me, and I'm already busy being the Writer, Musician and Crafter. Yes, there's only one of me. I can dream of being four people, but so far I haven't worked it out. We share one body, wearing each other out. We work in rotating shifts, share the same computer, and try to get each other to finish her project quickly and please not to start another...

Knitting and the Fake Baby

While on my friend Schmath's blog last night, I burst into uncontrollable laughter. She had posted a photo of her new baby daughter sleeping on the closet shelf. She admitted to having posed the photo, but that didn't detract from the humor at all. 

On the shelf of my closet I have a newborn sized baby doll that I use when I knit or crochet baby clothes for gifts. When my first granddaughter was born, I bought an identical replica of the baby doll and made two layettes. I dressed the baby in one layette and wrapped her in the matching blanket and laid her gently in the bottom of the box. Then I put down several layers of tissue and the next blanket, followed by more tissue and the next pieces of the layette, each wrapped in thin layers of tissue paper.

My son Benjamin, youngest of our three sons, told me at the time that when his wife Ruth got to the bottom and pulled that realistic appearing baby doll out of the box, he wished I could have seen the look of shock on her face before she realized it was just a doll.

I hadn't thought about that in over two years, but when I saw the photo on Schmath's blog, I just had to share this, with a couple of photos of my "baby model."

A Knitted Sweater Vest for Mom

It's been awhile since I knitted anything with cables. Making this sweater vest for my mom was slightly challenging, but mostly a joy, since I knew she was excited about getting it. Unfortunately, when I finished the front, delighted to have finally finished the basic sweater so I could start on the detail work, which would take me another few days, I noticed that I had twisted one of the cables down near the bottom of the sweater.

It's worse than it sounds. This sweater vest is knitted from the bottom up. Redoing the front would take about a week. I set it aside and went to bed. Some time during the night I woke up, remembering what happens when you drop a stitch and don't catch it in time. The whole thing unravels. It can unravel all the way down a sweater. I got up and looked at the offending garment. The problem was about 190 rows down. The cables twisted every six rows. I went back to bed.

The next morning I looked at it again, then called John over. He was pleased to see that it was off the needles. I laid it out flat and asked if he saw anything strange. He looked about fifteen seconds, then pointed right to the mistake. He tried to convince me that it would just give the sweater "character." I knew it would be the only thing I saw whenever Mom wore it, though. Knowing Mom, she'd be sure to wear it when I was around, just so I'd know my efforts were appreciated. She's like that.

Knowing what I risked if it didn't work (having to redo the entire front) I still decided to try repairing just the cable. I put the other stitches on holders and used a crochet hook to pick out the cable stitches down to the problem area. I didn't cry, but I felt like it. I never did a repair job like that before, and I wasn't at all sure it was going to be successful. 

I figured I'd better take a photo before I started to work on it. I'm not quite sure why, but now that my plan worked, I'm glad I did. I also hope I never have to do such a thing again. It took a day and a half of squeezing the needles and cable hook into the tiny gap and making sure the yarn tension was perfect for each stitch so that it came out evenly on each row. Also, it was great fun constantly having to twist that sweater back and forth, counting to six and double-checking that I was making the cables right each time. I  actually got about a third of the way up when I realized I had started one row off, and the cables didn't quite match the ones on the other side, so I unraveled and began over. Why not?

So now that it's done, I'm satisfied. Do you suppose it was worth it? To me it was. I'm not sure how much Mom would have cared. I'll wash and dry it, since it's a little wrinkled from being crumpled in my lap during the crafting process, but I should get it in the mail this week. I don't think I'll tell her it's done, either. Surprise! I'm hardly ever glad she doesn't have a computer.

My Biggest Smiles

So many things make me happy. Those who know me are no stranger to my smile. Perhaps the one thing that makes me the happiest, though, is when I make a gift for someone and it turns out to be just right. 

On our recent trip to California, I spent a couple of weeks sitting on the bed in our hotel room, following a sweater pattern line by line as I made sweaters for my two granddaughters. When I saw the pattern picture, I knew the girls had to have these sweaters for Easter. They have inset tulips along the bottom, front and back, and the tulip has always been their mother Ruth's favorite flower.

Whenever I make something like that, I realize that several things can go wrong. I've made things that weren't to people's taste. I've even made things that didn't fit. My friend Stacey's baby Hanne got one of the little outfits that Kate outgrew before it was finished. It was an old fashioned jacket with a lace bottom. 

I'd never done lace knit before, and kept having to start over. It was pretty confusing, but both little girls finally ended up with their jackets and hats. I don't have photos of my granddaughter yet, but got a few of Hanne, so I'll include them. 

Of course, the sweaters I started in California weren't finished there. I completed Ashley's, and finally finished Kate's. When I made Kate's, though, I figured out a better way to make the buttonholes, so I took Ashley's apart and re-knitted the front section and sewed it back together. What's another week to a Grandma when you're retired, anyway?

Well, I'm smiling now, because the sweaters arrived at Ben and Ruth's home today, and they not only fit,

but Ruth loved them. 

Ashley wore hers today, and Ruth says it looks like Kate's will fit as well. When she said they were the nicest things I'd ever made for them, my smile was as big as it ever gets. You sure can't buy that! When Ben called later to add his thanks and say how pretty he thought they were, I was practically dancing.

There's little enough a Grandma can do from so far away for family and friends she loves. This makes me happy. I'm so glad it makes others happy, too.