20 January 2005

For Anna B. Graves (Nanna)


Anna B. Graves is the name of my great-grandmother. She is the one responsible for me learning to knit when I was the tender age of 7. She was my first and only baby-sitter, fried the best chicken in the universe, and died in 1980 at the age of 97 (we think). She was so old, that the family bible with all the vital statistics was misplaced (she out lived her three brothers), and we had to guess that she was born in 1882.

Nanna (as I called her) was so pleasant and good natured, that she never fussed at me--even when I broke her metal meat tenderizer by banging it repeatedly on the linoleum floor. For Christmas each year, she would knit sunburst pillows, dishcloths, and slippers, then give them out as gifts. Since nobody else was carrying on the tradition, I decided to revive it after her death.

...But I draw the line at ceramic ashtrays. That's one tradition that's going to remain in the past.

The photos of the sunburst pillow and dishcloths respectively, show projects made with Lily Sugar & Cream yarn, of which I have entirely too many bolts, in far too many colors. The two photos show square pillows I either knitted or crocheted in really cheap yarn I got at White Rose/W.H. Perron in N.D.G. before it closed.

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