Happy Birthday Nana! A Gift of Conceptual Knitting

Today is my mom's 60th birthday, and I can't be with her. She lives in Texas and I live in New York, so getting together right as school is starting is a little hard.

This year, we decided to treat her to a hand made gift from each of us. Hannah filled a package with a hand-sewn bunny, some shrinky-dink jewelry and a beautiful card. The boys hit the kitchen and Josh made brownies (my grandmother's recipe!) and Seth made cookies. Mike sent her a very funny book with a nice, lengthy note, and I sent her a little piece of togetherness.

Mom's lace scarf.

This is one of the most conceptual pieces of knitting I've ever done. I began by spinning up some of my own hand dyed Targhee, then I wanted a little bit of Mom to ply with it. And guess what I had in my stash? A nice, 1 oz. cloud of cashmere from Granbury, TX--the town she lives in! I had bought it the year before without a clue as to what to do with it! I hand carded it into little rolags and drafted with a long draw to make it soft and halo-y. I plied the two together for a nice, sock-weight yarn.

So I had a yarn with Mom and me twisted together, but I needed a project. I only had 2.5 oz. total. And Mom lives in Texas. It's not like she really needs a wool sweater with lace trim, or a wool hat with a decorative border. It's hot there. There's very little need for what I do!

We were packing for our July trip to Texas, and I knew I needed to start whatever it was I was going to knit, or I wouldn't get it done. (I know me!) When I found it!!! Lisa Lloyd's book A Fine Fleece, which is one of my favorites, has a great scarf pattern called Road Not Taken. On Mike's to-do list the morning we left was "make copy of this pattern." I caste-on on the plane to see Mom and Dad, and worked on it all the time we were there, not letting on that it was for her!

That was my best decision of the whole project. You know when you look at knitting you've finished how memories of what movie you watched, or what group of ladies you were with when you were knitting it come back to you? I was with my mom when I knit this. I have memories of riding in the car with her and sitting by her pool. That's such a rare thing in my life because we only see each other a few times a year. I'm so happy that I could capture that time together in knitting, and send it to her on her birthday.

"Road Not Taken" 20-row repeat scarf from the book A Fine Fleece

I mailed it earlier this week, and she opened it last night and loved it! I'm hoping she'll use her new birthday camera to take a picture of her in the scarf so I can add it here as a follow-up. Hint. Hint.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

Birthday Journals

I love journals. Maybe even more than actually journaling. A new journal, blank and empty, just calls to me. I think it's the vast possibilities that it holds. Much like undyed yarn, raw fleece and empty boxes. I want to fill it up, carry it around, and make it a good friend.

So for my birthday a few weeks ago, I asked for two journals. One from my parents to use as a business/dye journal and one from my husband for my morning quiet time. I picked them out from etsy shops and sent my parents/husband the links (I'm not good with surprises!). And here they are . . .

My journal from ECStewart Designs and Very Bradley pen

This is my new business journal (and my birthday pen from my wonderful friend Jen). The cool thing is that it's actually a moleskine cover. So when I fill it up, I can get a new moleskine and keep the same look. Love that. BTW, ECStewart was wonderful to order from and includes the journal with the cost of the cover.

My journal from Baghy on Etsy.And this is my handmade journal from Baghy on Etsy for my morning quiet time. It took a little while getting here because it came from Bucharest! She was great to work with--she actually custom painted this design for me! It's buttery soft and I pet it a LOT!!

Am I spoiled or what?