Remembering the Big Chief

My dad is the person who taught me to crochet. How did he learn such a skill? The story goes that when I was quite young, he worked at a bank. There was a group of older ladies there too, and on their lunch breaks they would sit and crochet together. They convinced my dad he ought to learn, and the rest is history. He taught me when I was pretty young, and it was the first real craft that I truly embraced and, over the years, became fairly skilled at.

There's something very therapeutic about plugging away at row after row with yarn and hook and in the end holding up a closely twined fabric that somehow came together from all those loops and twists. While it's no longer my favorite craft, I still enjoy it and dabble in it from time to time. It led me to knitting and many other things that I enjoy, and it taught me about the craftsmanship to be gained from fine-tuning a skill, the necessity of learning to rip out and start over as part of the learning process, and the deep satisfaction of turning out a quality finished product after many hours of steady work.

And it was something I shared with my dad. Almost three years ago now we lost him after a long battle with cancer, and I miss him all the time. He didn't crochet all that much over the years, but while he was sick and undergoing treatment he picked up the hook again and made a few things, and we spent some hours crafting together and just enjoying each other's company in quiet. We liked to do that.

My dad wasn't perfect, but he passed on some good things, like his determination, his strength, and his abiding faith in God, among others. While crocheting certainly isn't the most important of those, it's still a special one to me. The photo above hangs in a prominent place in my craft area, and when I see it I'm reminded of all those things I learned from those early crafty days. I'm also reminded of my dad, who was a pretty special guy.

Thanks, Dad. Miss you. Love, Kitten.

We Shall Have Some Pie

In lieu of a post about crafting, because there is absolutely none of that being done around here right now, here's a little story:

About five weeks ago we heard some thumping at the door to our deck and soon discovered that a stray cat (we've seen her prancing around the neighborhood) was trying to fight with our indoor cat through the glass. Hmmm.

The next day I was sitting on the couch and glanced out the door to see this same cat ... and a second cat. Why, suddenly, was my deck the new cool hang out for neighborhood strays?

Then the following day, my question was answered. I spied one, then two, then three baby kittens emerging from beneath the cover on our outdoor loveseat.


Mama Cat had babies under our deck furniture and had been living there with them for the last four weeks, totally unbeknownst to us. (We pieced this together after talking with a neighbor who had been feeding Mama Cat for the last year.)

Ah. Now what?

We decided to allow the kitties to live on our deck for a few more weeks, until they were old enough to be weaned. We named them and came to enjoy watching them throughout the day as they played together and huddled in a little heap at feedings and naptime. When they were ready (eating food we put out and climbing our umbrella were indications!) we brought them in, helped them adjust to humans and indoor surroundings (with help from my sister, the Cat Whisperer), and then found good homes for all of them.

One of them just happened to find his home on our sofa. He looks like he's adjusting quite nicely, don't you think?

Here's hoping for a much more interesting, creative-type post next week. Have a good weekend!

My Creative Space

First things first: I should have said a big "thank you" for all the kind responses to my BMW project. It's one of my favorite things I've done so far, so I'm glad to hear other people feel good about it too. And, of course, comments are always fun to receive! ;)

Next, golly wow, has it been a week already? I had such nice, simple projects to work on, and they should've been done over the weekend. My children had other plans. Plans that involved clinging to me like spider monkeys and forgoing naps and waking at night afraid of the dark and midnight play sessions and ... Well, I'll spare you any more detail. Suffice it to say that all waking and many non-waking hours were consumed before I could even blink. This is not so conducive to needlework. So the wips are still wips. (sigh)


In the meantime, since I have nothing else to offer, and it is Thursday, here are some creative space photos. Above you saw some crayon nubbins that have been collecting on my desk and some Little People watching the rain outside (placed there by my daughter). Below is a glimpse at my crafty area (collecting random piles of things in this non-creative time).


More creative space fun to be had at kootoyoo. Back soon ... I hope!

Weekend WIPs

Hello and thanks to all the visitors from the Creative Space game (and anywhere else you may have come from). It was nice to "meet" some new crafty types and discover some great new blogs. I tried my best to reciprocate comments and visit all the sites linked at kootoyoo, although last night was a tad ... bumpy, and I can't be sure I didn't miss someone. Thanks, all the same, to everyone who stopped by. Hopefully I will find time to "play" again.


As for actual crafting, I've a small project (two small ones, actually) in the works that I am hopeful will be completed this weekend. They're simple bits embroidered on linen, and I'm finding them incredibly relaxing after that last doozie of a project. And it's my first time to work with linen. Yum!

Hope you have a happy weekend out there in blogland!