Now back to your regularly scheduled programming…

Ok. I had about enough un-scheduled and shall we say “interesting” events over the last couple weeks to last me a quite a while! So before I head away for a few days to finish moving my mum into her new home, I’ll recap my wonderful Saturday at the Upper Canada Village Quilt show http://www.parks.on.ca/village/home.htm.

We met the G-man’s folks around 11:00am and his mum and I promptly headed over to the main display, which was housed in the Children’s Activity Building out on the point. The gents knew they were being abandoned in favour of textile goodness and made their way, well somewhere, I don’t really know where, and amused themselves!! The day was beautiful, with a light breeze coming off the St. Lawrence River, and we were glad for it as we walked out to the point and through the village in the hot sun.

The building was chock full of amazing quilts, both traditional and very modern, with a wide range of personal styles and color palettes. And there were many quilters from, I think, The Thousand Islands Quilting Guild out of Brockville (sorry no link – seems to be broken) working on their own pieces and answering many questions.

We both remarked on the several black-bordered or black background quilts displayed, more than we have seen at other shows. I personally like them very much, as I love the way the colors seem to take on a life of their own and just pop against the black background, like this one.

One of my many, many, many unfinished projects in my sewing room is a strip quilt top that will be bordered by black stripes in between the bars of colored scrap fabrics. Simple, very Amish style in its simplistic layout except for the colorwork.

As well we saw an amazing quilt done with handed down family made doilies. It totally showed me how I could salvage and use many of the doilies I inherited from my Grandmummy, that I was wondering what to do with. Although I am not a “frilly’ person, this quilt top was simple in its layout, showcasing the doilies centered in each square. (sorry – this was not a good picture, too light). While the background color choice wasn’t completely my scheme, it was a good choice for the light colored doilies. Still I will experiment with alternative backgrounds to see if I can bring some more color into my quilt tops. I think I have enough to do at least two quilt tops, maybe more, especially if I keep them twin sized, that I could give to the younger girls in the family as a keepsake of their great-grandmother.

As well I was inspired by an number of borders to finish two of Grandmummy’s quilt tops with plaid borders, so need only to find a co-ordinating fabric suitable for matching up to the tops. Woo-hoo – fabric shopping!

I noticed I was especially drawn to quilts that had random characteristics and/or scrap fabric components. The appeal is making something beautiful out of what you have available or re-purposing textiles into new uses. While I totally appreciate the electric beauty in modern quilts, and the exciting new fabrics used in reproduction patterns, and the attention and exacting standards of piecework, it is the lowly patchwork, scrap or striped quilt with a basic simple layout and random fabrics with no theme or careful matching that grabs my attention over and over again. I just can’t get enough! It totally explains why I buy quilting fat quarters at random with no purpose, just to add to my fabric stash, just because I like them! I just like to look at them and re-arrange them into pleasing combinations until I’m ready to use them. But that’s the beauty of quilting – there’s something for everyone!

We finished off the tour with a trip to the very small vendors market, but there wasn’t anything that really grabbed me, and no plaids to speak of, so sadly I didn’t make any purchases.

On our way to an amazing lunch at the McDiarmid House (the beef stew is the best!), we stopped to see a weaving and spinning demonstration in the Ross Farmhouse. And when the G-man pointed out that the Saxony Spinning Wheel was just like the one I am inheriting from my great grandmother, I got a wonderful extra detailed demonstration with some practical tips about using this type of wheel. I know my wheel needs lots of repair, but now I have a really good idea on how it works and what to expect. I am really excited about getting it now!

It was a very, very inspiring day, and I have had itchy fingers to abandon my knitting and sit down at the sewing machine and hear it whirring along…. but I have been good and am working hard to not get caught up in another round of startitis! There’ll be plenty of time this winter for the quilts, and I need the time to formulate the colorways and find the border and backing fabrics anyway. The Innu sweater has only 3 inches of stockingette to finish the sleeve, and for a quick mental break I knocked off a matching ribbed toque yesterday. As one of my travel knittings this week, I’ll take along the matching mitts and get them finished up too, and this project will be complete.

