Socks for Soldiers

This is an awesome group that I am proud to be a part of. You can find more details about them at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SOCKFORSOLDIERS/. I encourage anyone who reads this post, that is able to knit, to get involved with this cause. What a way to show our troops that regardless of where we stand on the politics of the war, we care about them and look forward to their safe return home. I just started on my first pair of black socks. It seems somewhat of a daunting project right now, but after a few days, I am sure I will relax into it. Anyone else out there in cyberland knitting or sewing or writing letters - just doing something to show support for our soldiers away from home?

Crochet!

I received this shipment from Knitpicks back in July. I was so excited! I LOVE getting packages of yarn in the mail. In this one package are several projects. One I am in the middle of is a crochet project. I rarely crochet anymore - it just seems to take SO LONG -but my dear sweet husband really wanted an afghan. His grandmother made him a ripple afghan when he was young, but he really doesn't want to use it anymore because he doesn't want anything to happen to it. So, like so many other things, it has been put safely away as "memory." My task was to try to recreate an afghan just like it. I thought I had found a pattern that was as close as I could get, he picked out the yarn, it came in and I started right away on it. That's when it happened! He decided that the combination of the yarn with the size hook that the pattern called for was just too airy - interpret - way too full of holes. So after taking out what I had started and trying several different hook sizes, we found one that gave the right density that he wanted. Only problem now was it wasn't going to be wide enough or long enough if I held to the pattern specifications. I added width and we decided on a length only to discover that now I was not going to have enough yarn to do his entire afghan in the one color he picked out. I will be doing a striped pattern. We are going to purchase some more yarn - enough to finish this mammoth project - in the color o the gray twist that is in this yarn.

Figuring out the gauge

After a week

Where I am stopping until I get the contrasting yarn for the stripe

Over the next few days, I will post photos of some of the other things that I have made and ideas for some of the other projects I would like to make with this yarn that came in.

Beautiful Antique Clothing!

We had a great time! There were so many beautiful articles of clothing at this show. I was truly impressed with the quality of the fabric that so many of these antique garments were made of. Such fine, delicate batiste. How I wish I could find fabric like that today! I saw a lot of armistice style blouses there. Some were plain, although still beautiful, but then there were some that I held for a long time, trying to memorize the details and the lace patterning. It was just heavenly getting to not only look at these items, but also to hold them and marvel at their construction. There were many childrens/infant clothing in batiste as well. The details were just incredible. To think that all of the time and attention to detail was done for a garmet that would so quickly be grown out of.

There were also garments like this Edwardian dress. The woman who owns this display was kind enough to let me photograph this dress. It was absolutely beautiful!


I wish that I could have taken pictures of everything there, but that was not an option, unfortunately. Mae-Marie kept touching everything, marvelling over how wonderful everything felt.

There were pieces of antique lace, bolts of fabric, quilts, dolls, etc. The show only lasts one day, and we saw all that we were able in that amount of time. Now that I know what to expect, next time I attend I will be well prepared. The prices on many things were quite reasonable, so I will have to set aside a budget for the next show.

Mae-Marie and Clara (my mother-in-law)

We had a really good day together. Halfway through the day we took a break and had lunch at a cute restaurant in Sturbridge. They have a wonderful salad there that has a wonderful mixture of greens, chicken and cranberries. I have grown extremely fond of cranberries, so it was a special treat. My father-in-law, Al, spent the day with the boys at home, so it was nice to have a "girls day out." The only thing missing from this day was my oldest daughter, Sarah, who had to go back to Maryland at the beginning of August. Perhaps next year, we can plan to attend one during the time she will be with us.