Project Bag

I posted on Ravelry that I have finished fixing a bag that I was lucky enough to get from GG.

I remember when she carried it.  I think she would be happy that I am using it.  She used to get upset if she gave you something and you didn't use it.  Here's what I posted....

I was lucky enough to get some items from my grandma (GG) after she passed in December 2012. One of them was this bag that she made from leftover yarn. She used it and carried it everywhere with her projects at the ready. By the time I received it, the stitching was coming apart, the handles had stretched the fabric, and it was pilling.

I have taken great care and put a lot of thought into repairing this bag. Most would say it was not worth it given the fact that it was leftover yarns, acrylic, and in poor shape. This bag was my GG’s. The person who taught me how to knit, how to stitch, how to crochet, how to design, how to live. I had to fix it so that I could carry it myself. I am happy with the results.

I repaired the felt inside lining. All of the yarn I used to repair this project came from GG’s stash. She had crocheted special pockets for scissors, a hook and pattern. I sewed up the sides and reinforced them. I purchased dowel rods and cut them to measure the top to give it more structure. I crocheted around them leaving enough room to remove them before washing.

GG had bamboo handles from an old handbag that I removed. I crocheted new handles, using the braid technique she taught me years ago. She used this stitch in the body of the bag.

I cleaned and removed the pills.

I now am happy to carry a piece of art from the woman that taught me so much. I am proud to tell my fellow needlework buddies that I shared in the making of this art, and I carry her memory with me.

If you want to see the Ravelry Post it's here...

BethTan's GG's Bag

I've Been Busy!

There are all sorts of reasons I have not written anything.  Some are excuses, some are explanations.

It was difficult to write after the last post because it was so close to Christmas...so close to a year since GG left us...and GG loved Christmas.  Every time I sat down and tried to write, it was heartbreaking.  I missed her more.  Writing was not therapeutic, and Wonderboy was feeling it too.  I was trying to ignore my grief so that I could help him.

It was sad to get out all of the numerous decorations I have collected from GG, all handmade with love.  She was ALWAYS the first to give us a Christmas card, and when the mail delivered someone else's card, we both noticed.   I have saved all of her cards from past years...she wrote in them, drew funny faces, and told us about her life.

We of course, have close to 10 Christmas trees. We made a forest on a table, and kept a tree in every room.  GG made the trees and sold them every year.  She used to tell us about having so many trees in her living room that she didn't need the lights or heat. I remember one year she told me she had 75!.

We also have crocheted Angels (lots of small ones, and a big one for the top of the tree), crocheted lace colored balls, and stockings made from granny squares.  Then there are the cross stitch framed art pieces.  We are lucky to have a huge Santa for the wall that makes everyone laugh with his crooked smile, backwards clock, and rumpled coat.  We also have a colorful hanging for the door that says... MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Wonderboy has a set of small dated cross stitch ornaments.  GG started making them for him the year he was born. (2001)  He got the first one in Oct when he was born, then then next at Christmas so he had the next years to put on the tree.  One year, GG came home from one of the cross stitch conventions with a lot of kits for these ornaments.  She went to work and gave him a box full all dated for the years to come.  I kept telling her she had to make more... I didn't want to have ornaments dated that ended.  She always laughed and told me not to worry. The date on the last ornament was the year 2013, the ornament she would have given him the day she passed.  It was too odd.  Wonderboy never put them on the tree.  I used Christmas ribbon and strung them evenly on the ribbon then put it across his room over his bed like a mobile.  We added an ornament every year. Last year was the last one.

We are doing better now. I keep thinking that GG would be unhappy with me for not writing. She would want me to get on with it.  I was lucky enough to be so close to her, to talk to her 2-3 times a month, to get letters every week, and now honor her memory with her stories.  Those are the important things.

So when I posted on Ravelry a picture of the handmade bag she used to carry, I felt it was time to get on with it with the blog.

PEACE
Beth Ann