It was a very good day.…

Knit on…
kate

Big bang theory!

My week ended with a resounding bang – quite literally! And then we were stuck. Perfect! Par for the course all week!

Picture this if you will. A lovely Saturday night dinner with friends at their new apartment over-looking the city, great view of the Peace Tower all lit up (this is not my pic – I haven’t mastered night photography yet on my camera):

Lots and lots of laughs, maybe a few bottles of wine (ok, a lot of bottles of wine!), and fabulous food! And even dessert – yummmm!!! What more could you want? And so it was with great reluctance that well past midnight we headed home, our hosts accompanying us to the ground floor to guide us through the apartment shortcut to the back parking lots.

Lots and lots of giggling as we piled into the elevator, punched the buttons, and headed down. We didn’t notice that the annoying female voice that usually calls out the floors in French and English was not saying anything on this trip. That should have been our first clue. We called her Emily on the way up, the same as the equally annoying Emily, the voice of Bell Canada who can never answer your questions and just keeps saying “Please repeat your question!” “Please repeat your question!” until you begin screaming obscenities at the phone in total frustration until a real person answers. But I digress.

The next thing we know - BANG! You know that kind of bang – when the elevator lurches and you grab the handrail, and as the lift jerks up short you suck your breathe in and try to remember how many floors you had left to go before you die in some horrible heap on the floor? The kind where you wonder if the myth you have heard about jumping just before you hit the ground really works. The kind where everyone stops talking for a second, and then everyone starts talking all at the same time, but with a slightly hysterical pitch to their voice? Yeah. That kind of BANG!

Now I could go into a dissertation about how you really get to know your friends in these kinds of scenarios, and just how much time you would really like to spend in a confined space with them, but actually these friends are real peaches, way too much fun and I adore them all, so no worries there. The more time spent with them the better! The girls promptly and calmly pulled off their party shoes and party clothes be damned, plunked down on the floor to wait it out, all the while congratulating our selves on our foresight to use the powder room before heading out! My personal regret was that I had no knitting with me in my party purse to pass the time!

The boys were far more interesting to watch! Like 14-year old boys, they immediately began investigating the doors and reachable mechanisms to see what could be opened and how contact with the outside world could be accessed. The speaker to the night watchman was barely laudable, and so it took several tries to ascertain that the superintendent was on his way. But even that wasn’t enough to satisfy a few of our McGyver types who continued to pry open doors and levers, press every button they could see, ring the alarm several times to express their frustration at the slow response, all the while their wives imploring them to stop sticking their heads down between the floors looking under the elevator and leave it be least we end up with half a person should the elevator slip again! A few schemes involving a pen, a paperclip and some duck tape (thankfully no one had any) were suggested and rapidly discarded.
24’s Jack Bauer and his ability to escape from any situation might have been mentioned. The appropriate movie clips were recalled and reviewed in detail, and again discarded as they all had fatal endings! Aside from the fact that the cell phones wouldn’t work except to entertain ourselves by taking pictures of ourselves sitting on the floor, the girls’ only real lament was that the wine bottle they had with them was empty. Note to self – always carry a spare full one for the road elevator!

Eventually the superintendent arrived, only to inform us that the Otis Elevator Company www.otis.com emergency service was not answering their page – now what kind of emergency service is that?? Otis, you got some sp’laining to do!! Several theories were presented to explain the lengthy communication delay, but the one we all stuck with was that since it was after all Saturday night (in the wee hours of Sunday actually), the on-call elevator guy was likely down in the Ottawa Byward Market http://www.bywardmarketsquare.com/welcome/index.htm having just snagged something pretty to take home and was not going to give it up to come rescue us any time soon!

