Saturday, February 13, 2016

Happy Valentine's Day and other thoughts......

Happy Valentine's Day!  This day is about love in all forms, not just the love of a partner, it is about love for everything and everyone, and of course friendship too!!


My Father kept this photo of my Mother underneath the glass of the table next to his easy chair.  I love that he had this beautiful photo of my Mom to look at everyday.  He loved her so much and missed her every single day that she was not living with him  A true love affair these two had, making it through the hard times and the good times, too.  Life was not easy for them, but they had such a deep love, it saw them through it all.


When my sister Claudia and I were going through some of my parents things we came across this amazing Valentine.  The eyes and legs move with this little lever on the back of the card.  This is a true treasure.


 It was a Valentine from my Dad's oldest sister Dora, to him when he was three years old, 90 years ago.  She was much older than him, he was the baby, and apparently a bit of a surprise, as his next oldest sibling Letitia, (whom I am named after) was eight years older than him.  I love that my Aunt Dora gave this to her three year old little brother.



There has not been a lot of time for knitting this week so I am lucky I have anything to show you at all.  I did manage to finish this simple drop stitch scarf made from the remainder of my Sirdar Baby Bamboo pink yarn,   I cast on 23 stitches with size 6 needles, knit 9 rows and then did my wrapping row where the first and last stitch are knit and all the stitches in between are wrapped three times and knit.  The next row is the dropping row, which is actually a lot easier than it sounds, and then you start all over again.  You can have any amount of rows in between the wrapping rows, I usually do seven but this is thin yarn so I decided to do a couple more to make it denser.   I ended up using 1 1/2 skeins of yarn which used up my entire stash of this color, so about 158 yards for this scarf.  The scarf is 56 inches long without the fringe and 5 inches wide.  This is a gift for my friend Joy who loves pink, especially soft pink. 


Here is the same yarn in two different variations.  I have to tell you I wore my woven scarf the other day and actually received a compliment on it.  It is very soft and lovely, and I don't think you can see the wonky edges.  I may not be standing firm in my conviction not to weave with this yarn again, it is actually prettier than I thought it would be. 


And here is a Valentine for you, Little Buddy and the Valentine hat he made at school.  He is a pistol, but a sweet one!

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you, you brighten my days. 

29 comments:

Toni said...

Happy Valentine's day! I LOVE the Valentine and the story of your mother's picture. It's so nice to see people IN LOVE for a lifetime. :)

Linda @ A La Carte said...

I love that old Valentine! What a great find in your Father's things. Little Buddy is adorable and yes, a pistol for sure. Love you pink scarfs...very pretty.
hugs,
Linda

Anita said...

What a beautiful thought to keep this lovely picture under the pillow. That is true love. Love the note from Dora, gorgeous. Happy Valentine Day Buddy...you little groover. lol
Cheers, Anita.

Anonymous said...

Happy Valentine's to you, Little Buddy and all the boys in your house, including sweet little Max!

I have a book of my Grandmother's from about the same time as that Valentine of your Dad's. There are several Valentine's pasted into the book and they look very similar to yours. Fun to look at.

Have a wonderful day tomorrow. I see Little Buddy cheers for his big brother's school! He looks adorable in red!

Betsy said...

What a sweet love story of your parents. Your Mom was gorgeous! I can see where you and Claudia get your beautiful looks and sweet smiles. The Valentine is so cute too. I wish they still made them as cute as the ones back in those days. I've made some of those wrapped stitches scarves and always love them. Both of yours are so pretty and remind of the spring that is soon to arrive. (I hope.) Little Buddy. We need to get him and Piper together someday. I think they would give us a run for our money! HA!
Have a wonderful Valentines Day sweet Meredith! I certainly have come to love you through this land of blogging.
Blessings,
Betsy

Gracie Saylor said...

Happy Valentine's Day, Meredith! You found some lovely treasures from your folks, and made some beautiful treasures with yarn...and then of course you have your Little Buddy treasure. Thanks for sharing them all with us xxxxx

CJ said...

Meredith, what a gorgeous photo of your mum, and such a lovely Valentine card from 90 years ago, adorable. Love the pink scarf, the colour is gorgeous. I hope you have a lovely day. CJ xx

Jodiebodie said...

It's nice to know that you can make such a pretty and useful scarf with the leftovers from another project and not a bit of yarn goes to waste. The bamboo gives it a lovely sheen.
Thank you for sharing your instructions to make a scarf like yours and I am wishing I understood kntting terms a bit better. I have no idea what you mean by 'wrapping' but it doesn't matter - I am enjoying looking at your results. I will learn one day.
Wishing you and yours a happy Valentine's day, Meredith
Jodie xx

Janet said...

