Star's Fault

Tatted Love ~

When I was a little girl, I would watch my Grandma spend hours tatting delcate swirls and loops of lace, the shuttle moving and bobbing hypnotically in her hands.  It took a lot of time and patience to complete even a small project, but Grandma didn't have TV, and her babies were all grown, so I guess she probably had a bit of time to while away. 

It was this memory of Grandma that called to me when I brought home this precious little baby hat from a local flea market.  I loved my Grandma, she was all soft and sweet and she was willing to spend endless hours with the very inquisitive little red-headed girl that I was back then.

I figured that some loving Grandma made this tiny cap for a new grandbaby long ago, tatting that must have gone on forever, then pleating the little ruffle of pink ribbon along the edges, ribbon tassels at the sides.  I couldn't bear to leave it all alone in the pile of doillies and lace trims. 

A friend commissioned a handmade baby book after the birth of her second child.  This cap would be perfect on the cover, but because it was so special, I did not want to glue it down or damage it in any way, so sewed vintage buttons through the cap into the woven cover of the book.  A quick snip of the button thread would release the cap... good as new. 

 

I loved this project, but it took me a long time, since my baby - now grown - was a rough and rowdy boy, all tadpoles and puppy dogs and muddy boots.  Each page in this album is filled with bits of baby girly pink, special verse and writings by the mother, timeless memories of those first moments, later pictures of a little girl in a pink tutu. 

And it was so nice to remember my precious Grandma today. 

Eileen

A Sunny Saturday ~

 

I hope your Saturday is going well? 

I began the day ever so slowly.  After making coffee, I decided to dig through a few old bits stored away, and re-discovered the tiny pottery heart in the photo above, made by my sweet son when he was in grade school. [sigh] He sure knew how to get around his mama... still does.

We had breakfast with good friends this morning, the sun is shining brightly, and I feel as if I don't have a care in the world.  It's still very cold, only about 3 degrees, but the clear blue sky and happy sun makes it all better somehow. 

 

This afternoon I have been taking advantage of the natural light coming into the house, and snapped a few photos.  Soft, calming, peaceful, blues.

 

Teensy, tiny McCoy dove, a beautiful shade of turquoise.

 

A chromolithograph postmarked 1910.  I love the pink heart in the center of cupid's target, still bright after all these years.

 

An old flow blue saucer that I bought 15+ years ago while on a business trip to Savannah, GA.  I loved my visit there and would go back in a heartbeat.

 

I simply have stacks of fat quarters, having deluded myself that I will, one day, make a yo-yo quilt for my bed. 

 

Another tiny McCoy vase, this one called "Praying Hands".  It's only a couple inches high, and looks so pretty with a sprig of lillies of the valley tucked inside. 

 

So what is a 1960's vintage Paint-By-Numbers crazy flamingoes painting doing in a very Restoration Hardware meets Pottery Barn craftsman home?  I dunno, I just liked it when I saw it...

 

And then there's this little book written in the most silly over-romantic style I've even seen, but the title, and tealy-blue cover, were too much to resist. 

Another cup of coffee, a good movie, and I'm off to the art nest, thoughts of chores or housekeeping abandoned for the day. 

... and I'm just fine with that. 

Eileen

Inspired by (fuzzy) Red ~

 

I'll be in Seattle by the time this post is published, flying out Thursday evening for meetings all day Friday.  I just love Seattle, its energy, the shopping, the COFFEE.  Unfortunately, this trip will be short, and I'll miss a visit to my favorite haunts like Watson Kennedy and Anthropologie. 

When I travel I always take a project with me to while away the time in airports and on planes.  So Wednesday I picked up this incredible yarn and a new crochet hook.  It's just delicious to touch, and the colors are very saturated.  I'm thinking crocheted hearts, little, rumply, fuzzy hearts. 

I'll share when I get back ~

 

Eileen

 

Alpaca Skater's Scarf

I have fallen in love with Alpaca yarns.  They are pricey, and the yarn for this lovely scarf was no exception.  I bought two skeins at my favorite fabric and yarn shop, The Quilt Tree/Yarn Branch.  It came in a delicious charcoal, "Socrates" made by Alpaca With a Twist.  Its a lovely blend, 30% baby Alpaca, 30% Merino, 20% Bamboo, and 20% Nylon.  It is silky soft, and very fine.  I bought it to make a lacey scarf, attempting to mimic the beautiful Arctic Lace crafted in the most incredibly rare, soft, warm and EXPENSIVE Qiviut yarns made from the Alaskan Musk Ox's downy undercoat.  They say Qiviut is softer and lighter than cashmere, and 8 times warmer than wool.  Its also about $100 for a teeny, tiny ball.   Not a yarn to experiment with!

[sigh] But I digress.  I eagerly began my lace pattern with the lovely Alpaca, only to find that I could not hold on to the tiny needles, or manage the tiny stitches. Obviously, my hands were too stiff and clumsy for lace making....but the yarn was so lovely, what could I DO with it?  I was on an airplane at the time, and my seat mate watched surreptitiously as I tore out the painstakingly crafted rows and began again.  I doubled the yarn and started working happily, I knew just what I was going to make.  Cast on 45 stitches, rows 1-5 kint across all stitches, row 6 knit 5, purl 1, knit 1 across to last 5 stitches, then kint 5 at end of row, repeat until scarf measures desired length, then knit 5 more rows, casting off knitwise.  This made the most lovely moss stitch with a nice border all around.  The work went fast, and my seat mate sighed in relief. 

The flight atendant, a knitter herself, brought me a tiny silver charm with the words "made with love" inscribed on it.  She explained that she knit a charm like this into every thing she made.  Thoughtful of her, and so I added the tiny silver piece to the end of the scarf.  The finished scarf was every bit as soft and elegant as I thought it would be, but it needed something to give it a special touch.  Big, fluffy pom poms on each end offered a vintage feel.  I could picture a winter scene, white ice skates, a poodle skirt, mittens and little wool jacket, and this scarf wound around the neck of a graceful girl skating on a silvery pond. 

 

I pray when I knit. I don't know why.  Many years ago, I was making a pair of socks for myself, and just about the time they were finished, a friend lost her brother.  The socks, soft, comforting, found their way into a gift basket for her, and she would later tell me how much they meant to her at that time. 

God has a plan for us, doesn't he?  And uses us in ways we would never consider.  And so it began with the knitting, making something with no recipient in mind, praying for a need I did not yet know, or understand, and when the socks, or scarf, or mittens or afghan was done, someone would come to mind and the item would be packaged off to whoever God had planned for it all along. 

It's slated to go into this year's United Way Auction.  God will find the recipient again.  

A prayer in every stitch. 

Eileen