Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Catching up

How are you doing?  It feels like I've been away from blogland a little too long, and I miss connecting with you.

Where to begin...  I'll start with what's in my heart and on my mind:
Last week I went back to the UK to visit family.  It was an unplanned trip at short notice - we recently discovered that my Grandma has stage 4 breast cancer.  Yes, this nasty disease is rearing it's ugly head in our family once again.  And with the same upsetting prognosis.  I am thankful that I got to go back and spend time with my Grandma, and the rest of my family, but it was an extremely hard trip.  I adore my Grandma and saying goodbye was soo difficult.

My Gran is an amazing knitter and used to create beautifully intricate and complex garments that were shipped to the US and Japan.  It used to tickle her that the company she worked for would deliver the yarn, and pick up the completed sweaters, in an armored vehicle.  She smiled at the thought of what the neighbours must think she was up to :)))

I was glad to see that one day she was covered in a handmade blanket at her palliative care nursing home.  It was really pretty pastels and added a cosy touch as well as helping keep the chill off.  Of course all this spurred me on to make additional squares for Bertie's Blankets.  You can see the latest progress over on the Bertie's Blankets blog (try saying that quickly 3 times ;o) 

It was a low key visit so there was lots of down time for knitting (which Grandma would like to hear about and then shake her head jokingly asking where I found the time :).  Aside from the blanket squares I worked on a novelty purse for my Mum using some t-shirt yarn - Zpaghetti.  Man, that was like knitting with exercise bands - I felt like I'd had quite the workout after knitting a few rows on it!  (If only it burned the calories like a workout would).   But it was nice to have something to work on that was straightforward and a temporary distraction.

Here's the finished object.  It's cute and fun for summer.  My Mum is into blue at the moment and so I think she liked it well enough.  There won't be any repeats though... I was happy to get back to knitting sock yarn on skinny needles!
Zpaghetti handbag for Mum

I'll be catching up on your blogs over the coming days and looking forward to seeing what you've been up to. 
Big hugs,
Sam xxx

7 comments:

Ginx Craft said...

Glad you are back. I was wondering where you had gone. Sorry you have had such a difficult time.

Your bag is lovely. I really fancy making something from T-Shirts, and may have to raid my husbands clothes drawer.

Wens said...

I'm sorry to hear about your Grandma. It's good you went for a short trip, I'm sure it was lovely to just hang out with her, but so hard to leave. She sounds awesome.

The bag is gorgeous, I don't know how you do it. Knitting is beyond me!

Stefanie said...

I'm so sorry about your grandmother's diagnosis. I'm glad though you had that time with her. Hugs.
T-shirt yarn and working with it is like a workout? Good to know. But your mum's purse is so cute.

Bazzy B said...

Great as always to see you & family sis, miss you all already. Enjoyed reading this blog today x

Emily said...

many hugs! I love how your bag turned out--I've always wondered what knitting with t-shirts is like. Think I may skip that one!

Nicky said...

So sorry about your Grammy. My best to her and the rest of your family.

Glad you got to spend some time with her and get some knitting in as well.

Terrie D. (StarSpry) said...

I am very sorry about your Grandma's prognosis, but I'm really glad you were able to visit with her and the rest of your family.

The novelty purse looks really cool! Though, after reading your description of knitting with it, I may not try making one myself :)