This realization really spurred the boys into action. Taking matters into their own hands, they convinced the superintendent that if they could have something to reach the second floor door levers, we could open the second floor doors and crawl out. Understandably the superintendent was reluctant, but after listening to those boys I think he realized they were getting out one way or another, with or without his help, and so in the interest of keeping his elevator more or less intact, after some delay a stepladder was eventually slipped through the crack from the first floor into the elevator. In 2 minutes it was all over. The boys released the lever, pried open the second floor doors and just like in the movies, we not so delicately clambered to safety.

Totally exhausted and still quite giggly at our little escapade, we hugged our hosts, teased them mercilessly about the big bucks they were spending for safety and security, and piled in the car and headed for home. Rest assured this will be one evening that is sure to become more embellished with every telling at future gatherings!

Bang Knit on….

ps.Wwe heard this afternoon that our hosts got stuck in the same elevator again later on Sunday afternoon - Otis, you in big touble now!!!

Swoosh……….and you’re all wet!

Sometimes when you’re just paddling along, and everything is seemingly in rhythm with you, busy yes but manageable, some bored omnipotent way above says its time to have some fun, and whoop, suddenly there’s a wave big enough to swamp your little boat!

One day your kid is fine, the next, not so much, and you are left dripping, wondering what the hell just happened, and why didn’t I see that Tsunami coming? I’m supposed to be a pro by now, ever vigilant, eyes in the back of my head, supposed to be able to see ruffled waters from a distance and head for the shoreline before irreparable damage is done. I am not a first time mom you know! I’ve been here before, and passed the dunk test, got the tee-shirt. It’s not pretty to watch me work, but whatever! I can get the job done. Usually….. But complacency will get you though, every time. I can’t detail the specifics here – I don’t have the liberty, but can say it is totally un-related and not remotely like the other kids incident who lifted our cell phone this week, thankfully - but it will suffice to say that the precariously balanced boat we have created holding child and parents was tilted and teetered wildly and the boat was dangerously full of water for a few minutes this week. But as usual we are bailing madly, lifejackets tied on tight, praying to be back on an even keel, and headed for the rocky shoreline as quick as possible.

Of course this metaphorical swamping of the boat has effected my peripheral judgement and attention to detail, and careless errors have appeared in my creative efforts. This time the second sleeve of the Innu sweater had to be ripped back as I had lost count of the decreases and not correctly copied the changes I made to the first sleeve. One more night and I sincerely hope it will be finally finished – groannnn……this was a weekend project, my arse!

And then I really committed a cardinal sin. No thinking going on at the time for certain! As previously mentioned, I have inherited some quilts and quilt tops from my mum. One quilt is completely finished, but when I inspected it last night I discovered some staining and potential surface mold that I knew I needed to treat carefully before adding the quilt to my linen cupboard. But this quilt, my mum told me, had been washed before on the gentle cycle in the machine as it was not so old and not done by hand. Without taking a good look at the construction I focused on the staining and treated the areas and placed it in the machine on gentle in cold water. AND WASHED IT.

Bad, bad move. It would seem this quilt was barely machine quilted, in only a few key places, barely enough to hold the cotton batting from shifting, really more of a comforter, which, had I taken the time to really examine the “quilting”, I would have realized the bathtub for soaking was the only place this baby was going. I’m certain now it has never been washed before. The washer promptly bunched up the cotton batting inside and when I took it out it was a lumpy bumpy stringy mess. The machine pieced top was ok, one small seam gave way, but repairable, and the backing faired equally well, but the batting was totally “FUBAR-ed”. Really – that’s the only accurate description for it! Now it is strung out on a line to try and dry out. The only plus note, most of the staining came out. Now I will have to take it apart and replace the entire batting and re-quilt it too. Double groannnn…… like I don’t have enough projects to do already!

In an effort to find a port in the storm, I cast on a little sock. No I don’t need another project on the go, but maybe the knitting gods will have some pity for my wretched wrung out state and ignore me for a bit and I will go knit on my simple mind-numbing sock in the corner, with my lifejacket on..…

Knit on…..

kate

A sweet little break from the madness….

A lovely peaceful weekend was had around here, with lots of down time, and blessed sleeping in! Ohhh bliss!! Even the errands list was kept to a minimum and accomplished with plenty of time to relax and knit during a rainy Saturday evening.

