Finding Things

 I've been slowly going through all the boxes and baskets in my overcrowded store of yarn and finished projects. All sorts of things came to light, including lots of bits and pieces I'd forgotten about for years.

For example ... a larger version of my Pinwheel Purse, a little yellow elephant Finger Puppet, designed years ago for the Big Yellow Friday fundraising push by the charity I support, a couple of Puffballs and a strange cube thing. The purse in the bottom left hand corner is another use of the deep rolls that I used in my Winter Rainbow scarf; I think I'd like to turn this into a pattern one day.

By far the biggest pile of stuff though was unfinished projects - some of them abandoned because they weren't working, some because I got bored and moved on to other things. Would you like to see some of them?

This was one of my regular experiments with knitting geometrical shapes, this time pentagons. I made a few balls, sewed a few pentagons together and then lost interest. Looking at them now, I quite like the two colour one at the bottom; that has possibilities.

This next one is something I definitely want to finish.

I knitted these small, embroidered letters as part of my Alphabet Series in 2012. The idea is to use them as a garland, pegging up the letters to spell out whatever you want to say. I always intended to knit more of the common letters but, again, didn't get round to it. I was pleased to see that I'd packed the letters away with everything I need to carry on with this project though, including a list of the letters still to knit and the felt to back them. I still have some of that blue yarn too so I really must resurrect this.

When I turned out the baskets under my table in search of the bread knife (don't ask), I found this big basket ...

... which turned out to be the home of one of my many unfinished blankets.

Lots of squares and quarter circles, all knitted in Sirdar Snuggly DK. I'd actually knitted quite a lot of this one and most of the yarn I need is there too I think.

I was going to call this one Scrappy Circles I remember. The idea was to sew the quarter triangles to the corners of the squares to make a sort of wooly Drunkard's Path.

This is another project I'd like to finish one day.

I start an awful lot of blankets and most of them never get finished. This one was a bright idea but then the yarn became difficult to find so I lost interest.

The next one is more recent and is based on the shape used in my Patchwork Purse pattern.

When I find an old project that I want to re-start, the first thing to do is to go through my big pile of pattern notebooks, hoping to find some useful notes. According to the notebook, these pastel squares were designed in February 2013.

Now I really like these - heavily textured squares, knitted with My First Regia. My original notes were a bit confusing so I knitted another square, re-writing as I went. The pattern still seemed good to me (this is by no means always the case when I go back to old designs) so I think this is another one to get on with. It would make a lovely baby blanket with all that texture on both sides.

I'm not too sure about these strangely constructed squares though ...

Each square is made up of four identical pieces, overlapped and sewn together where they touch to make pinwheels. The idea was to join the squares as shown in the picture; the back would then look like this ...

Quite nice but a bit fiddly perhaps?

Another pile of squares, this time crochet ones.

Swirls in colours, set in navy blue squares. I had grandiose ideas of turning this into a colour swatch blanket of Stylecraft Special DK, using as many shades as possible. 

While we're looking at crochet, what about this?

This one goes back about ten years and was going to be a shawl, inspired by the ammonites we collected on our Dorset holidays.

I'm not sure you'd know that's what the crochet shapes were meant to be, although maybe they'd improve with blocking.

Do you remember being told that the best things come in small packages? Definitely not true when you're a child hoping that the big, exciting parcel under the Christmas tree is for you. Well, in the case of found projects, it is sometimes true.

Two pretty little tins, each with lovely projects inside. The round one is my collection of crocheted snowflakes.

These are all from the book 100 Snowflakes to Crochet, worked with white thread and a fine hook and starched to use as decorations. When I've made lots of them, they're going to be a garland for the windows of my Winter Wonderland.

The other tin is full of tiny crochet Granny Squares, about 4 cm across and worked with Appletons Crewel Wool.

One day these are going to be my tribute to a lady I never knew who crocheted one of my family treasures.

This lovely stole was made by my Mother-in-law's Mother-in-Law, Eva Hollingsworth, née Jubb in the 1950s. A few years ago I was very excited to find the original pattern that she would have used in this copy of the Vogue Knitting Book from September 1955.

It was one of the 'Italian Originals' mentioned on the cover; unfortunately the photograph is in black and white but still ...

I hope you've enjoyed this look at some of the many things I haven't finished making. I shall be interested to read your comments on them. Are there any I should turn into patterns ... or hide again?!

Family Treasures

During my daughter's visit last week, we (well, mostly she) did a lot of gardening. The silver birch is now a slightly odd shape but less out of control than it was and we've reclaimed some more plants from the weeds. In between gardening and a lot of snacks, we started cataloguing some family treasures. This is what happens when an Archivist comes to stay.

We're not talking valuable heirlooms here, mostly domestic things that come with a story attached. Like this biscuit barrel for instance ...

This was a wedding present when my Grandparents were married on the 21st December 1935. Christmas weddings were much more common in the past than they are now; I wonder if it's because they coincided with time off work? Here's a picture of them on their wedding day.

Frank and Ida Pothecary

Or there's this small souvenir sewing kit, again belonging to my Granny ...

It doesn't look as if it has been used, although the scissors that would have been in it are missing (I must look through Granny's old sewing box to see if they're there). As you can see, this little kit came from Corfe Castle. My Great Uncle Jack was the last stationmaster at Corfe Castle station before it closed in the early 1970s. I remember going to see him there and thinking it strange that he lived in a station. They had already taken up the rails then.

Here's Uncle Jack with other staff at the station in a photo taken in 1965. I found this in a secondhand book last year. He's the one in the middle with the glasses.

Uncle Jack worked out the rest of his time before retirement at Swanage station. In the 1990s the line from Swanage to Corfe Castle was re-opened as a heritage steam railway and the old Stationmaster's house is now a visitor attraction.

