(flower of the day, echinacea, at sunset)
i am really flattered that no one guessed what sin i am. but wow, everyone thought i was lust, which gave me pause . . . and, probably i am in my heart. but i picked my sin by color, and by what i might knit, so i picked greed. and deb obliged me with a great golden-green color, just right for money . . . or for what passes for money i some circles.
it’s really more bronze-y than this, but it was a bit difficult to photograph. perhaps once i start swatching, the true color will make itself known.
deb’s sock club is sold out now, but there will be another . . . and it will be heavenly.
i worked a bunch on the socks in class last night, but i’m going to show you something else today—the orchid lace mitts (this picture makes it look as if it’s all sunny and summery, but really, it’s very rainy and chilly today).
i’ve been working on these in spurts, and i don’t know why i don’t just sit down and finish them, because when i DO work on them, i make huge progress in a short amount of time. they just knit up so fast.
the gusset and thumb are going to be really pretty—i can’t wait to do that part.
i love the weight—there is none. they are truly weightless. mmm.
here’s a shot of the cuff detail
of course, all the lace will be much more open after a little steaming . . . when they are all done.
and now i have some really special knitting to show you. yesterday i was emailing with rachel and we were talking about old knits and how well they hold up. i started thinking about some afghans i have that my grandma made, now over 40 (gulp) years old. these are made with red heart wool or something similar—something you could buy in the dimestore, most likely. they are in beautiful condition, even after MUCH hard use within our family life.
here is one she made for my mom when mom was pregnant with my older brother in 1956, and moving into her first house. it is one of those famous “50 different patterns” afghans, for which you knit a square in each color of 50 different stitch patterns, then crochet the edges and sew them together.
this piece is VERY special to me, as it is responsible for jump-starting my knitting “career” at the age
of 4. i know i’ve told this before, but this afghan was draped over the back of our sofa all through my childhood. i use to lay on the couch and gaze at the patterns, exploring them with my eyes and fingers trying to puzzle out their secrets. it was a language to me and i wanted to figure it out
i was particularly entranced with the cables, and knew that i MUST learn how to make those wonderful structures (like all muggles, i though it would probably be easy). i pestered gram til she finally relented and taught me the first steps of knitting. hehe. well, it was quite a while before i ever tackled cables, but i held it as a goal for a few years, and finally achieved simple ones at around age 8 i think.
just look at this cool edging.
even the fringe has held up really well, and this afghan was used, washed, and bandied all about our home . . . but always with care and a certain reverence, i must admit. we were taught very early to respect the things that were made for us by others. i was lucky enough to inherit this afghan when my mom sold our family home a few years ago and moved to a smaller house.
here is another piece that i use all the time. this one was made for me for my fourth birthday in 1964.
i was so excited! my sister got one the same year with a ripple stitch in shades of purple (for some years i was a little jealous of that purple, but now i adore this turquoise/cream color combo)
it has a beautiful cable and lace pattern, and the drape is wonderful. even the sewing has held up all these years . .. i’ve never had to darn it.
it has magic powers to relax me and send me to that sleeping place, whenever i need to. but my favorite bit of all? has to to be this
thank you gram, for everything you gave me!
66 thoughts on “greedy me”
OH Anne, those are truly exquisite. How lucky you are to have such treasures. I’ve been considering asking Suzie for her pattern and now I must.
Wow, what gorgeous afghans! My grandmother has crocheted me a couple, which I use a lot. On my favorite, she forgot to weave in one of the ends. I told her I would fix it, but I never did. I love that little loose end….
Lovely blankets! They’re so beautiful still. But I laughed outright at the little mistake. I’m so glad your gran left it in.
They are gorgeous blankets. I have crocheted afghans from my grandmother all over my house and I love them.
Those afghans are gorgeous. There were no knitters in my family….that I know of. A few crocheters and a lot of quilters. I have a beautiful quilt my great grandma made that shows the whole family history. My mom is holding on to it until hubby and I have a more permanent home….hubby is Active Duty Air Force. I didn’t want to take a chance of it getting lost or damaged in a move. 🙂
Handmade by Grandma? It doesn’t get any better than that. I treasure my quilts, afghans and throws my grandmothers made me over the years. I’m in awe that you tackled your first cable at the tender age of 8! The orchid lace mitts are quite lovely. I can’t wait for you to put out a book full of your lovely patterns (shameless begging here, no subtle hints whatsoever).
