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| Chloe Monster snug as a bug... |
Every since my first daughter was born, I've called her Sister or Sis for short. It's not that I knew she would have sisters one day, quite the contrary. None of our children were "planned" as it were. Nevertheless, she has five sisters now and the nickname fits quite nicely.
I've mentioned in previous posts that our family is returning to the old days in a way by learning basic hand skills that our grandparents used on a daily basis. Skills like knitting and sewing, making bread from scratch and cooking with alternative heat sources other than the kitchen stove. We've begun to "use it up" and "wear it out", to "make it do, or do without".
With six daughters, we have rows of boxes in the garage filled with clothing that had become too small for an elder sibling and packed away until it could be worn again by a younger sibling. We actually have the Halloween costume that Sister won second place with at a McDonald's Halloween costume contest 11 years ago and our youngest, now two years old, has worn it as well.
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| Close up of her Granny Square stitch. |
Sis has taken on crocheting this year and has done quite well. I feel the need, as any proud father would, to display her talents and thus the reason for this post. She not only learned to crochet over Christmas break from a visiting relative who stayed with us for five weeks, but has taught her siblings as well or at least attempted to (second oldest daughter gets frustrated VERY easily). She has made baby blankets for her Cheer coach and a church member down the street. Both as gifts from the goodness of her heart.
She has made blankets large enough to cover our kitchen table and others still in-process, final size yet to be determined. I have to admit, I keep our house pretty cold. I blame it on living in the Arizona desert but my super-sized belly is more likely to blame. But at the end of the day when we're all cozied up watching a family movie on our couch, there's nothing more cozy than covering my cold limbs with a warm blanket woven by the hands of my daughter.
These blankets will be around a long, long time. Wifey still has blankets made by her great-grandmother. These are the types of basic skills I want my daughters to learn...and hopefully teach their children.
Self sufficiency breeds confidence.
~OJD
More pics:
Here's an idea for Sister...have her crochet scatter rugs and door mats. Yes, it can be done! Take worn out clothes...ripped, stained, whatever. Cut into one inch wide strips. Sew the strips end to end to make a big ball of fabric *yarn*. Depending on the fabric, you can get cute little scatter rugs or door mats that are good to wipe muddy boots on. If she comes across a no longer used terry cloth bath robe, she can make a wonderful bath mat! Best part is they can be thrown in the washer when they get dirty! (Watch out when she starts quilting!...that takes up a lot of fabric!) Suggested places to find fabric for crocheting...thrift stores, especially when they have bag sales!, party rental places (stained tablecloths, etc that they can no longer rent out), large industrial laundries that wash the sheets for hotels and hospitals.
ReplyDeleteHey, I went to post a comment and this huge pro flight simulator page came up! I will say one thing, OJD, I will never get bored coming to your blog .
ReplyDeleteI am impressed with your daugthers accomplishment. My wife and daughter both crochet. It's harder than it looks.
@Arsenius I recently added ads from BiDVertiser at the bottom of the page. I started to notice they were spawning popups too. I have disabled the ads until I find out where they were spawning from.
ReplyDeleteYour wife is very fortunate to have heirloom blankets from her great-grandmother. When my grandmother passed on, there were 38 grandchildren who all wanted something to remember her by, and the biggest fights were over her recipes from her mom and a quilt top with butterflies on it that her grandmother had made.
ReplyDeleteI learned to crochet from my grandma, and the project I'm most proud of was a pair of gloves made with fine crochet thread.
Another way to make a rug is to use one of those spool knitters that makes a long hollow knitted tube. Do one side looser than the other so that you can sew the rope in a circle and it won't curl up. If you use real wool (say from unravelling a sweater), you can wash it and it will felt very nicely.
@Ollamha Great suggestions. I'm showing the all to Sis.
ReplyDeleteShe's doing a great job! It gets addicting.. kind of a way to zone out and just do something peaceful yet creative.
ReplyDeletelol.. I was going to crochet a bedspread.. from cotton thread. After about 2 months of working on it.. sanity kicked in. My Grandmother did some fancy lace patterning all around it and it became a table runner for my Aunt.
There are some patterns for cute crocheted beaded (bags) purses she may find interesting. I made some for friends when I was in high school.. over the shoulder.. and just the right size for going out.
She really has a creative knack! Go Sis!!