What I really want to show you today though is some of the old family bibles that we have. The big one (with all the names and dates at the front) is still at my stepfather's house but I've got quite a pile of smaller ones.

They don't look that exciting but there's a wealth of information to be gleaned from old bibles as they were often written in. One of the oldest  belonged to my Great Grandfather George Cannons who was born in 1872. As you can see, it came to him from his Sunday School. Here's George who also worked on the railway (there's a strong tradition of railway workers in my family, right down to my brother).

But the bible tells us that George then gave his bible to my mother Ann in 1944.

Mum would have been seven when she got the bible. She was born in her grandparents house and lived with her parents and grandparents for her first few years. Here she is with her Grandad George.

As well as the inscription, this bible was also full of these beautiful cards which I think Mum probably got from her Sunday school during the 1940s.

Or how about this bible, given by Annie (my Great-Grandmother and George's wife) to her mother Eliza Spooner in 1893.

Annie would have been 17 then and had been in service for several years. Look closer at that cross stitched bookmark and what do you see?

That's a lock of plaited hair above the writing. I think it might have been Annie's as the colour looks right. Here's a photograph of her as a young woman, taken a few years after she gave the bible to her mother.

Also in the photo is her handwritten recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies which, as you can see, I still make. I wrote about them several years ago if you'd like to try the recipe for yourself - Peanut Butter Cookies.

We have other books that belonged to Annie, like this Communion Book from 1891 when she would have been 15.

I don't know who Mrs Chilton was. I remember visiting a Mrs Chilton with my Granny but that would have been in the  1960s and 70s.

Then there's this rather touching inscription in one of two small books in a case (a hymn book and a prayer book).

A present from her future husband George in 1893. They were married in November 1895 and, you'll be glad to hear, did enjoy many happy years together. George died in 1945 and Annie in 1956. I'm rather fond of this picture of them on holiday; I think that's crochet she's doing.

One more Hymn and Prayer book belonging to Annie, again a present from her husband. this time it was to mark her 50th birthday in November 1925.

Annie and George had eight children, three boys and five girls. Two of the children, Walter and Olive died in infancy but the rest lived long lives. The eldest, another George, deserves a whole post to himself as he was the black sheep of the family. Jack (named John Noel Cannons because he was born on Christmas Day) I've already mentioned, so that leaves the four girls. They all had three letter names: Ivy, Eva, Ada and Ida. Ida was my grandmother. This picture of the three older girls was taken in about 1912 when Ivy was 13, Eva 8 and Ada 4.

My Granny was the baby of the family, born in 1915. I have several books that were hers. Her 'Helps to Worship' was given to her to mark her confirmation in March 1929 when she would have been eight.

Here's a picture of her taken on the same day ...

I also have her prayer book, given to her by her father George on her tenth birthday.

Ida married Frank Pothecary in 1935 and they went on to have four children: Ann (my mother), Frances, Hazel and Allan. Ann and Frances were less than two years apart in age; here they are in their garden, complete with a dolly in her pram.

I have several books belonging to Frances; this Prayer Book was given to her by her Aunty Ada to mark her christening in September 1938.

Sadly, Frances died at the age of 17 in a motorcycle crash. I was born four years later and was named after her.

Frances Pothecary

I've got one more family bible to show you and this one I can actually remember seeing as a child.

It's looking a bit the worse for wear and there's no inscription, but I know that this was the bible my Mum carried when she was Matron of Honour at her sister Hazel's wedding in 1962 (I think it was 1962, correct me if I'm wrong Hazel).

To finish with, here's a group photo from that wedding, including, at the end of the row, my Granny Ida holding a slightly puzzled looking toddler who is me.

All sorts of crafts

 I'm still finding it hard to settle to any one thing for very long. This heatwave isn't helping - I could do without something that makes me more breathless - and I've had several more tests this week. Any disruption to my daily routine throws me completely. I had CT scans on Sunday and an Echo Cardiogram on Monday - that's the lot for now.

When nothing appeals, I root through the boxes of unfinished stuff and see what catches my eye. Most recently, it was my lovely Turtle hexagon loom so I've been slowly adding to my little pile of hexiflats.

I'm sewing pairs of hexagons together, all woven from the same ball of variegated sock yarn, then I shall join them together to make some sort of table topper. I'm thinking of interspersing these ones with plain white hexagons to which I've added a bit of embroidery. I'll fold single hexagons in half for the edges so that my finished shape will have straight sides.

I've just discovered that Gabi from Turtle yarns has now brought out a tiny little hexagon loom called the Penny Loom which is only 1" across. Just how good is that? Anyway, The Handweaver's Studio here in the UK now stock Turtle looms so I emailed them to ask if they plan to stock the new loom. I got an answer back saying that they're already ordered and would I like to reserve one? Of course I would!

I've also finished my first ever loom knitting project, a thick, textured cowl, using two strands of aran doubled.

I'm wondering whether to make my daughter model it when she arrives tomorrow - ideal wear for a heatwave! I really enjoyed making this and am now wondering what to make next. Double knit or single, something useful or just a sample?

I haven't forgotten knitting but I can only manage nice, simple garter stitch (and even then I have a tendency to drop stitches). I've done the first two 'L's of my Double Vision Blanket which I'm thoroughly enjoying.

It's not a very good photo; I had to stand on the piano stool to fit it all in and the light was a bit weird. This blanket uses ten colours (plus contrast); the colours will be the diagonal line of squares running from top left to bottom right. The other squares show each of the colours mixed with each of the other colours in turn. I haven't explained that very well, go and look at the pattern page for something  more coherent. Anyway, I think it's looking good.