Emptyknitster

This week Chloe was making some cookies and made the comment she liked cookie dough almost more than the cookies themselves. As a young girl my paternal grandmother would make the rotation from sibling to sibling for a six month stay with each famiiy. She was usually treated as a guest but in the fifth - seventh grades Mom worked part time and Grandma would step in and help with the cooking. (My first experience with sauerkraut)  She would often make cookies in the afternoon and once in frustration said, "Maybe I shouldn't bother even cooking them. I think you kids would eat all the dough raw if I'd let you." My brother's and I looked at each other, our eyes lighting up and quickly agreed to the offer, hoping she was serious! Chloe comes from a long line of cookie dough eaters!

Hidden Figures is a must see! Enjoyable from start to finish and a movie the entire family can watch. It inspires discussion and I loved watching it with my girls and granddaughter recently! The movie also conjured up some childhood memories I shared with them. My father was always a big NASA fan. We lived in Seattle and the launches were in Florida - a big time difference when NASA launched at sunrise and a clear sky. From the first launch Dad would call upstairs to the three of us, "Two minutes to launch! Get Down Here NOW!!" By the time we tripped down the stairs they were counting, "TEN...NINE...EIGHT..." All of us would be standing there in our jammies watching history being made. It never failed as long as the siblings lived at home the routine was the same, "TWO MINUTES AND COUNTING..."  Until the launches became commonplace even to my dad and it was that first missed launch that was a disaster. He knew it was crazy be said he felt somehow respon...

I've always loved cats and am lucky Hubby does too. It doesn't take long once you enter my home to realize cat lovers live here. Evidence is everywhere, framed pictures of cats here and there, porcelain kitties perched around, and kitty toys in abundance.  I don't remember a time I didn't want a cat as a pet. Mom said all I wanted for my third birthday was a cat. However, Dad didn't like cats and was very resistant. As my birthday got closer, they would ask what I wanted and my answer was always the same, a kitty.  Mom, Cousin Kit, me, Cousin Mary, Cousin Bill (My second birthday) On the big day I have the vague memory of Dad coming home from work with a white box (similar to a cake box with a circle hole in the side.)  Mom and I greeted him in the driveway on that sunny day and in the box was a little black and white kitten. We named him Trasie, This was Mom's idea and a play on the Spanish work for three, Tras-ie. He was the first of many kitties to en...

I had some outstanding friends when I was Ramona Quimby's age. Often I was invited to tag along to a concert, a play, or spend a weekend at the family cabin with a friend. I'm sure there was much coaching by Mom on how to be a worthy guest and it paid off with many varied things to do and see. Many times I did things with my friend Lori Peterson and her mom. Usually the outings were great fun but not always. Once Lori's mother took us to see Bambi just after it was released in a downtown Seattle theater. I remember arriving home and Mrs. Peterson apologizing to my mom for possibly scaring me for life. (In the movie when Bambi's mom died in the fire I totally lost it and cried the entire movie.) But surprisingly that misadventure didn't stop Lori or her mother from inviting me on other excursions. One such trip was to the public library. We went to the West Seattle Public Library and listened to an author read from one of her recently published books. As I remembe...

While knitting the Bunco Christmas Ornament Sweaters I remembered a small sweater of Mom's I had tucked away. Mom's penpal, Karin, made it for her many years ago. Karin lived in Norway and must have been a very talented knitter, just look at those socks! They wrote to each other throughout their high school years until  WWII. In the midst of the war Karin's letters stopped arriving. Mom tried to get in contact with Karin after the war but was never able to find her. The only evidence I have of their correspondence is this photo of Karin and the little sweater she knit and sent to Mom.

When The Chick was born everyone began wondering just where she got her blue eyes. In our family my Mom, Dad and three brothers all had brown. My parent's siblings all had brown eyes as well. As I began asking extended family members I was told my grandfather was the one in my family with the blue eyes. But because he died when my mother was four years old it was only hearsay - until now.  Recently WWI registrations became available on the internet and I checked  my maternal father's registration and there it was in black and white! Now in Hubby's family they all had brown as well. I did have the opportunity to know his Gramma Pearl who in her heyday was a fiesty redhead with blue eyes. So there it is.... The Chick Who Flew The Coop got her blue eyes from her Great-Gramma Pearl on her Dad's side and her Great-Grandfather John on her Mother's side! Just have to add this darling photo of the three girls:

“But a man is not forgotten, as long as there are two people left under the sky. One, to tell the story; the other, to hear it.” - Diana Gabaldon, Drums of Autumn   Katherine Jamison In many ways my mother's aunt, Katherine Jamison, was a mother to her. She provided physical and emotional support to Mom throughout her high school years. She also filled the Gramma niche for me, and it is easy to call and remember her as Gramma Kit. On March 1, 1917 she married the love of her life, Lonnie Parker. Throwing caution to the wind, the couple were often seen riding a motorcycle with a side car up and down the dirt roads on the Colorado mountainside. Alonzo (Lon/Lonnie/Lawnie) Grant Parker Born: October 7, 1893 at Good Hope, Illinois Married: March 1, 1917, Katherine Jamison Died: October  30, 1918 Father: Ellsworth Parker, born January 1862, in Illinois (his father was born in Wisconsin and mother in Ohio) Mother: Amy L.  born, December 1870, in Illinois (h...

