When it came time to craft these holiday table mats, my received button collection came in handy. The plan was to use holiday-themed crochet applique to embellish a pair of shaggy felt rectangles.
I crocheted corrugated leaves, inspired by similar leaves in Irish Crochet lace. Crocheted with red yarn and arranged in a wide circle with stems pointing inward, the corrugated leaves made a pretty good approximation of a poinsettia flower. That was appropriate, because live poinsettia petals are specialized leaves. I tried adding crocheted green leaves, because poinsettias have those as well. No matter how I arranged them, they overwhelmed the red "petals." The piece needed green though, so I added green buttons, which probably came from the estate of one of my aunts.
A slightly altered, crocheted fern frond made a reasonable Christmas tree. My then five-year-old daughter Ella helped me choose the best red buttons to decorate the tree. Ella wanted to decorate her own tree mat, so we found a crocheted leaf, sewed it to a scrap of felt, and sewed button ornaments on it. Unfortunately, I could find only a very small photo of Ella's holiday mat.
The edges of the shaggy felt were wavy. Since the felt was synthetic, I was reluctant to press it with a hot iron. The edges needed a trim or something else to weigh them down and flatten them.
My sister-in-law's sister, Sharon, had worked in a fabric store and collected several half-gallon tubs of buttons. Sharon decided she would never use them all, so she passed them along to me. With a trove of buttons like hers, I could afford to be extravagant. I sewed a solid line of buttons just inside the edges of each holiday table mat. That flattened the edges.
I am grateful that people thought of me when they had sewing, knitting, and crochet supplies they didn't need. Naturally, I couldn't keep everything, so I passed along items I wouldn't use in a thoughtful and respectful way.
]]>Over the years, people who knew my love for knitting, crochet, and sewing entrusted me with related supplies they no longer needed, or those they inherited from loved ones and were unlikely to use.
When it came time to craft these holiday table mats, my received button collection came in handy. The plan was to use holiday-themed crochet applique to embellish a pair of shaggy felt rectangles.
I crocheted corrugated leaves, inspired by similar leaves in Irish Crochet lace. Crocheted with red yarn and arranged in a wide circle with stems pointing inward, the corrugated leaves made a pretty good approximation of a poinsettia flower. That was appropriate, because live poinsettia petals are specialized leaves. I tried adding crocheted green leaves, because poinsettias have those as well. No matter how I arranged them, they overwhelmed the red "petals." The piece needed green though, so I added green buttons, which probably came from the estate of one of my aunts.
A slightly altered, crocheted fern frond made a reasonable Christmas tree. My then five-year-old daughter Ella helped me choose the best red buttons to decorate the tree. Ella wanted to decorate her own tree mat, so we found a crocheted leaf, sewed it to a scrap of felt, and sewed button ornaments on it. Unfortunately, I could find only a very small photo of Ella's holiday mat.
The edges of the shaggy felt were wavy. Since the felt was synthetic, I was reluctant to press it with a hot iron. The edges needed a trim or something else to weigh them down and flatten them.
My sister-in-law's sister, Sharon, had worked in a fabric store and collected several half-gallon tubs of buttons. Sharon decided she would never use them all, so she passed them along to me. With a trove of buttons like hers, I could afford to be extravagant. I sewed a solid line of buttons just inside the edges of each holiday table mat. That flattened the edges.
I am grateful that people thought of me when they had sewing, knitting, and crochet supplies they didn't need. Naturally, I couldn't keep everything, so I passed along items I wouldn't use in a thoughtful and respectful way.
First, I knitted the yellow piece, which was about 5 inches wide at the start. As many beginning knitters do, I accidentally added stitches, so the width at my last row was 6.75 inches. The piece measured 4.75 inches from bottom to top. The yarn was probably wool.
I had watched my mother knit slipper socks for my father. They were blue with a wondrous stranded pattern in red. After the heel, she worked two sets of 2 x 2 stranded checks, for a total of four rounds. Then came a decorative diamond shaped pattern, and finally another 4 rounds of 2 x 2 checks.
"Mom, I want to knit checks," I told her. She gave me more wool, and told me how to knit checks. I offer written instructions, all these years later:
Following her spoken instructions, I created a (mostly) checkerboard pattern with textures. But, "Mom, I want to knit colors!" I said, thinking of the checks on the slipper socks she made.
She gave me multi-color yarn in the Fiesta colorway. I guess that satisfied me for a time. The finished piece was 5 to 6 inches wide and 10-ish inches from cast on to bind off.
My mom influenced the course of my life by teaching me how to knit. I am glad she did.
]]>My mother, Anna Wirth Thompson (1936- ) learned to knit, crochet, embroider, and sew in school in Germany, where she was born and grew up. She taught me to knit when I was seven years old. I was in Mrs. Stone's second grade class at Edgemere Elementary School in Plainview, Texas, at the time.
First, I knitted the yellow piece, which was about 5 inches wide at the start. As many beginning knitters do, I accidentally added stitches, so the width at my last row was 6.75 inches. The piece measured 4.75 inches from bottom to top. The yarn was probably wool.
I had watched my mother knit slipper socks for my father. They were blue with a wondrous stranded pattern in red. After the heel, she worked two sets of 2 x 2 stranded checks, for a total of four rounds. Then came a decorative diamond shaped pattern, and finally another 4 rounds of 2 x 2 checks.
"Mom, I want to knit checks," I told her. She gave me more wool, and told me how to knit checks. I offer written instructions, all these years later:
Following her spoken instructions, I created a (mostly) checkerboard pattern with textures. But, "Mom, I want to knit colors!" I said, thinking of the checks on the slipper socks she made.
She gave me multi-color yarn in the Fiesta colorway. I guess that satisfied me for a time. The finished piece was 5 to 6 inches wide and 10-ish inches from cast on to bind off.
My mom influenced the course of my life by teaching me how to knit. I am glad she did.