CHARITY KNITTING - THE MOTHER BEAR PROJECT

I often go around saying I do a lot of knitting for charity because my desire to knit is disproportionate to the number of folks who actually want to wear my stuff.  Besides the people who have enough hats/scarves/mittens, there are those (like my husband) who don't understand why you'd bother to knit a pair of socks when a six-pack of Hanes costs less than the skeins of yarn.  I consider him a man with a complete lack of culture.  And his son adores my knit wool socks and has to be forced to stop wearing them when the weather tops 80 degrees.  I also try to make him understand that striped knee socks don't go with shorts.  But I digress...

About a year ago I got involved with The Mother Bear Project.  This group sends hand-knit or hand-crocheted bears primarily to kids affected by HIV/AIDS in developing countries.  (You can read more about this group and the horrors of the AIDS crisis in Africa for these children here.)  Since some of these kids literally do not have one toy to call their own, The Mother Bear Project was formed to put lovingly made bears into their hands.  Sometimes I wonder how much good I'm really doing.  Obviously these kids' problems are not going to be solved by one grizzly in a skirt, but then I also think that if it can bring them a little joy, give just a trace of comfort, then it's worth doing.

I've donated twenty bears so far and have another six or seven ready to go in the next shipment of ten.  The pattern, which is purchased through The Mother Bear Project website, is based on a WWII-era pattern.  It's a simple design, originally used to make toys for English children being evacuated from areas most at risk for bombing during the war.  The wonderful thing about it is that it's basic enough that any mildly proficient knitter/crocheter can make one.  However, it can also be modified with hats, skirts, hoodies, headbands, flowered embellishments.  If you want to be bowled over, check out some of the pictures in the Ravelry group here. There are some amazingly creative women there.  My donations tend to be a little more basic:

I'm wild about the hoodie! 
Directions on Ravelry here.

I've written previously about my relationship with a once-abused dog named Tristan and his rescuer mommy, Lori.  I've been sending him handmade toys on holidays for three years or so and according to Lori he loves them.  The problem has always been that I hate to make them.  I found knitting dolls to be beyond painful and crocheting them was only slightly better.  Still, I slogged along every holiday because they made him so happy.  When I discovered Mother Bear I was suddenly blessed with a pattern that did not make me twitchy to knit and could be adapted to any theme or season or reason.  He may never get another pattern again.  And I think that's alright with him.  Some recent examples:

The vampire for Halloween.

An Easter ducky

Tristan's brother, Tully, had a recent
medical emergency, so he needed
his own home health aide.

Christmas bear gets the taffy-pull treatment.

If you're interested in crafting for The Mother Bear Project (or making a monetary donation), you can check out the website here.  If you'd like to know about Tristan and Lori, you can check out her dog-lbs. blog here. 

SWEATING THE SWEATER

I've been knitting for about five years and in that time I've done countless pairs of socks, scarves, ear warmers, and hats.  I've done a handful of afghans, lots of bears for the Mother Bear Project, and a few pair of mittens.  I'm always knitting something and have developed a crafty form of ADD which causes the inability to simply watch t.v. or a movie without knitting needles in my hands (a fact which embarrasses my daughter at a movie theater to no end).

The February Baby Sweater

The one thing I had not managed was an adult sweater.  I've done baby sweaters and am particularly fond of Elizabeth Zimmermann's February Baby Sweater from The Knitter's Workshop.  The thought of jumping from something tiny and relatively quick to something that would span my girth was a little daunting.  Last fall, though, I decided to cast on for a sweater of my own.  Six months later I have knit (and unraveled) five of them.  I knit a sixth that is still intact and I just finished the seventh.  Ding!  Ding!  Ding! I think we have a winner.

This gull pattern would have been
so pretty in an adult size.

I'd love to show you photos of my misadventures in sweater-making, but each time I started unraveling the second I realized it was a dud, figuring the quicker I turned the malformed sweater into wound balls of yarn the less time I'd spend thinking how many hours I wasted making it.  Because of my love of the aforementioned Zimmermann baby sweater, I wanted to make an adult version a lady developed.  (Free pattern found here.)  I made it and it was too large.  Not only too large, it seemed to hang off me as attractively as an over sized hospital gown...made of wool yarn.  Immediately unraveled.

All that remains of
The Tomten Jacket.

