A Family Tree Branch
My maternal grandparents lived in Langdale, AL, (don't try to find it; it isn't there anymore) in a little house with a big back yard with a creek running behind it. On the other side of the creek was a hill. If you climbed that hill, you would be at the big ball field. Granny & Grandaddy's house was where my mom's whole family would gather every Christmas and every Easter. Easter was the best, because of the huge egg hunts in that back yard with a multitude of cousins. We would all have to stay on the front porch ("No peeking!") while the grown-ups hid the eggs. On the call, we would all run down the side of the house and race for the most eggs.
At both holidays, someone was always walking around with their Bell & Howell, so we have many embarrassing movies of those wonderful times. All the food! All the fun! All the bad hairdos! One Christmas, my aunt Sarah made all the females red, wool jumpers. You know, the kind you wear with a white shirt with a Peter Pan collar and a circle pin. We all wore them, too. It was mandatory. At the Easter gatherings, my mom would usually get us all rounded up to go and play softball at the field behind the house. My mom loved to play softball! I loved seeing her play, too.
I spent a lot of time at my grandparent's house watching my granny cook all day in the kitchen. She was the best cook I've ever known. Her fried chicken, mashed "ice" potatoes (it took me many years to find out she was saying Irish) & biscuits would make you weep for joy, as would her fresh apple cake, and my very favorite, stawberry cake, just to name a few. A country gourmet chef, she was. My grandaddy's interests lay more in catching bobcats in a homemade cage, and "fixing things" with gold spray paint & duct tape. One time he tied the lawnmower to a stake in the middle of the yard on a long rope so it would mow the lawn itself in a spiral, ever narrowing until it got to the stake. A country inventor, he was.
That branch behind the house was always called "Maginnys Branch" and was somewhat of a mystery. I think we were forbidden to get into it. I never did. I just learned from my mom recently that it was really McGuinness Branch. Ah, the jumblings of the Southern dialect. Gotta love it.
Anyway, I designed some lace socks. That's what I meant to tell you about, but I got carried away reminiscing about Granny & Grandad. I miss those guys. They were some mighty interesting folks. There I go again...oh, yeah, the socks. The lace pattern looks like water flowing around rocks, so I thought of "Maginnys Branch" and there ya go.
I did them in the Cherry Tree Hill Supersock color "Spanish Moss" which seems appropriate--a Southern thing. The socks have a lacy rib to match. I loved making them. I want to do another in a solid color to show off the pattern more.
Okay, that's the fourth of five new patterns. Thanks for bearing with me as I show 'em off. Tomorrow, the last will be gloves, my new obsession.
As for socks, I am almost done with a pair for Emily and a pair for Randall--my oldest daughter and her husband who will be here TOMORROW!!! I am so excited I can hardly stand it. Can you tell? Oh, and the weather was very strange yesterday. Snow in huge clumps (it was snowing snowballs, Twig!), which didn't stick, then sunshine, then rain, then more snow that did...not...stick. Yet, it's cold aplenty here. What gives? For once, though, I really don't want the snow. At least not until that plane carrying my sweeties all the way from Georgia touches down and we get them here safe with us.
I hope your week is coming to an end in a delightful way, that your knitting is being kind, and that you have pleasing plans for the weekend. Math d'fhacinn an seo! Good to see you here--leave me a howdy in the comment box!
At both holidays, someone was always walking around with their Bell & Howell, so we have many embarrassing movies of those wonderful times. All the food! All the fun! All the bad hairdos! One Christmas, my aunt Sarah made all the females red, wool jumpers. You know, the kind you wear with a white shirt with a Peter Pan collar and a circle pin. We all wore them, too. It was mandatory. At the Easter gatherings, my mom would usually get us all rounded up to go and play softball at the field behind the house. My mom loved to play softball! I loved seeing her play, too.
I spent a lot of time at my grandparent's house watching my granny cook all day in the kitchen. She was the best cook I've ever known. Her fried chicken, mashed "ice" potatoes (it took me many years to find out she was saying Irish) & biscuits would make you weep for joy, as would her fresh apple cake, and my very favorite, stawberry cake, just to name a few. A country gourmet chef, she was. My grandaddy's interests lay more in catching bobcats in a homemade cage, and "fixing things" with gold spray paint & duct tape. One time he tied the lawnmower to a stake in the middle of the yard on a long rope so it would mow the lawn itself in a spiral, ever narrowing until it got to the stake. A country inventor, he was.
That branch behind the house was always called "Maginnys Branch" and was somewhat of a mystery. I think we were forbidden to get into it. I never did. I just learned from my mom recently that it was really McGuinness Branch. Ah, the jumblings of the Southern dialect. Gotta love it.
Anyway, I designed some lace socks. That's what I meant to tell you about, but I got carried away reminiscing about Granny & Grandad. I miss those guys. They were some mighty interesting folks. There I go again...oh, yeah, the socks. The lace pattern looks like water flowing around rocks, so I thought of "Maginnys Branch" and there ya go.
I did them in the Cherry Tree Hill Supersock color "Spanish Moss" which seems appropriate--a Southern thing. The socks have a lacy rib to match. I loved making them. I want to do another in a solid color to show off the pattern more.Okay, that's the fourth of five new patterns. Thanks for bearing with me as I show 'em off. Tomorrow, the last will be gloves, my new obsession.
As for socks, I am almost done with a pair for Emily and a pair for Randall--my oldest daughter and her husband who will be here TOMORROW!!! I am so excited I can hardly stand it. Can you tell? Oh, and the weather was very strange yesterday. Snow in huge clumps (it was snowing snowballs, Twig!), which didn't stick, then sunshine, then rain, then more snow that did...not...stick. Yet, it's cold aplenty here. What gives? For once, though, I really don't want the snow. At least not until that plane carrying my sweeties all the way from Georgia touches down and we get them here safe with us.
I hope your week is coming to an end in a delightful way, that your knitting is being kind, and that you have pleasing plans for the weekend. Math d'fhacinn an seo! Good to see you here--leave me a howdy in the comment box!
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