Treasures from our Ancestors

This is an old afghan, a family afghan made by Granny, my Great-Grandmother. She was born just 4 years before the start of The Civil War, on Oct, 7th, 1861 in Hopetown, Ohio. Hopetown is a small little down between Columbus and Chillicothe, closer to Chillicothe. It was a rural farming community in the day, and not much more today. Granny was the daughter of Adam and Melissa Gartner, whom we believed to have been Mennonites. More on that later. Granny lived to be 95 years old. I was just 6 when she died. I do remember her. Sadly, I was afraid of her. She had huge eyes, and very large veins that stuck up on her skin. I wasn't used to being around elderly. She lived in her own home on Mill Street in Chillicothe, the states first capital. She died 56 years ago tomorrow, on January 13th, 1956. She gave birth to 5 children, and 4 survived. Her only son, is my Grandfather....my Dad's Dad. Dad gaved me this afghan yesterday to ask if I might be able to repair it. It's really in pretty good shape considering how old it is. When you take care of things, it's pretty amazing how long things can last. The ghan like Granny has had a long life.

I need to see if I have some yarn to match and see what I can do in the way of repairs. This ghan was used alot through the years; though in recent years, it's been tucked away to preserve it. Mom and Dad had it on their sofa for years, before that my grandparents used it and before that my Great Aunts who lived at Granny's house. If only this ghan could talk, wonder what it might reveal.

Granny was married on Thanksgiving Day November 29th, 1888, at the age of 27. Getting married at the age of 27 was rather old for those times, generally speaking. But, Granny....wasn't ordinary. She was, I believe a woman before her time. She raced horses, and not against other women. She raced and often won against men. A strong willed and very capable woman indeed.

She was a beauty too, would imagine except for her wild spirit, she was probably sought after by a good many men before marrying my Great Grandfather. I don't know if this was the picture taken for her wedding photo or not, but I would imagine it was close to that time frame.

This is later is life, long after her horse racing days were over.

This photo was taken on her 90th birthday. An article appeared in The Chillicothe Gazette discussing how even as a Octogenarian she had a full head of black hair, and another article was written when she turned 90 (which is where this photo came from), discussing her racing horses, being a tomboy and how sharp she was with telling family stories and remember child hood friends names.

I don't know how old Granny was when she crocheted this afghan, but I'm thrilled to have something from her hands. I won't jump into repairing it, as I want to study it a bit to determine the best method, and find the best match in terms of colors....I know that won't be easy, certainly after the long life this afghan has had, it's faded.

Unknitting on Monday

Liberty Lace........argh. I've put this scarf aside now for the 3rd time. Pick it up do a section, put it away. Bottom line.............I don't like these colors. I'm wondering what in the world they would go with. Here's what the scarf look liked before the Unknitting took place. Unknitting, negative knitting are words I've come across lately in place of the very well known....frogging it. See the ball on the left, those are the colors I thought I was getting when I purchased the yarn. I didn't know there was purple, or yellow or green.

Now, the question is...........what to do with the yarn. It's lovely wool, DK weight, has a fabulous feel to it. Not sure, but wonder..........what different stitch would make the yarn look prettier? Knitting lengthwise would the color blocks be more acceptable? They'd be smaller groups of the colors, right? Maybe nothing but knitting this on large needles lenthwise would be the answer? Or just plain garter stitch with regular sized needles? Thoughts?

In the meantime, needed a no counting project to tote with....so this is in the works.
First thought was to strip this, sorta a version of scarlet and gray (Buckeye colors). But, as I continued to working, the gray has such suttle changes in shades, doing sections one might not see the blend from dark to light and in between. Leaning towards one gray scarf and one reddish vs the 2 colors together. Opinions?

Taking Stock of the List

10 of 25 squares edged with 2 rows of black. Squares now 12 inches. Details below regarding "Got Brown" Afghan in Works in Progress.
Good headway on Darling Daughters Green Lace Scarf. Love this yarn, love the pattern. Details below in Work in Progress.

On July 10th, 2011 I joined a blog hop on Ravelry called a Year of Projects (YOP)

My list has been broken into 3 categories:
Goals, Work in Progress, and Finished Objects. The list has been alter slightly. 2011 has come to and end, and today is day 3 of year 2012. The half way point in the YOP.

Goals:
1. Learn to knit cables
2. Learn to knit socks
**I've made a cable knit washcloth so have accomplished 50% of this list item. I also have a cable knitted skirt I'm thinking of making...but, don't plan to add that item to the list

WIP:
1. Candy Corn Ghan has been on this list Forever, and hasn't been touched. Seems since we past fall, it won't be for some time to come.
2. Liberty Lace. A scarf I'm making for myself. A challenge as it was a new lace stitch, my first. The yarn is yummy from a feel standpoint. Liking the color less and less as time goes on. On the back burner...haven't worked on it since ( ), a contender for frogging.
3. Buckeye Diagonal Scarf...also on the list a long time, no progess made. Back burner as OSU football season is a way off now, what's the point from a time management standpoint. Last worked on (May of 2011 )
4. Cotton Cloth Calendar Challenge. Fabulous headway here. 10 of 12 months completed 83% Done! Months pending are February and March. Cotton on hand, need to pick out pattern for February in the next couple of weeks.
5. Awesome Blue Scarf...frogged after 3 attempts and removed from list. Rather Replaced with Darling Daughters Green Scarf. Lots of headway, hoping to finish this week and mail to her. Had hoped to finish by Christmas, but that didn't happen. Pictured above and is one of my current focuses.
6. Bridge and Beyond Afghan, Got Brown? This particular item is coming along nicely, however since making ghans for Bridge and Beyond is ongoing...it's never going to be considered Done on my list. Pictured above in the works, and is one of my current focuses.

Finished Objects:
1. Wedding Ghan, this was the first fully knitted ghan with all new stitches I've made. It was a challenge, and I was very pleased with the end result.
2. Odd Ball Baby Blankets. When this was added to the list it was going to be 1 blanket, or my part of the one blanket. Turned into my part of 4 blankets. Cinco De Mayo, Baby Pink Petuna, Mardi Gras, and Fruit Salad. My parts are all DONE
3. Red Scarf No More, due to yarn problems this scarf was not donated to The Red Scarf Project, instead it was donated to Bridge and Beyond.
4. Bridge and Beyond Afghans. As stated above this is is always on going. I assemble ghans from donated squares which are in turn donated to Homeless Families through Bridge and Beyond. From the time YOP began here's the completed list:
A. Pink Poddle
B. Jewels
C. Pink Petuna
D. Rainbow Bright
E. Royalty

Badge and link for YOP in sidebar