Next was my attempt at another Zimmermann pattern, The Tomten Jacket.  (Found in Knitting Without Tears or through Schoolhouse Press here.)  I had made a child's version for Foghorn when she was smaller and she got a fair amount of use out of it considering it was about 10% too small and she grew quickly.  Anyway, I knit this baby up in the same burgundy yarn I'd used on the February Lady Sweater above, but added a couple stripes of rose colored yarn around the bottom since this thing was nothing but garter stitch and I thought might be too plain.  I finished.  It was huge.  Now, for the non-knitters let me explain about gauge.  When you see a gauge listed in a pattern, it tells you how many stitches/rows per inch the pattern is based on.  Smart people make a test swatch and see if their gauge matches the pattern.  If not, they need to change the needle size until the correct gauge is achieved.  On the first two sweaters I did not make a swatch, but I did check the gauge after I'd knit a portion of the sweater itself and in both cases it seemed correct.  In the case of The Tomten Jacket, it wasn't just that it was too big, but that I misunderstood that this thing has super deep arm holes, so  when I measured from my underarm to where the sweater should end, my calculation didn't take into account that the armhole starts a good four or five inches below the armpit.  Therefore, this thing was that much longer.  Um, yeah.  It looked less like a sweater and more like a horseman's duster.  I realized, though, besides being too big, this thing was just not going to be my style.  Too boxy and those giant sleeves just weren't going to work for me.  Frogged again.  (For the non-knitter, "frogged" mean unraveling your work.  Rip-it.  Rip-it.)

My third Shalom.  I was
so sick of knitting this color by
then I never even bothered
to unravel it.

The third attempt was the Shalom Sweater, an extremely popular pattern out there on the Interwebs.  (Available free here.)  The problem with the Shalom Sweater is that it's written by an individual, not a professional pattern-maker, and has directions just for her size.  This pattern is for a bust measurement of 32-34". Ummmm, I think my chest was bigger than that at birth.  (Sorry, Mom.)  I found various people on Ravelry (bless them) who had resized the pattern and tried to find one that seemed to roughly match my measurements.  I did.  I knitted it.  It was huge.  Seeing a pattern here?  I decided I would be brilliant and re-knit the same pattern but with smaller needles.  Dud.  Then, and even I'm questioning why I wasn't stuck in a rubber room at this point, I unraveled it and knit it a third time.  And it was a disaster.  Okay, so maybe the Shalom Sweater was not for me.

Hey, it's at least wearable.

I gave up for a few months and then started scouring Ravelry for a new cardigan.  I came upon a Leisure Arts pattern (found here) that, based on the model's jewelry and clothing, probably dates from the 80s.  It was a long, simple, v-neck cardigan.  Not as intricate as my other attempts, which is what I wanted.  Something straightforward and relatively simple.  I was a good little soldier and knitted a gauge swatch.  Still, my tendency to knit big made me go a size down on the pattern.  I finished a week or so ago and I wasn't completely displeased.  It's not overly attractive, I admit.  My husband looked at me as we prepared to leave for my mother's and said, "Aren't you going to change into something else?"  Sensing my wrath (or perhaps catching a glimpse of my Charles Manson eyes) he quickly added, "It's a nice sweater...to wear around the house.  But why don't you wear something else to go somewhere?"  I actually considered this one a minor success.  It's a little big (cursed again), but it fits like a sweater and it looks like the pattern picture and I even managed to sew all those seams competently.  I slop around the house in it, but it wasn't the home run I was hoping for.

Fast forward to a week ago when, pumped up on Easter candy, I headed to Ravelry again.  I found My Favorite Cardigan from Fancy Tiger Crafts (pattern here).  It was a very simple sweater.  No frills, no lacy pattern, no pockets.  Just a basic cardigan.  The pattern description mentioned that it was adjustable and there were several points during the process when it could be checked for fit.  Revolutionary!  I downloaded the pattern and used the JoAnn gift card and cash given to me by my mother and sister in my Easter baskets to get some yarn.  I so lacked faith that this would work out that I chose Red Heart acrylic yarn in the color Grey Heather, which I'm currently using on a charity project for the Arkansas Special Olympics.  I figured when this sweater-making session ended in tragedy, I'd use the unraveled yarn for the S.O. kids.  By some miracle, that turned out to be unnecessary.

Vintage buttons stolen from my mother.
They were still in package and were originally $.15.

