threads of my lineage

I got a birthday box from my uncle today. It was all stuff that belonged to my maternal grandmother, who died two years ago this summer. He sent me three sets of her knitting needles and a bunch of her knitting and crochet patterns, including some that she had handwritten and a copy of Woman's Day knit and crochet patterns from 1978.

I'm glad I learned how to use needles and hooks to carry on the family tradition. I must be something like a fourth or fifth generation needleworker.

Speaking of which, here are photos of some of my needlework projects:

First the knitted stuff:

This one is a neat, two-sided pattern scarf: one side is wavy lines, the other is a lattice overlay. The color is powder blue with some darker flecks of colors sprinkled throughout.

My dad calls this one my "Doctor Who" scarf because it's so long, about 9 feet (I like my scarves long). I got the pattern for this one and the previous one from a knitting magazine. I used the yarn they suggested, but I think it's a little too thick - I had to alter the pattern so it wasn't so bulky. Still, it's fun to wear, and I get lots of comments on it - complete strangers will come up to me to ask about it.

By the way, I just looked online, and you can get the pattern for the original Doctor Who scarf, though I never did like the colors.

This was my first crocheted blanket. The yarn color was called "surf and turf." Alternately, I call this my "early morning blanket" because rather than get up and rush around getting ready for work, I'd put the TV on to the morning news, and hook this blanket for an hour or so. Since there was variation in the yarn color, I just did a basic double-crochet stitch. I really liked the smoothness of this yarn. It comes in other color combinations, so I may do another one.

This is a baby blanket that I did for a co-worker whose wife just had a baby two weeks ago. It's a much more delicate yarn than I'm used to using, and not as easy to see the stitches. It was self-striping yarn, so I can't take credit for the pattern. I chose this color rather than the traditional pastels because baby Julia's room is green.