My Gram's Cookies

My Gram has 4 recipe boxes. They are neatly organized by category (poultry, salad, dessert, etc.) And then, she has an entire box filled with cookie recipes. My Gram & Gramp used to make several batches each of 10-15 kinds of cookies and have a stack of cookie tins for us to eat when we all came up for Christmas. Aunt Stella's, Nanny B's Shortbread, Cut-Outs, Pepparkakor, Ginger cookies dipped in white chocolate, Evelyn's Date filled cookies, Chocolate Crinkles, Spritz, Candy Cane Cookies, Peanut Butter Blossoms, Dorothy's Coconut, Neapolitan, Special K, Chewy Noels, and Russian Tea Cakes were all in regular rotation. (I'm sure there were others, but those are the ones my Mom and Gramp remembered well when I asked this morning.) When I was a kid, it was my job to take out 4 of each and arrange a cookie plate to pass around the table after the meal. As the grandkids got older, my Gram asked us each what our favorites were, and she eliminated a few of the less popular tins. Then in the last years there were just a few. We visited my Gramp for Thanksgiving, and I decided to leave him with a few cookies (as well as a freezer stuffed with meals). The cookies were fun, but took hours. I made Nanny B's (named after my Great Uncle's Mother), Cut-Outs, and Peanut Butter (with out the kisses this time). I brought up Shortbread and Chocolate Chip from home. As I baked yesterday, I asked my Gramp if they made one kind a day from Thanksgiving until we arrived (usually around the 20th of December and stayed for almost 2 weeks). He said, some times they worked all day for days. I don't think as kids we ever appreciated all that. I know I need to make a few more kinds of cookies when I'm home to send up here.

Gram Knits #4

It's been awhile since I posted one of these. While I was up in Napa, I did more cleaning of my Gram's craft room. I found this magazine...I just had to share. The September issue cost 10 cents!

M took the kids to the football game. I'm heading to the Corner Bakery for a Mom's Night Out with some other homeschoolers. I just need to decide to bring a sock or a cloth?! Hmmm. Maybe both. =0)

I wish every day could be like this.

I can't believe all 3 of my kids are still sleeping. I think this is the latest they've slept in in a long time. It's almost 8am! I've had a full cup of coffee and some reading time before being bombarded with a zillion questions. I wish every day could be like this.

Now of course, saying that means something will go wrong to make me take that back. At least I can say...Every Morning Should Be Like This!

Knitwise: I'm still knitting away on my Clapotis. I thought since the KAL deadline was extended that I'd try to finish. It's longer, but there's still so much to knit. How are some of these finished so quickly? Does it come down to yarn choice? I love the way mine curls around itself. I'm happy with the stockinette side or the reverse. Both fascinate me! Maybe that's why I'm not finishing. I'm distracted by petting the knitting.

Healthwise: I met with an oral surgeon yesterday. I have scheduled an appointment to pull the tooth. I really think that I can handle 1 appointment better than 5 right now. I do feel a little 'redneck' though for just pulling a tooth. We lived in TX when we were little, and my brother and I always joke about our 'redneck' roots. Of course, he's the one with car parts on the lawn, and shotguns. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then listen to some Jeff Foxworthy. In all seriousness though, I'm just a little scared that this could be a chain reaction. It is a possibility that the neighboring teeth could loosen. I've been encouraged by my Gram. She wore dentures as far back as I could remember. I confirmed this with my Gramp. She got them soon after her 3rd child. Technology wasn't what it is today. And they wouldn't have had the money even if they could have saved the teeth. The part that encourages me...She Had The MOST BEAUTIFUL SMILE EVER. And that's because a smile comes from your heart and not your teeth.

OK...I hear talking. I'm off to serve breakfast to the 6, 5, and almost 3!

Gram Knits #3

I found this pattern book when I was cleaning this weekend. I wasn't really looking for it. But, I'm so excited because I never would have looked here for the book. Now I'll put the pattern book with the WIP.

I don't know if you can see this...the price is 20 cents!!! And that's for an entire book...not just one pattern. The copyright is 1948 inside.

Gram Knits 2

When my Gram was feeling a bit stronger, she wanted a knitting project but didn't want to spend any money because she wasn't sure she would finish the knit before it was her time. I had started this blanket when I was pregnant with 2. I didn't finish it before she came. I gave the project to my Gram...and she ripped back to fix one of my mistakes. Then she knit on this until she was in hospice.

My other mistake is in the first 5". She would have ripped it all out. I figure that it just shows my process as a beginning knitter. I couldn't count to 4. And I couldn't "read my knitting." I knit Row 1,2,3,2,3,4. You can see it here. It's not a dropped stitch. And it won't affect shaping. And the chevrons still line up. So I wanted to leave it.

So...what I love about this one. Half of it was knit while I was expecting 2. And half was knit by my Gram. Someday I'll finish this one for my little girl. Right now it's 46" wide and we've knit for 26". I have plenty of yarn to make this about 60". That's big for a baby blanket. But I might finish this by the time she's 5. And by then, the blankies she sleeps with now will be needing a replacement.

Gram Knits 1

My Gram is the reason I knit. She first taught me when I was 12. I thought that knitting was so much slower than counted cross stitch. What was I thinking? In 2004, I picked up the needles again. I knit a few things before I lost my Gram, but I sure wish I could have shared some of my nice yarns with her. Anyways, just before my Gram passed away almost 2 years ago, she gave me her knitting things. They are among my most treasured possesions. I've been using the needles and her notions bag. But somehow, the acutal knitting was something I couldn't take out just yet. I want to post here. So I have record of how she wrapped her family in warmth and love.

Baby Blanket in unknown white (probably acrylic). You know what. It's probably the Pound of Love...based on the size of the ball. Knit on US 4's. This scared me when I first looked at it. Now, not so much. The blanket measures 30" wide. My Gram knit about 7 inches before this pattern was too complicate for her. She was too weak from the chemo.

Here's a close up of the cable panels.

I have the pattern for this somewhere. And someday I'd like to finish this. It would be great to have for one of my grandkids...her Great Great Grandkids.