This one actually turned out right!  It's not fancy and it's (dare I admit it) a little on the small side.  I was so certain I would knit it too big, as I had every other one, that I sized down.  Turns out that was a mistake.  My gauge was spot on.  Technically I could button the little darling, but it would look too much like a sausage in a casing for my taste so I'll just let it hang open until I lose those ten or fifteen pounds (which I'm sure is going to happen any year now).  Yes, I made some errors.  It's about an inch too long, as I misunderstood part of the instructions for the border.  And I ended up not liking the look of five buttons on it after I made five button holes.  Pretend you don't see those extra ones.  All in all, though, I'm happy.

Bingo!

Of course, this is the sweater that caused someone-who-will-remain-nameless to shout, "Ahhhh!  Ugly sweater alert!"  Now I know what hand-knit goodness to make the little darling for Christmas.  She didn't really want that new iPod anyway.

FAB AND FAMOUS FELLOW KNITTERS

Foghorn modeling the
Miss Marple Scarf for
my mother

Just as cold January days make one think of soup and hot chocolate, it also makes me think of wool and knitting.  Yes, I have knitting on the brain in the summer as well (and the spring and the fall), but there is something about gloomy, snowy days that just cry out for woven yarn draped across a lap.  Having finished my son's latest pair of socks, I turned to some rose colored tweed wool and a pattern for a Miss Marple scarf for myself.  Although I didn't learn to knit until I was past 40, I longed to do it from an early age, probably going back to grade school when I watched Wilma Flintstone work with a pair of brontosaurus bones chanting, "knit one, purl two, knit one, purl two."  When I was 12 I became addicted to Agatha Christie mysteries and wanted desperately to be like her elderly sleuth, Miss Marple, who could solve a murder while knitting a baby sweater for her goddaughter.

Joan Hickson as Miss Marple,
solving crime in the Caribbean

Once I caught the knitting bug and actually mastered it enough to make something wearable, I began to mentally gather a roster of fellow knitters.  While my husband may find my tendency to publicly knit embarrassing, I know I'm in good company.  Just consider the company I keep:

Joan Crawford -- no man dared tell
her not to knit in public.

 She may not have been Mother of the Year, but Joan Crawford was a compulsive knitter.  She claimed it calmed her "nervous hands".  It had the added bonus of screwing with her acting contemporaries.  Joan famously aggravated the crap out of Norma Shearer during the filming of The Women by sitting out of camera range when Ms. Shearer was filming her close-ups, needles clicking away the whole time.  I'm sure this was merely a woman completely caught up in her handicraft and in no way was meant to break a competitor's fellow actor's concentration.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt is known as one of the most accomplished first ladies in history, champion for the poor and women and minorities.  She was also arguably the most famous knitter for the war effort in the 1940s.  In fact she helped start the whole WWII knitting campaign at a Knit for Defense tea held at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York in September of 1941.  She went on to become known as "The First Knitter of the Land."

OK, this guy's fictional, but I adore him nonetheless.  Pushing Daisies fans will know him as Emerson Cod, the private eye.  His catch phrase, "Oh, hell no!" is very popular in my household.  When not solving crimes, he likes to relax with a couple straight needles and manly colored yarn.  How can you not love a big, burly detective who can knit his own gun holster?

Christina Hendricks

How can you not love a gal who made curves popular again and showed that not every grown woman has to have the measurements of a 13 year old boy.  As Joan on Mad Men, she wiggled into the hearts of guys all over Manhattan.  Maybe she should take a tip from her real life counterpart and knit Don Draper a nice fair isle sweater.  Maybe that's what has been throwing him into the arms of all those women.  The poor man is just cold.

Dorothy Parker with knitting bag
(and some dude, maybe a husband)

"If all the girls who attended the Yale prom were laid end to end, I wouldn't be a bit surprised."  How can you not love Dorothy Parker?  I lack her writing talent, but she and I have the same distaste for the domestic drudgery of cooking and cleaning.  (Unlike Ms. Parker, I do those activities, while she reportedly threw dirty underwear back in the drawer with the clean and just let her maid figure it out.)  Like her, I also think "a little bad taste is like a dash of paprika."  I just wish I'd been clever enough to come up with the line.  Anyway, in a bit of a paradox she happened to also have been an avid knitter.  Perhaps she composed all her quotable quips while her hands were occupied with a nice garter stitch scarf and her mind was free to wander. 



The list of famous knitters is long and ranges from Sarah Jessica Parker to Queen Elizabeth.  There are even reports of some men getting in the act.  While I doubt the picture is truly a candid shot from personal life, I at least like the idea of the company I keep...