 Zorries---Thongs---Flip Flops At least once a year I'm corrected by a daughter when I use the word "thongs" in a way they deem incorrect.  Personally, I'd like to straighten out all those who may think someone of my generation is embarrassing for "misusing the word". THONG - noun 1. a strip of material, especially of leather or hide, used to fasten or secure something. 2. a strip of leather or hide used for whipping; whiplash. 3. a shoe or slipper fastened to the foot chiefly by a strip of leather or other material passing between the first and second toes and often attaching to another strip of material, as a strap across the instep or around the ankle. 4. a brief garment for the lower body that exposes the buttocks, consisting of a strip of fabric passing between the thighs and attached to a band around the waist. My use of the word m...

Last month when Hubby's cousin sent the photos her mother had stored, she included a school photo of Hubby. I was amazed at the similarity between Hubby and The Tiger. When I showed The Tiger the photo of his grandpa asking who he thought it was, he answered "ME!!" The Tiger - age 7 Hubby - age 8

Growing up I often heard Mom recite this poem when I became a bit of a challenge: "There was a little girl,             Who had a little curl, Right in the middle of her forehead.             When she was good,             She was very good indeed, But when she was bad she was horrid." Mom holding me about at about 2 years old Mom said it was a Mother Goose rhyme but recently after seeing a darling little girl with curly hair I did some research and found out that in fact it's a Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem. The rest of the poem goes like this:    One day she went upstairs, When her parents, unawares, In the kitchen were occupied with meals, And she stood upon her head In her little trundle-bed, And then began hooraying with her heels. Her mother heard the no...

Recently, we received some photos in the mail. Hubby's cousin was sorting through three boxes of photos her mother had taken years ago. The ones in the envelope were from a visit Hubby's Aunt Martha had made to Montana years ago. Great Aunt Martha came out west to visit her sister-in-law, Hubby's mom. This coincided with our visit and we had a great time. Martha must have thought so as well because she came back for another visit again a year or so later. Martha took these photos so we don't have a photo of her. But what fun it is to see a happy Gramma with her beloved Grandchildren! These photos brought back a memory of the night California Dreamin' Girl fell out of bed THREE times but out of sheer stubbornness she rode out the night on the top bunk ! Great Aunt Martha was sleeping in the double bed in the "guest room" with a crib, and a bunk bed as well. The Chick was in the crib, the NorDak Purl Gurl was on the lower bunk and The California D...

This is the thirteenth pair of socks I've knit this year. Insanely I thought I could knit both birthday and Christmas socks but I'm pretty sure that only my most ardent sock lovers will be getting the Christmas socks this year! Pattern: Vanilla Bean Striped Socks by Emily O'Grady Yarn: Patons North America Kroy Socks Ragg Colorway: Brown Striped Ragg Amount: Three skeins, 498 yards Needle Size: US Size 1 I'm already using this Vanilla Bean Pattern on another pair of socks...a great step up from stockinette! The two story birdhouse was made by Dad and painted by Mom. They knew how I loved the 4th of July!

While we were on our camping trip to Yellowstone Park last weekend, I began reminiscing to the grandkiddos about my early trips to The Park. At the time we were living in Seattle and the trip to Yellowstone was the first big vacation I remember ever taking with the family. I was going into the seventh grade and had only two brothers, one on my left and one on the right of me in the back seat of the car.  The temperature at the end of July was sweltering, but anything over 80 degrees for a Puget Sounder is steamy. The five of us were stuck in the Valiant with no air conditioning and no seat belts! This was a time in The Park's history they're not to proud of, the black bears had run amok. They were allowed stand at the side of the road and beg for any tidbit that a human would offer. Visitors bought/brought marshmallows not for toasting at the campfire but to feed the bears. If you didn't offer the bears a treat they would just stick their paws in through the window and ...

Recently,  Franklin Habit wrote a post about some old magazines that were a standard in his family home. It brought back a Christmas memory I had forgotten. Every year I looked forward to the Christmas issue of Family Circle to arrive in the grocery store. Hubby and I were broke college students and newlyweds and this magazine virtually guaranteed I would find an inexpensive Christmas gift for some family member. One year I knit Dad golf club covers from a pattern in the magazine. They were gold covers with brown purl rowed stripes to show what wood it was. I didn't play golf and I wanted Dad to have a great gift. Four covers were okay but he had many more clubs and isn't more always better?? Dad laughed so hard but used all the covers with much teasing from his golfing buddies. I also knit my brothers ties from the magazine. In fact, a tie was my first commissioned work. I still have the pattern for the tie in my pattern collection.

