Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

We've reached the final fortnight of 2023. I've leaned in hard on this holiday. When the calendar turned to December, I found myself being a bit paranoid. I kept thinking, "There is no logical reason for me to feel like something bad is about to happen. This is superstitious." Then I sat down and thought about the last few Decembers. 2022 My mother died . 2021 We skipped the holidays because we were packing the Maryland man cave . 2020 COVID Christmas. 2019 Not a bad Christmas, just the end to the awful change wave year. 2018 Father-in-law was in the hospital. He died a few days into the new year. 2017 Was that the one where we almost lost Vincent? 2016 Don't remember. 2015 Don't remember. 2014 Lost a fight with Concord covered bridge. Okay. Maybe I'm not being superstitious or paranoid. There's data. This year, I've been unabashed in my intentions. I bought a 9-foot artificial Christmas tree. I don't think we'v...

I need to get back to knitting. I got caught in that situation where you keep thinking, "I am almost done with this project. Just let me finish it." I like mesh bags. They keep crafting supplies together. They let fibers breathe. And you can see through the bag so you know what is in it. Hence, I was rather happy when I came across a nested set of three mesh zippered bags while cleaning out the house in Pennsylvania. The set included instructions to make a Threader Keep Adornment — a fob with a pocket. This project came from Napier Needlepoint in Stockton, California. The chart has a 1998 copyright date. I am not sure how this came into my mother's stash. Maybe it wasn't even one of hers? I don't recall my mother traveling to California. Picture on the kit from Napier Needlepoint, Stockton, CA. Many options! The kit included a small piece of canvas, a chart, a needle threader, and a metal clip. The stitcher supplies the embroidery thr...

Here's another post in my running series of finished items from my mother's stash. Mill Hill Buttons & Beads Autumn Series MH14-1623 "Haunted Laboratory" Image shown is 6×6 inches. This first one was completed by her. My mother was a microbiologist. She worked in a laboratory at the local hospital. For those of you who don't know, here's how stuff works. When your doctor takes a sample such as a throat culture or spinal fluid, it is sent to a laboratory. The laboratory technicians run the tests and then tell the doctors what they found. For infectious bacteria, the laboratory can run a test across a panel of wells with different antibiotics at different strengths. The results reveal where the organism is resistant (Ack! That drug won't kill it,) or sensitive (Hurray! This drug at this strength will help the patient get well.) The super-bugs that are antibiotic resistant are resistant across the entire panel — i.e. they grow ...

Here's another of my mother's unfinished projects, now complete. This one is called "A Whisper of Roses." It is a scissor case designed by Cheryl Schaeffer. The black and white pamphlet says the design was distributed by Susan Portra through her shop My Friend & Eye in Huntington Beach, California. When I attended a meeting of the Thimble and Thread Chapter of Embroiderers' Guild of America, there was someone else who had this project in almost exactly the same state of not-quite-finished. I am thinking this was a guild class? When I searched online, I could not find a picture of this design. Searching "Cheryl Schaeffer needlepoint" returns lots of lovely needlepoint designs, but not this one, not even when I added "roses" or "scissor case" to the search. There were a bunch of gnome scissor cases, but not this one with flowers. I never found a color image of the finished project. Black &...

I finished another of my mother's unfinished embroidery projects. This one is a Just Nan pamphlet titled "Gloriana." My mother had a folder with a series of these. "Gabriella," "Serena," "Celeste," and "Angelique" are already framed and hanging in the house in Pennsylvania. Pamphlets for "Evangeline," "Grace," "Joy," "Hope," and "Liberty" are in the folder, along with the pamphlets for the completed angels. There's even a packet of beads and embellishments for "Liberty" stapled to the pamphlet. The size of this image is 3 inches wide by 5½ inches high (7.5 by 14cm). I thought "Gloriana" fit the series, but when I see her next to "Serena," I can tell they aren't quite the same scale. And how can I check her against the other angels, if they are framed on the wall 750 miles from here? Because there is a second finished copy...