THE OBLIGATORY CHRISTMAS KNITTING POST

Addie, with hand-knit afghan

I realize not all folks out there are the crafty sort and my posts involving winding yarn around a couple of sticks can be a bit dull.  However, it simply would not be the Christmas season if I didn't show what kept me busy during the last months of the year and prevented me from properly cleaning my house.  Despite what my husband thought, I was not simply watching the first two seasons of Homeland so I could lust after Damian Lewis.  I was also knitting at the time.  And if he doesn't watch out, he's gonna get that knitted d*ck cozy under the Christmas tree after all.  Or maybe for his birthday.  (My husband, that is, not Damian Lewis, who would probably find that gift from me just creepy.)

This was the first year for my mother's dog, Addie, to celebrate Christmas with our family.  Addie Banaddie, as I call her, was adopted from Recycled Doggies in February and of course she had to have her own hand knit stocking for the occasion.  The pattern came from Knit Christmas Stockings by Louise Silverman and has various options for the Pampered Pets pattern.  Full details of mine can be found on Ravelry here.

Thanks to Mr. Bean and his Christmas episode, it is a Christmas Day tradition that my sister and mother open a pair of hand-knit socks.  The yarn this year, again, came from my favorite Ohio family farm at Roving Acres.  The color doesn't come out right in the pictures.  It's the most glorious greenish-blue and wonderfully soft.  The pattern came from Socks a la Carte.  My sister, presumably because she always wears backless shoes like Crocs, consistently blows the heels out on her socks.  After reading an old Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern where she mentions adding nylon thread to wool for sock knitting and after hearing my sister complain that her el cheapo socks made from Hobby Lobby yarn don't wear at the heels, I decided to do just that portion in a wool/nylon blend.  Luckily Knit Picks had a color that almost perfectly matched the darkest hue in the Roving Acres.  We'll see how long these heels last.

My beloved Tristan, former abused dog and "child" to the fabulous Lori over at the Dog-Lbs. blog, has to have custom toys from his Auntie Shannon.  He got a turkey for Thanksgiving and a Santa for Christmas, both crocheted since I find that easier when doing things like dolls.  Yes, they're both odd looking.  I make them specifically the way he likes them, i.e., with unnaturally long arms and legs so he can play tug-o-war with his brother.  Yes, I acknowledge Santa looks a little like a rubber chicken. 

My sister I found almost impossible to buy for this year and her Christmas list was disgustingly small.  In desperation, I built a whole gift around a Kirk's Folly snowflake pendant.  The gift included The History of the Snowman, wintry-themed gift cards to JoAnn and Hobby Lobby, holiday lottery tickets, a knit snowman dishcloth (free pattern here), and crocheted snowflake coasters (free pattern here).  I didn't photograph the latter since my daughter, Foghorn, declared they looked nothing like snowflakes and more closely resembled "a constipated elephant."  (I find myself screaming like Seinfeld's Soup Nazi, "No knits for you!")  I put all of these in a fair isle tote bag in a...wait for it...snowflake design.  The original pattern was meant to be a gift bag, but I added a strap and flap with a button, figuring Nancy could use it as a portable bag for her crocheting (instead of the incredibly unfashionable AARP fanny pack she's currently using).  The original pattern for the gift bag can be found on Ravelry here and my notes are here.

The original

Last was a gift for my mother.  For her September birthday a year or two ago I knit her a lightweight shawl of Roving Acres wool.  It's gorgeous and she uses it often during the chilly days of early fall.  She commented back in October, "It's the perfect weight for this time of year.  Just warm enough."  That gave me the idea of knitting one that would be warm enough for bitter cold days.  After completing it in early November I then noticed my mother constantly wearing the original.  I said something about it and she said, "It's so warm, even on really cold days.  It's just perfect."  That made me grit my teeth a little, since I had a new, thick, warm-enough-for-an-Arctic-expedition shawl already wrapped and ready to go under the tree.

Appropriately called a study in texture

My mother does, though, claim to love the new shawl.  What I had in mind was something Laura Ingalls would have thrown over her shoulders to go and milk a cow.  Pretty, but super thick and super warm and more practical than the lacey blue garment I made before.  I was really happy with the way it turned out.  I used a wool blend yarn, making it machine washable and thus more likely to be really used without fear of staining it beyond help.  I actually paid for the pattern, which I generally don't do since Ravelry's full of nice, free patterns.  This one, though, impressed me with its variety of stitches and lovely cable border and the fact that a portion of the proceeds went to animal charity.  And for $4 in Canadian money, I really can't grumble.  The pattern is called a study in texture and can be found on Ravelry here.  (My notes are here.)