Happy Valentine's Day to you Meredith. The photo of your Mum is so beautiful. It's lovely to read about your parents' love for each other. Have a good day. Janet x

Jo said...

I love the card and photo. Those little things make you feel really connected to a family. Super scarf too. I am a bit off knitting at the moment so progress is slow. Jo x

Christina said...

Happy Valentine's Day Meredith. Your mother was a such a beautiful woman! Wishing you a peaceful Sunday and a quiet week. x

Unknown said...

Your parents' love story is a great one. The valentine shows the love that was evident and treasured in that family. I think Aunt Dora was 21 when your dad was born. Give Little Buddy a Valentine hug from me.
Love you ,
Eileen

Jo said...

What a beautiful photo of your mum. It's wonderful when you know your parents shared such a deep love, it's my mum and dad's 60th wedding anniversary this week. Such a lovely Valentine card too. How sweet of your dad's sister to send that to him when he was so young, you must treasure it.

Karen said...

Happy Valentine's Day, Meredith! Such a lovely photo of your mom. I love the pink color of those scarves, too.

Tammy@T's Daily Treasures said...

Beautiful picture of your mom and that Valentine card is truly a treasure. Your woven scarves are so gorgeous. That drop stitch pattern is really pretty and looks like you had the perfect yarn for it. Hugs to Little Buddy and you! Happy heart day!

Caffeine Girl said...

What a lovely Valentine's post. That vintage card is a real treasure, especially when you know the story behind it.

I actually copies and pasted the directions for your scarf and now have a document titled "Meredith's Simple Scarf." See, you are almost famous!

Unknown said...

A beautiful picture of your mother! Little buddy will soon be getting Valentine's cards from girls hehe

Teresa Kasner said...

Love your scarf and of course thank you for sharing LB with us.. he always brings a smile to my face.

_.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._.:*~*:._
*H*A*P*P*Y* *V*A*L*E*N*T*I*N*E*S* *D*A*Y*
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((hugs)), Teresa :-)

gigi knits said...

Your mom was a beautiful women . Happy Valentine to you & Little Buddy .💝

kathy b said...

Old vintage Valentines are so lovely and cute! glad you found and kept a few. Lil Buddy is growing MERE~!!! he is looking different in each photo. he looks like he is gaining good weight

Amy at love made my home said...

What wonderful and precious memories. Thank you for sharing them with us. Happy valentines! xx

Kris said...

I love the beautiful photo of your Mom! How sweet that he cherished it every day. And the Valentine from your Dad's big sissy was so sweet. My Daddy was the baby too. His sisters were 16 and 11 years older. He had three Mama's.
Awww, Little Buddy, you dapper boy you!!!
I was sorry to read that Claudia had to put down her beloved Scout. Those decisions are so tough.
And the photos of LB with his britches down...what a hoot!
I love the scarf so much. I want to learn to do that drop stitch!!!
XO Kris

Taci simmons said...

Happy valentines to you my dear friend. I'm sorry I haven't been leaving comments and just found out about your dad's passing. This was such hard coup,e of years for you... Thank God for good moments with little buddy and your knitting, crocheting and weaving to help you relax a bit. My sincere sympathy and I hope your heart is healing and know you have friends who think about you and pray you have strength to get through these difficulty nets. Happy valentines my dear friend 😘

Jo@awholeplotoflove said...

Happy belated valentines to you & Buddy. I enjoyed reading about your parents. My parents disliked each other greatly & it always makes me happy to read of the love some people have for each other xx

Heldasland said...

Such precious items . Happy Valentine's Day to you dear lady

Judy S. said...

Fun post, Mere! Hope you had a nice day yesterday, and some time off today! I love all 3 versions of your pink yarn scarves. I agree, that yarn does weave up nicely. The definition of the weave is great, and no wonder you got compliments. And of course, LB is adorable!

Suzan said...

Looks like Buddy had a good Valentine's Day at school!! my husband would tell Buddy that he's wearing the right Red shirt for Valentine's Day!!!
Your Mother is lovely and such a neat old Valentine's Card.Awesome pink scarves!! I don't know how you do all that you do with your knitting, weaving and taking care of your house and Buddy!! You are Super Woman!!!
Happy Long weekend!!

elns said...

Aww feeling the LB Valentine love. He's wearing a red Ohio State shirt too boot. Too cute. I love that the weaved yarn scarf that sounded a little bit of a labor of love is paying off in great wear. Good stuff, Mere. The Drop stitch scarf is very sweet and any pink loving recipient would be pleased, so I'm sure Joy will adore it. The old Valentine and picture of your Mother is great, but the stories you shared are really priceless.

mynestofyarnandbuttons said...

Late indeed, BUT Happy <3 Day and what a cutie LB is!! xoxoRobin