The squares afghan is simply stunning! I love it so much! I will now hold you personally responsible for my deep emotional need to make one similar to it.
I’ve always been intrigued with the philosophy that only God (or whatever greater power of your choice) is perfect, so nothing made by man can be perfect. Persian carpets were often made with a tiny deliberate imperfection to reflect this.
Personally, I like the idea that if I leave in one mistake in an item I’ve made, even if someone else recreates it from the same pattern with the same yarn in the same color, mine is still unique…and so is your grandmother’s afghan. And it’s beautiful too!
Gorgeous blankets! Thanks for sharing!
I totally can see how such an afghan could have been an inspiration to the little four-year-old you were! I too would have loved looking at and touching all these stitch patterns.
And this little mistake in your birthday afghan? Truly priceless!
I think the work of our hands shows the love in our hearts. I also don’t look at that small block of knitting so much as a “mistake” but more a signature purposefully left for you to touch and remember.
Those afghans are beautiful. I can’t believe what wonderful condition they’re in, it’s a testament to how treasured they must be. The last picture made me smile.
ps In the first picture of the mitts (which are beautiful, BTW), I kept trying to figure out what was going on with the beads. Then in the later picture I figured out it was your bracelet 🙂
What a very powerful post this is. Your grandmother’s knitting is exquisite.
The afghans are beautiful. Thank you for sharing them. We have a few like that in the family and I completely relate to how you mentally deconstructed them as a child.
The mitt is going to be a beauty. I love the thumb gusset.
Love the mitts, but those afghans take the prize. They are both so beautiful and detailed. They look perfect and with the age have held up remarkably. I just hope that my hand knits will be treasured as much and hold up as well. Curl up under them for me.
Stunning afghans, lovely mitts, amazing family 🙂
This post was wonderful. I can see why you liked that last blanket, and its little quirk.
Awesome! I have several relatives who created lots of crocheted afghans and other treasured items. There is a great grandmother I never got to meet that left behind a legacy of crocheted afghans, doilies and embroidery. I love all that stuff. I hope someday, someone will look at my stuff in the same light.
The sampler afghan looks like so much fun! My Mom made a similar one last year in crochet. She did a square a day.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful heirlooms and dear memories — both are treasures. Your grandma is smiling down on your mom and you for honoring her loving work by taking such good care of them.
Love the mitts, too.
They are lovely and your gran was obviously very talented. We can see where you get it!
Wow. What a feast for the eyes today’s post is! Well, really, every day’s post. :g:
What gorgeous blankets and what a rich history they provide. I must admit to feeling some envy that you grew up surrounded by such beauties.
I can’t believe I missed the sock club! One of these days I will take the plunge and join a club *on time*.
I love the way the orchid mitts are coming along. Will the pattern be available online? Would you mind if I converted it to a sock pattern just for me?
The blankets are wonderful and with all the love and history they have no wonder you treasure them so much. Thanks for sharing it with us.
those blankets are amazing!!! the sampler one – my gosh!!!!! true treasures!!!
Those are such treasures, and so beautiful! You’re very lucky, and moreso because you appreciate them.
What awesome treasures and it’s great that all of you were taught to cherish the gifts that were made for you.
Love the echinacea and the color of greed (yeah me, I signed up for Deb’s club). Guess I can relate to the greed :)!
These are absolutely precious. Thank you for sharing them! How amazing to think that someone’s expression of love for you can still be heard so strongly in the next century!
WOW, thanks for sharing. They both still look new and fresh!
Those are so beautiful! My grandmother has made quilts for me and both my children and my daughter curls up with hers every night:)
The old afghans (and other such things) are truly magical. They’re treasures in our family. Numerous of ours were teaching projects too; one that I grew up with (which my mother still has) was a scrap yarn garter stitch afghan my mother knit when she was 8, her first large finished object, and she taught me stuff using the very same needles that she had used to knit it, when I was a girl. My niece has a knitted lap afghan type thing that was her blanky forever, knitted by my grandmother, and right now, its repair falls to me. I have a quilt that my great-grandmother made when she was a teenager — my oldest textile. And somewhere, I’d wager my mother still has a box of sweaters that her maiden aunts knit for her when she was a child, which she wore, and then I wore, and then my sister wore… treasures beyond compare.
I love to see people’s old handmade and used and loved stuff. Thank you!