And I'm sure you're dying to know, now that Christmas is over, what I could possibly be working on.  Well, my son happens to love my hand-knit socks (just have to make that boy realize you don't wear striped wool socks when it's 80 degrees out...and never with shorts), so I'm using up a bunch of my leftover bits to make him a new pair.  I'm also working on an intensely boring, by hopefully practical, helmet liner (one of those hats that comes down completely over your face and just has an opening for the eyes).  The weather in southwest Ohio this winter has been ridiculous.  Major snow in early December along with painfully cold temperatures.  The kids already lost two snow days and would have lost two more if they had been scheduled to go back to school on January 2nd like some districts around here.  Schools were closed this past Thursday and Friday because of snow and frigid temps.  And another storm system is coming through tomorrow, with chances of 2-4" more, meaning winter break might get a little longer for The Inmates.  Since I'm Queen Snow Shoveler around here, as well as Chief Dog Walker, the cold and snow are giving me challenges.  I'm forever trying to wrap a scarf around my face and nose while out with the dogs.  It invariably comes loose and as I try to wrap it again with one hand and hold the dog leash in the other, the canine will spot a squirrel and jerk me forward and my earphones fall out of my ears while I'm trying to wrestle the scarf back in place...  I thought maybe a hat with full face coverage might be worth doing.  Unfortunately it's completely in knit one-purl one rib stitching and is so uninteresting to work that I can only bear to do it for a short period of time before putting it aside for something better.  I really want it done now, rather than Easter when it pretty much will have no purpose.  I just have to find the right motivation.  Maybe tomorrow's impending snowstorm coupled with plans to watch a Monty Python movie with my son this evening will do the trick.

CELEBRATING TOWEL DAY

Graphic by Lemon.ly

"A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have." -- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy


I've often described my teenage years in a way that might make one think I was filled with more adolescent angst than all the characters in all the John Hughes' movies combined.  This would, in fact, be mostly accurate.  On the other hand, those same years are also memorable for being the time period during which I was introduced to a number of people, places, and things that have remained my obsessions interests all these years later -- Chicago Cubs baseball, Agatha Christie, Doctor Who, the Beach Boys to name a few.  At the top of the list is my favorite author, the late Douglas Adams.

Marvin the Paranoid Android

My older brother is responsible for bringing both Doctor Who and Douglas Adams into my consciousness, perhaps not surprisingly.  Adams is the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (and all the subsequent books in that series), as well as Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul, the under-appreciated Last Chance to See, a great book about endangered species, and more..  In 1994 I loaned my then-boyfriend my copy of Mostly Harmless, the fifth book in the Hitchhiker Trilogy.  (Yes, it's really called the fifth book in the trilogy.)  Boyfriend never seemed to get around to reading the book or returning it to me and I finally had to marry him to get it back.  Nineteen years later he still hasn't read the damn thing...

Douglas Adams left us much too soon, dying suddenly of a heart attack on May 11, 2001 at the age of 49.  I still mourn not only the writer but all the wonderfully quirky, witty, bizarre, and hilarious books that could have been.  I know I'm not alone because two weeks after his death fans celebrated the first Towel Day, a way to pay tribute to the man and his works, specifically by walking around with a towel.  Non-fans or non-readers of his books scratch their heads at folks who look like the cast of The Big Bang Theory parading into restaurants with Egyptian cotton bath towels draped around their necks like fur stoles.  Fans, on the other hand, immediately recognize kindred spirits.  (For the section of Hitchhiker related to towels, check out The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Towel here.)

Towel Day is usually a solitary event for me, with time spent reading my favorite passages.  This year I decided to pull the family into my celebration.  I originally intended to knit each person a "Don't Panic" hand towel from the pattern by Katie's Knits.  (Free pattern can be found here.)   My dexterity still isn't what it used to be and I quickly found the towel very time consuming considering I had to make four of them.  I finished up a small towel for myself and looked for another option.  (For the non-fans, "Don't Panic" are the words printed on the cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in large friendly letters).

Washcloths seemed more doable and I quickly found a great pattern at irishlace.net.  In the center is the number 42, which is of course the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything.  I managed to quickly knit them up for my mother, sister (the Inmates' Uncle Chester), and the Inmates themselves.  (The free pattern can be found here.)




