Mum started a very intricate tablecloth for me but she never had the opportunity to complete it. I inherited it and always intended to finish it; I had all the crochet cotton I needed, as well as her pattern and crochet hook. It sat in one of my bins for many years.

Eventually I dug it out and tried to pick up the pattern where Mum left off but I had no success. The crochet hook was so small and, although I understood the pattern, making it work was difficult. My tension was so far off Mum’s that I knew my blocks would never align with hers so, again, I set it aside.

About 18 months ago I decided to take Mum’s work apart and start over. Taking the project apart wasn’t easy but I was able to get a lot of cotton yarn from it. In some cases I was able to preserve some of the original blocks. I went with a simple granny square pattern with a large central square and smaller squares around the edges to get the size I wanted.

My intention was always to add those few preserved blocks of Mum’s to the piece. When I had the size I wanted to cover our table I added Mum’s blocks to the corners and the sides. I thought they would look good just dangling around the edges. I was wrong – so I added another round of my own blocks intermingled with Mum’s.

Although the tablecloth isn’t as square as it should be I’m happy with the outcome. From the pictures you will be able to tell which were Mum’s squares and which ones I added. The colour in the full photos is off; the colour is more accurate in the close-ups.

November 30, 2023

I don’t have a lot of knitting to donate to the Salvation Army this year but what I have is donated in honour of all the donations Mum made over the years.

I don’t know where all this gold sock yarn came from but I’ve used it and used it and, I think, it is all gone now.

This afghan was supposed to use up all the odds and ends of yarn I had. It didn’t and I found another one in progress in the bin this came out of.

I thought I had already used up all my baby yarn but a deep dive into a wicker basket produced another small bag of yarn. On one of Kathryn’s visits she wondered who would carry on the blankie knitting if I stopped so when I found the yarn I knew I’d better make (and keep) a blankie for someone, sometime.

I started knitting but it was too difficult (at the time) to keep track of where I was in the pattern. So I switched to a crochet pattern that I’ve used several times before with several different yarn types – a shell stitch. Because I was “winging” it I ended up with a blanket that was a nice size but I still had some yarn left. I’ll keep this project in my cedar chest for the day when I (hopefully) have a great grandchild.

With what I had left I made a small blanket and a pillow for Ken to add to his cradles. But there is still just a little bit left so I’ll use that in a scrap afghan rather than throw it out.

I found a bag of sock yarn and made myself some hats. After making two, I tried a third one that would be a bit smaller than the ones I had already made. After losing my hair the first ones I made were a bit too big and slid down on my head. The third one ended up being too small so it will go as a donation.

I decided with the remaining yarn (8 balls) I would make a couple of scarves. I found a pattern I liked but by the time it was done I was tired of the pattern. But it used up four of the balls.

Next up was the possibility of making one of my triangular shawls but when I had knit my way through two of the balls I realized it wouldn’t be big enough for a shawl. So I started the decreasing and ended up with a doll blanket that I will send to Ken to put in one of the doll cradles he donates every year.