Well, it’s been exciting around here, and not necessarily in a good way.
I’ve been helping out with my cousins (and their cousins) a lot. My by-marriage-not-blood aunt’s brother-in-law was on a business trip and collapsed while out for a run. When he was brought to the hospital he was pronounced dead. Thankfully, my aunt’s sister and her two children, both under two years old, were here visiting her parents, so she had her family as support. It was hard on everyone from that branch of the family simply because everything was up in the air. For the past few weeks, I’ve been an emergency babysitter for the family. I absolutely love the kids and am starting to remember how to understand toddlers, but I just wish it had been under happier circumstances.
Because of this, I haven’t left the house much for fear that they might need help and not be able to reach me. And because of that, I’ve gotten a lot of knitting done!
My ball winder came and it has saved my life. I wound all my skeins into pretty little cakes that play nicely with each other. I’m slowly but surely knitting away at the sock yarn blanket. It’s bigger now, but I don’t have any pictures to show for all my work on it.
I also think I’m getting addicted to lace knitting, especially shawls. I started the Aestlight Shawl this past Sunday and am already on the edging. It’s smaller than I would have liked but I really enjoy this pattern and am already planning another. Oh, and the yarn is Malabrigo Sock, so it’s cozycozycozy.
I’ve also been given the task of cataloging the family heirlooms. My grandmother sent a big box of family jewelry home with us a few days ago, all with little notes from my great-aunt explaining the history of the pieces. The girls of the family went through the box and picked out what we wanted, but some of the notes didn’t seem to match up. Mom and I started looking at some of the jewelry that she already had and realized that some of the notes belonged with her stuff. So a few days ago, I built a light box (yay!), grabbed the jewelry, and took pictures of all of them. And now they’re all up on flickr with their notes and who owns them in the descriptions. I feel so accomplished! Some of my favorite pictures:
Top Left is a bit of a mystery, but we think it might be a brooch that was given out at Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.
Top right is half of a belt buckle from the Boxer Rebellion that’s been made into a brooch.
Middle Left is a Georg Jensen brooch from the ’50s. It’s in severe need of a good polishing
Middle Right is a complete mystery, but I’m obsessed with the stone in the middle.
Bottom Left is a pocket watch. The clock face pushes down into the base and the whole thing is smaller than a box of matches.
Bottom Right is a bracelet that is made of city charms from France when my great-great-great? uncle was stationed there with the Navy.
