Ogden, Utah

Last September, I took Ruth, my Mother, with me to Utah when I went to the Shepherd's Bush Retreat. As is always our custom, we visited the Yarn Shops of any town we visit. The one in Ogden is charming and a woman with the most lilting Irish accent took care of us there. In the window were many knitted pumpkins. She shared the pattern with Mom and what you will see in the next few days are the patch of Pumpkins we now have. Over the last year we have been collecting interesting yarns. The leaves and stems were our own inventions. An early autumn view!

Step into My Day.....

.....I am at the Little League World Series and have done almost no stitching! I have been spending time photographing my Mom's Stockings....am about half way through.....At first I was going to arrange them with Christmassy things BUT that got old quickly! Most are hanging on a wall, but I did find I had to take them from some different angles and sides....

I also had some of my antique sewing things stored at Elizabeth's and rummages through them yesterday....pictures soon!

And I made a trip to the Trimtex Outlet Store....oh the glory of it all! That is the picture you see here....it is less than half of the store....I left with a shopping bag of things and spent less than $20. Two of my friends are getting their own bags of trim! This is the most stimulating place for a creative person....A scissor Fob grows from the ribbon that will attach it to the scissors!

Enjoy this day....

Another Place To Visit

I have added another Blog to my collection. It is Ruth's Legacy...... http://www.ruthslegacy.blogspot.com/ For as long as I can remember, my mother, Ruth, has been knitting Christmas Stockings....in my adult years I have spent untold amounts of time searching for more patterns and more Yarn.....I have decided to share these lovely parts of my life and to create a History of the Stockings.

I will try to post something at least once a week....I am asking her to give me some of her stories about each of them.....Where we found the patterns, who of the family may have requested the pattern, the ones she enjoyed knitting and the ones she didn't. It is important to know she always knits 3 of the same pattern. One for me, One for my sister, and One for herself.....which actually translates to one set for each of her Grandchildren. Thus the Legacy!

Enjoy!

Christmas Ornament

I have participated in an Christmas in July Ornament Exchange. This is what I received. It is really spectacular! Clever and beautifully stitched. I am grateful for the thought and effort that shows in all the Exchanges I receive! I wonder who's pattern this is? Anyone know?

Old Buttons and Strawberries.....

I collect old buttons....once again, things that were a part of someones everyday life in a time gone by. The ones showing in this picture and the one from yesterday came from
an Antique Shop in Colorado and have been in my collection for years. They are mostly from the 40's and came to me in this sting with the knots. The little Strawberry is from a scrap of fabric and I have no idea where I got the little design. I like these strawberries and I think it is about my Mom.

Ruth is gifted with the ability to make Strawberry Jam that makes grown men weep and beg. My ex husband and our friend John would take a new box of Ritz Crackers, a Jar of Peanut Butter and a New, Large Jar of Jam and make these little discs of Joy and eat until they were both sick.

My Mom would measure the sunshine and rain from the last weeks of May till early June and on the precise Saturday morning of peak ripeness we would be awakened to head to the "Pick UR Self" Strawberry Farm. We would fill basket after basket till mid morning.
Home to wash and clean. Because as she would tell you , the optimum taste is from newly picked and sun warm berries......She does not make the regular recipe on the Sure Gel Box Instructions, but rather, the "Freezer Jam" recipe. Diane and I would take turns stirring the pot waiting for it to come to a rolling boil! Soon the kitchen would be filled with jar after jar. We waited anxiously for the click that the tops locked in place. Every spring we still make a batch or two of Jam. We buy the berries but Ruth inspects them carefully and passes judgement on their size, color, and sweetness. It, in some ways, defines another year!

Mom says it is for Elizabeth, who probably does eat a jar or two a year. Some things are more important than the results they provide.

Have a great weekend.....

It is NEVER too early......

It is never too early to start thinking of Christmas....and i like to be ready. This is just a sweet little Christmas Flower and a happy greeting.

Hold on to your seats, but, last night I attended the Cubs vs Phillies Baseball game. I know...what in the world was I doing at a Baseball game......the very nice man I work for thought it would be a wonderful treat to mark our 1 year in Chicago.....I think I saw 3 or 4 home runs, several line drives to center and the laziest out fielder in the world.....now, I am not sure if the baseball thing is like stage left or right so if it is as you face the outfield, it was the left fielder for the Cubs....unfortunately, they do not have the mercy rule in MLB so the score was 50 to 1 or something like that.....we left at the end of the 5th inning, which was a mercy move!

Now I have seen a game at Wrigley Field and given my track record, it will torn down in a few years....like Yankee Stadium....

As a note, we had dinner at a wonderful Italian resteraunt but the strange thing is as we walked down the street and people recognize Garry they stop us and take pictures or start to talk to him and show him that they know his number and record.....Not something I have experienced before....he was patient and kind!

At Last and Thank you Jane

This is a line from one of Jane Austen's books....not sure which one. but I think it is so true!

I feel like I have been stitching this forever....now my dilemma is whether to make it into a pillow with frilly ribbons and lace OR to send it off to Jill Hensil to frame. I think it needs another button or two or maybe a silver crown charm....opinions are welcome....

It is VERY hot here in Chicago and I have the awful humid/curly hair that I hate. Cut and color on Friday.

I am sorry to hear of the death of Eunice Shriver....she was a good woman...made a difference in the world....with her children and beyond!

Calling the IT Department

I need a bit of help.....I love the comments you all leave here....I would like to say hello and thank you. Is there anyway to access email addresses of Followers or comment leavers? Someone with much more IT knowledge than I may know the answer and I would really appreciate it. I also understand from my friend Gillian that there is a way you can list Blogs you admire so that others can visit them....I am a great user of this feature on the awesome French Blogs I visit.

Any knowledge would be appreciated. If it is too much to leave as a comment, my email is sgvchicago@aol.com.

Have a wonderful Sunday. It is melting hot here!

One Fine Day

One of my favorite movies is One Fine Day with George Cloney and Michelle Pfeiffer. When they make the movie of my life I think Michelle will be perfect in the role of me......Diane Keaton had the role at one point but she seems to be aging!

Anyway...my friend, Virginia, inspires me to learn some French and I will be visiting there with some stitcher friends next spring so I decided One Fine Day should be in French. This is the Babel Fish translation.....not sure it is perfect but it works! I have made a kit I am sending off to Virginia as part of her Birthday present.....

It is to be 95 degrees in Chicago today and I have my EGA meeting on the second floor of an old Horner Park Building...no elevator, no AC, and a great old curmudgeon of a guy at the front desk.....one of my joys is making him grumble "Hello" at me.

As some of you know, I had a presentation last week that was, again in my opinion, a near disaster. Well, wonder of wonders, we made the short list and may get the project. Mysterious things happen.

Today shall be one fine day!

Another Finishing Sunday!

How these things upload is a mystery to me. These should be side by side....

This is the Pinkeep for the Illinois Day....at last finished and ready for display......

We are going to kit them up next weekend.

I put a little scissor pocket in the back....because as Jackie says, "We Can"...the cording is from a fringe sample I took apart....Someday soon I am going to learn to make cord. I dyed the pins to match...thanks Blackbird ladies for that wonderful lesson! Even if my fingers are an odd shade of rusty brown this morning.