Finished projects: Knitting, and keepsake embroidery

Today is my mother's birthday.  She was born in 1936.  Mom has been wanting me to make her a hat.  She was very specific with her instructions.  She wanted a knitted stocking hat, with a rim to roll.  So, I obliged, using a Paton's wool.  I enjoyed diving into knitting again so much, that I immediately planned three more projects.  (I can't do ANYTHING in moderation...)  I'm finally going to try to make socks (and doubting my abilities with the dpns.  :)

I really did love the colorway on this particular yarn,

but it does not photograph that well.  I think it

looks a little too random, even making it look like

the stitches are messed up in the ribbing.  They aren't.  

Really.  I mean it.  I hope that mama likes her hat.

This is another project for mom's birthday.

It's something she asked me to "fix" awhile back.

She had a piece of embroidery that

had been her mothers.  In fact, it was the 

last thing my grandmother Violet ever

made.  Grandma had Alzheimer's Disease,

and as she began to fade from consciousness

mom (who was her primary caregiver,) 

gave Grandma little projects to try to

keep her engaged in life and reality.

Grandma wrote in a journal for awhile, but

eventually that devolved into scribbles, 

mere lines on lines.  This embroidery, I would say,

was a bookend to Grandma's last rational moments.

Grandma has been gone for over a decade now,

and the fabric is fragile.  I had a hard time

deciding how best to preserve it, then

finally decided it should be behind glass.

I appliqued it onto a piece of cotton, purposefully 

sewing it over the right side of the fabric so

that a faint design showed from beneath.

Next, I will fasten it around a piece of stiff

board (by sewing the edges,) and place it in a frame.

I think she'll be pleased that I've finally finished

this project, as well.  On Sunday, I'm cooking dinner 

for my mom and dad, and we'll celebrate 

Jeff's and Ben's birthdays at the same time.

It's birthday season!