Genetically Speaking

Do you come from a line of crafty people?
Is art in your blood?
What about just "making stuff"?

It seems I'm one of those people ... people who can't help but "make stuff" because, well, I'm genetically predispositioned to do it!  I've got artists & poets, sewists* & quilters, crocheters & knitters going back at least a couple of generations.

For example ...

...take this giant granny square blanket!  Started by my maternal great aunt, Eleanor, who passed away many years ago.  Isn't it funny how trends ebb and flow?  Giant grannies granny square blankets are HOT right now!  (That sentence almost took a turn in the wrong direction...)

I digress ...
My cousin Pat handed this off to me.  She knows I'll finish it.  She also knows that the pinks, reds and whites will work with my bedroom decor.

I'm trying to think of  a creative way to mark the last stitch she made.  Kind of a historical "passing off of the yarn" to me.  I don't have that all worked out yet.  Right now, it's just tied with a piece of yarn so I can find it again.

Took a couple of hook sizes to get gauge closer to hers.  I suspect she was a looser hooker crocheter than I.  (I have GOT to stop writing posts when I'm tired.  These sentences keep taking on a mind of their own...)  Had to move up to a J hook to get close.  It's still a little tighter, but close enough!

Now, being a gal who spends LOTS of time at the yarn shop, I do have access to many wonderful and luxurious fibers like alpaca & camel, mercerized cotton & soy silk, mohair & even mink!  Fibers like this were not readily available -- if at all!!! -- 20 or 30 years ago.  BUT you could get the lastest and greatest in ...

... ORLON!!!
Hey, it was QUITE the thing!
Unlike readily available sheep's wool, you could toss it in the washer and dryer.  That was quite a first!  (You probably can't see it very well, but the yarn on the left was bought for 77 cents on sale!  I WISH I could find yarn for 77 cents!  (We don't need to discuss my yarn stash.  I don't want to know what it's worth ... I'm in denial, okay?!)

Anyway, tonight, I picked up where she left off.
I feel the need to see this to completion.  Stay tuned!


* Sewist is a relatively new term.  Why, you ask?  Let's take a look ...

There's this word:  sewer.  Meaning one who sews.
Then there's THIS word:  sewer.  Meaning an underground pipe filled with sewage.

In the middle of a written sentence, if you misread one for the other (since they're spelled EXACTLY the same), you can TOTALLY misunderstand what's going on.