  

Professional cake decorator I'm not.

For refreshments I opted for a heart-shaped chocolate chip cookie with golden yellow frosting to honor the starship Heart of Gold.

 

Hitchhiker inspired wrapping paper,
courtesy of Google images.

And we'll finish off the celebration tonight with a viewing of the 2005 movie.  I'm actually not a fan of the film, but while my son has seen the original television series and read the first book with me, he hasn't seen this screen version.  I can almost guarantee he won't like it either.

I had the privilege of meeting Douglas Adams at a book signing in 1993.  I sat in a crowd of people, most with towels, and listened to him read from Hitchhiker.  I then nervously took my paperback copy of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency up to the table for his signature.  He scribbled his name and as I took the book I wanted to say something witty and profound.  Instead I stammered, "Thank you for everything you've written."  He looked at me and smiled broadly and said, "Thank you very much."

Twenty years later I still can't think of anything better to say.  Mr. Adams, thank you for everything you've written.

PERKY PUMPKIN KNITTED DOG TOY

Yeah, the alliteration fairies got a hold of me this evening.  What can I say?  Anyway, I've written before about my beloved Tristan, the former abused dog, and my beloved Lori, his owner.  I couldn't let the month of October go by without sending Tristan and his schnauzer brother/tug-o-war partner a gift.

The Jack O'Lantern who ate
a trailer park.

I found this cute and easy Jack O'Lantern knitting pattern at curlypurly.  (You can find the free pattern here.)  Then I made it look like it had mated with a giraffe.  See, for Tristan a toy is just not a toy if it doesn't have long arms and legs which can be grabbed and pulled and growled over and slobbered on and ultimately ripped off.  After knitting up and stuffing the little pumpkin head, I simply did half a dozen rows of single crochet, folded over and stitched, to make a nice, sturdy leg...or arm...or two of each.  I think the results were successful, at least by doggie standards.

Oh, the anticipation!

"Mine!"
"Mine!"

If you haven't already done so, please check out Lori's Dog-Lbs. blog and learn about her weight loss/fundraising project for Recycled Doggies.  She's lost over 70 pounds and raised thousands of dollars for a great cause.  Our own St. Jimmi is an alumni of Recycled Doggies and they do simply fabulous work.

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VINTAGE BIRTHDAY KNITTING - THE FINALE

Today wraps up a birthday celebration that started in July when my mother began opening the daily gifts counting down 80 days to her 80th birthday.  She began displaying the gifts on a bookshelf in her living room and eventually they overflowed onto additional pieces of furniture.  She's now the proud owner of all manner of junk spanning eight full decades.



She now also possesses eight decades' worth of knitted items, some lovely, some practical, some...well, let's just say they were of their time.

Nothing says 1963 like a toilet paper roll cover.  To have a bare roll of tissue sitting naked would just be tacky, whereas this little baby is...ummm....  Anyway, the free knitting pattern is available here and my Ravelry notes can be found here.

I don't care what my sister says, these mittens are gorgeous.  Mrs. Brady would be proud to go skiing in them and that's good enough for me.  Plus, they just scream 1974.  The pattern actually came from an old Coats & Clark accessories booklet I found at an estate sale.  My Ravelry notes can be found here.

I didn't like much about the 1980s (curse you, teenage years!), but these place mats from a 1983 Workbasket magazine are kinda cute.  Ravelry notes here.

By 1997, I was really struggling to find patterns that didn't repeat an item already made.  (The poor woman can only use so many tacky lovely bathroom accessories, after all.)   The Tiny Cables Washcloths came to the rescue.  The free pattern can be found here and my Ravelry notes here.

These Eyelet-Edged Knitted Coasters filled the spot for 2001.  The free pattern can be found here and my Ravelry notes here.

The knitting finale was 2011's Drachenschwanz.  My mother herself sent me the link to this pattern after she stumbled across it last year.  Drachenschwanz is German for "dragon tail" and the pattern has this interesting effect that really does look like the spiky back of my fire-breathing friend.  The free pattern can be found here and my Ravelry notes here.

So, the big day has finally arrived.  Before she even has her official party on her actual birthday, my mother has received 80+ gifts (including ones from family and friends), had two birthday lunches, and endured a tree full of balloons (which have popped and shriveled constantly over the last two days).  If only the city had come through with that damn permit for the fireworks display...  Happy Birthday, Mom!

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