It's going to be a white Christmas! Many Christmas' ago, Hubby brought home a Santa hat. He thought our little girls would love to play with the red and white hat until "the big day." I suggested we hang the hat on the coat rack Christmas Eve and let the girls play with the Santa hat every Christmas after.  We never thought it would be so effective! Christmas morning we waited and waited for the girls to gather around the tree - finally we decided they had slept long enough and put on Christmas music and began to make lots of noise around the house, hoping to wake them from a sound sleep. The girls came running up begging us to be quiet. They explained they had been awake for hours but were hesitant to get up because earlier in the morning they had spotted Santa's hat and thought he was delivering the goodies. They didn't want us to scare him off before he left the intended presents! The next Christmas the girls carefully put the hat back on the...

The NorDak Family came this weekend and from the beginning The Tiger wanted me to pull a baby tooth. Everyday he'd ask if it was loose enough to pull. Thursday - no. Friday - no. Saturday - out it popped!  What a happy boy! I got on the phone, called the Tooth Fairy Hotline and let her know that even though it was Easter Eve we would be needing her services at our house in Montana. It's not very often that the tooth fairy AND the Easter Bunny stop by on the same night! The Tiger was happy the next morning when he looked in his glass and found plenty of change and a Sacagawea GOLD DOLLAR! This reminded me of when the gurls were young and lost a tooth. The tooth fairy left the tooth and money in a glass at our house. They'd then take the tooth to Gramma and Grandpa's house (and let's not forget Uncle Scott because he did play a big role in this little scam). They then would put the tooth in the glass of water for a second round of tooth fairy goodness - and wh...

The tide recedes, but leaves behind bright seashells on the sand. The sun goes down, but gentle warmth still lingers on the land. The music stops, yet echoes on in sweet, soulful refrains. For every joy that passes, something beautiful remains. Author: Unknown Katherine Hovgaard Cook of Manchester March 2, 1943 to Feb. 28, 2012 Our beloved Kitty peacefully passed away in her home on February 28 in Manchester after a 7-year-long battle with Parkinson's disease. Born Katherine Ellen Ballard to Fred and Merab Ballard. Known as Kitty or Kit, she spent her entire life in Manchester. She loved life, her family, and had countless friends. She was an active member of the Children's Hospital Guild, devoted years to the Board of Directors of Helpline, and was past president of the Commodears of the Port Orchard Yacht Club. She and her husband Dick hosted the Manchester Sailing Regatta for over ten years. Kitty served as Manchester's much loved postmas...

Today is the 100th birthday of Girls Scouts. I was a Girl Scout for six years. Five of the years Mom was our scout leader. The troop would gather at our house each Tuesday. Dues were a dime and treat duty was rotated from one girl to the next. Mom was wonderful with all the Girl Scouts who over the years became my best friends. They loved Mom and thought she was the greatest. Once the troop learned to knit squares that were to become a baby blanket for charity. The yarn was in pale yellow and mint green to signify the Scouting colors. I'm not sure the blanket ended up donated or even finished. I remember Mom painstakingly trying to piece the strangely angled pieces together for several afternoons. Often the group would get together in the summer time informally. We loved being together, having fun together.  In this photo the group was together playing dress up and acting out a drama one summer afternoon. Tina Smith, the next door neighbor had provided us with the "...

"Did you have a favorite toy?' Before I started school my mother made my two brothers and I a stuffed animal. Mrs. Ivers, a lady that lived two houses down from us (when we lived on the beach) had a pattern for a Teddy Bear. Mrs. Ivers went to the Salvation Army and bought coats, then cut the bears out using the fur lining. Probably my bear was made with material from the same source. When the bear was completed Mom made sure that we understood that the bear was for ALL THREE of us. Teddy It soon became a problem for me - the little brothers just threw him in the toybox! I can remember crying at night until Mom or Dad found Teddy and placed him next to me in bed. HE WAS MINE THROUGH AND THROUGH! For a long time I thought that if anything bad was about to happen to me at night (a burglar or a fire in the house perhaps) Teddy would become REAL and save me! I slept with Teddy for years and years, long after I should have. In my teen years I could prop him right under my ...

While we were away, Chloe A-Little-Bit asked me about our family history. It was for a school project but it is the first interest any of the grandkiddos have shown in family history and so I aim to please! We had a great talk on the phone and I promised her some photos when I got home.  "Do you have a favorite item that has been passed down through the family?" YES!!! This cabinet has been called "The Antique" since it came into our house when Mom dissolved my Grandmother's house. The cabinet was originally a walnut bedstead but Chloe's great great great great grandfather rebuilt it. Murray Cheney was born in Addison, Vermont. He met his future wife, Caroline Pickett, while both families were living in Addison. When Caroline's father, Gilead Pickett, died her family moved to New York. Murray Cheney Caroline Pickett Cheney Murray went exploring "out west" and when he arrived in Illinois he knew he wanted to settle there. He retu...