The perfection in seaming that garter stitch edge is sickening. Good thing there’s the little slip-up, otherwise I’d think it wasn’t made by a real human :).
Oh wow…Those are so gorgeous. Now I need to pull out tons of yarn and knit my kids something large and beautiful like that so that years from now, they can put it on their cyber-diaries. Those seams ARE perfect and the little mistake in it makes it even more loving. I’m sure you can picture your Gram just saying “Oh, to hell with it! I’m not ripping back!” LOL
Oh Anne, what a wonderful heirloom, and even better story. 🙂
Your “greed” yarn is eerily similar to the Bee yarn! Seriously. Dead ringer.
My mother made one of those 50-squares afghans for me oh-so-many years ago. I called it the “Magic Afghan” because when I wrapped myself up in it, I always fell asleep. It still works! And now my children are loving the Magic Afghan, too. Mine hasn’t held up quite as well as yours, but it is loved just as much. Let’s all hope that our children love our handiwork as much as we do that our parents and grandparents.
I think everyone picked lust because you have such a sexay husband! 😉
I love the afghans! Such a wonderful thing to have. And who knew it would be the germination of your wonderful design talents! I have things, both finished and not finished, by my grandmothers. These things help us feel connected in such a deep, eseential way to the special people in our history.
Thanks for sharing those with us! Your grandmother did lovely work, for sure, and I can see why it inspired you.
Mitts are looking so pretty, too!
Those are beautiful, and what a labor of love.
The orchid lace mitts are going to be gorgeous and I love the bracelet!
How fortunate you are to have some of your grandmother’s work to cherish 🙂
Truly amazing display of stitch combinations and textures. Thanks for showing them.
Those are so pretty! The only afghans we ever had around were the granny square crochet retrospective of all the most hideous colors of the 70s. Like everyone else. I do still run my fingers over my gramma’s quilts, though – my aunt has them all, and I do admit to some serious covetousness in my little black heart. I hope my son treasures the things others have made him the way you do!
Ok – be really scared now. My grandmother who passed away when I was 6, and who was the first knitter I knew – I inherited the pattern book for that first afghan. I kid you not. I still have it. (insert odd Twilight Zone music here….)
*
I see a nice picture of Andy – can I have it ?
*
Wow! Those afghans are stunning even without knowing their provenance. Then their history just makes them all the more special. Thank you so much for sharing.
I love seeing your old treasured afghans. The mistake in the garter stitch is fabulous. I love that she didn’t bother going back to fix it. You know, I think the pink/fuchsia afghan DH has in the livingroom, the one that his aunt made for his mother (her sister) eons ago is the same pattern as your blue one with all the patterns in it. I recognize a bunch of those squares. 🙂
Those are beautiful afghans! And so clearly treasured and well cared for.
I was given an afghan that my *mother* grew up with. Like yours it was always on the back of their living room’s sofa.
We figure it’s probably from the late 30’s sometime. And it’s a stitch pattern that involves weaving a crocheted cord in and out. Fascinating!
But here’s the awful part. I shudder to even write this. I didn’t mean to… but I got candle wax on it.
I’m so afraid of trying to fix it as it’s so old (and a little bit fragile). But I owe it to my Mom, my Grandmother, and the Great-Great-Aunt who knit it. I’ll restore it to the same beauty as yours. And display it proudly. Uhm, but away from the candles.
They are beautiful afgans! It’s unreal how well they’ve stood up to daily living, etc., for all these years. I’m not one to knit up afgans, but that ’50 different patterns’ one is inspiring! I agree that there’s something challenging when looking at all those different cables and patterns.
From the first detail on the “50 different patterns” afghan, the dark square at the top has a stitch pattern that reminds me of your “summer fun” socks.
Both are very beautiful afghans. You have a wonderful legacy from your grandmother.
Your blue and white afghan from 1964 is identical to one my mother-in-law knitted for me as a Christmas gift almost twenty years later. She even used the same colors. I remember asking her about its construction as I knew the rudiments of knitting then, though not how to follow patterns and instructions. She told me that she just knitted it in strips and didn’t have to count repeats; she just worked until the skein ran out and that was always the perfect length for a strip. I love the cables and lace and your grandmother’s personalized design feature makes it unique and real!
That’s love. And I really love the last photo!
those afghans are totally gorgeous! i don’t see how anyone couldn’t be inspired to learn to knit by that first one. and in such good condition. true heirlooms.
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