And knit I did, that Innu sweater sleeve was done over 3 times before I was able to accommodate the irregularities in the yarn and come close to the measurements in the pattern. Now that I am happy with the decreases and sleeve width, the first sleeve is finishing nicely, and the second sleeve and neck with follow in rapid succession.

The only downer to the weekend was local neighbourhood kids (oh yes, we know who you are – were you surprised to here our voice when you answered the phone?) breaking into our car and lifting our cell phone. What makes it ironic is that most of the kids we know or see around the neighborhood have fancier cell phones than we do, so why they would even want it I don’t know, and ours does not even have re-programmable SIM card so it is totally useless to them. Very annoying, and just more money to have to shell out to replace it. That’s another extension to my stash diet!!!

I took a run to Michael’s and avoided the yarn sale like the plague and picked up the frames I came for, and made a hasty exit. Amongst my acquisitions from my Mum was a copy of a favourite baby picture of me (no modesty here!), and my actual 1^st baby dress shoes, so I needed a shadow box to put the two together. I’ll need DD1 to cut a custom mat for me – she’s a wizard at cutting mats - and that will be one small project done.

And I had a chance to check out Fabricland for some cotton backing to finish my Grandmummy’s quilt tops, but had no luck finding something I liked. No worries, just more excuses to keep checking out fabric stores!

And speaking of quilting and fabric acquisition opportunities, my mother-in-law has invited me to go with her to the Upper Canada Village Quilting Show Sept 22. You can check out Upper Canada Village site for more info: http://www.parks.on.ca/village/07091701.htm. I’m really pleased to be going, especially now that I have the two quilt tops to finish into quilts. I’ll be looking for inspiration for the backings and bindings, and I see on the website there is to be a vendors market as well. I know I will break my stash diet if I see just the right fabric to go with my quilt tops.

That’s all…Knit on..

kate

The knitting is good….

I have been knitting like crazy this week! Very therapeutic, just the thing after last weeks frustrations! My project tracking list is getting some new check marks as small projects are cast off! Everything seems so much faster after the lengthy blanket knitting stretch! Yes I know, I need to remove the ticker bar and add a project tracker on the side bar! Susan – you and I gotta talk about those nifty bar graphs you got going over there at http://www.thefabricofherreality.blogspot.com/. Me, I’m not so up on the HTML things…

And speaking of The Blanket, it has been delivered to the Bank St. Yarn Forward http://www.yarnforward.com/ca/index.html for the afghans for Afghans campaign. I must admit, I was very sad to see it go. I have enjoyed looking at all the amazing blend of colors and fondling the edges as I walked by it every day. I am resolved to make another randomly coloured blanket in the same manner, probably for my own collection, out of the bits and pieces from my stash. It won’t be quite as sturdy as 100% wool is, since it will be a mix of acrylics and wool blends and odds and ends, but perfectly serviceable for our home and climate needs.

Another pair of Moda Dea Sassy Stripes Swish socks are off the needles, but one has a badly grafted toe (not sure what happened, but it is very lumpy, yuck!) which will absolutely need re-doing in a quiet moment over this coming weekend. And the lovely Moda Dea Sassy Stripes Vintage colorway has been cast on for another pair for DD2.

My Innu children’s sweater for www.findingfortygatheringknitting.blogspot.com fall campaign is well under way – a little adjusting is required as I am not getting good tension or gauge with the irregularly spun wool I am using, but some fiddling with the measurements and all will be well shortly. I am hoping to finish this one up very quickly, with a matching hat and mitts to follow. If I get down to the Creative Festival in Toronto in Oct, this children’s set will be my free entry ticket!!

The Every Other Tuesdays Are For Knitting crew is back in full swing for the fall. Borrowing an idea from my mum’s weekly scrabble nights, I’d added a dinner hour to our evenings together – made it easy on all of us – they bring their own entrée for the microwave, straight from work if they want and I provide the salad and all manner of beverages! Woo-hoo!! Worked like a charm and everyone was happily fed and relaxed with the days frustrations left behind when we headed to the family room to knit. This was a very good idea, which shall be continued!

