Progress Notes: Thread and Kitchen Cotton

I don't remember when I learned to knit, or crochet, or sew. My mother was a seamstress, who worked out of our small apartment. My grandmother was a tiny, fierce woman who didn't speak much English and was always knitting.
I was an adult before I realized that they were both real artists.
Grandma never looked at any sort of pattern, but closely scrutinized any knitwear that came her way, always eager to pick up a new stitch. Unlike me, despite knitting for her own nine kids and many, many grandchildren, she never made anything that wasn't embellished with dense patterns. Every mitten was a work of art. And my mother, despite sewing for others for hours, usually decorated our clothes with appliques, piping, and the like.
Grandma came to stay with me when my daughter was born, and she herself was 82. I was just finishing up a Christmas stocking. I still remember her enthusiasm for something new to knit. We sat together and knit huge stockings for the relatives. I also introduced her to granny squares during that visit, and she launched into making little vests for all the kids.
I know I'll never have her skill at needlework, but lately I've developed an obsession with flowers, due to the profusion of tiny balls of colored thread and cotton in my used yarn stash. Like grandma, I was a texture knitter. Color designs weren't really my forte. But one of the benefits I've gained from this little experiment is a newly found love of color.
The picture above shows two of my projects, both in very preliminary stages. I've been crocheting tiny flowers out of thread, and jamming them onto surfaces to make a dense covering (here, a coin purse in progress, with two loose flowers waiting to be sewn on).
The other item is a design for a dishcoth made up of rows of tulips.

I've barely made a dent in my stash, despite being one-third of the way through my year of used yarns. To date, I've completed five baby hats, three pairs of booties, a baby sweater, two pairs of fingerless gloves, two adult hats (one with matching mittens), two headscarfs, one decorative little cotton scarf, two pairs of pocketbook slippers, three dishcloths, two pairs of socks, a purse, a thermos cozy, and a tea pot cozy. Most are for gifts, and the baby things are for charity.

In progress are an afghan made up of triangles in blues and browns, for my eldest grandson, several coin purses, a tote bag, and an eyeglass case, all for Christmas presents.

Some I used patterns, and some I designed myself. I will be posting pictures and patterns for my own designs as I get them written up. Since I'd never written down a pattern before I started this blog I'm finding this quite difficult.

Thanks for reading, and hugs to all.