And I got a bonus evening spent with more knitters this week, at the Ottawa Sticks and Hooks Meet-up last night! Susan brought her Kauni cardi kit (look here: http://www.ruths.dk/kauni%20egt%20opskrift.pdf ) to show us – OMG – it is more gorgeous than I ever imagined! (Precious told you she’s an enabler, yes we’s did!) I simply couldn’t stop fondling the yarn – I’m sorry I forgot my camera – it is luscious and the self-striping colorways are amazing to see in person! She’s fearless, that Susan, and makes me ashamed of my own hesitation in jumping into the ring! Scary stuff this steeking business, never mind the two stranded knitting!

Still I’m on a stash reduction diet for a bit longer yet, although I know myself well enough that I won’t be able to hold out if I get to either the Creativ Festival or the Inspirations Needlework show. So no Kauni kit for me, well for the moment anyway!

And coming up fast on Monday Sept 17^th is the first fall meeting of the Ottawa Knitting Guild – for details go here: http://www.ottawaknittingguild.ca/Public/Home.aspx - hope to see you there! The theme for this meeting – socks – how perfect is that!

Knit on………

kate

ps. Did you see the quilting magazines Susan??? ...hummmmm......

Well that was quick…

This fun moment was brought to you by, well, the Moments scarf by Araucania! It is all finished and I have already worn it to work this morning. It was so gloomy and cool at 6:20am this morning that I was really glad to wrap it around my neck as I walked through the big parking lot on my way in.

Now I will definitely make another (DD1 has made a request for a longer version), but I think I may have to sub some different yarn, as the Nature Wool is a bit scratchy, and although I can tolerate it just fine, especially when it is damp and chilly, the DD’s have no love for scratchy things. I’ll have to dig through my stash for something appropriately softer.

Now one minor annoyance is the fact that the pattern calls for 2 skeins of Nature Wool and 1 of Magallanes, but the scarf actually only used enough yarn from the second skein of Nature Wool for one row plus the bind off row. My finished measurements were very, very close, in both finished length and width, which I’m calling meeting gauge (it’s only a scarf people!).

However, that extra skein annoys the*bleep* out of me to no end! At $9.99CDN a skein, this yarn is not cheap (not saying should it be, it is so beautiful!), so why on earth wouldn’t the designer alter the pattern to use only one skein of both or conversely much more of the second Nature Wool skein. I now have 99.9% of a skein of yarn that I really didn’t need to purchase. Of course it will go into the stash and will not go to waste. Anyone who saw my Afghans for Afghans blanket knows I know how to use up a stray skein of two of wool, but still I resent being stuck with a lone skein with no plan. Had the scarf only taken 1 of each skein (2 in total) I would have preferred to spend even more money on two more skeins in another colorway for a second project. I wish designers and yarn manufacturers would remember when they were just knitters on a budget, trying to get the most bang for their buck at their LYS. Surely it would remind them to adjust their patterns to actually use most of the purchased quantity so that knitters would ensure they get their monies worth at the completion of a project.

Still, it is lovely isn’t it?
In other, but related, knitting news, my entry into Ravelry truly is like falling down the rabbit hole! Countless hours have been lost last week surfing around and learning the ropes and I’ve already fallen victim to my first ever yarn swap over here at KTS4. Such a cool idea and so excited to be a part of this lovely swap! I’m already planning the yarn part of my swap parcel and can’t wait to find out who my swap partner is and where she’s from so I can get to the shopping part!

And, oh lucky me, my lovely in-laws treated me to a wonderful gift certificate for Yarn Forward http://www.yarnforward.com/ for my birthday! Do they know me, or what?! However, with the previously mentioned tumble off the wagon for want of the above scarf, I think my stash diet is officially over for the season. With the Inspirations Needlecraft show http://www.inspirationsneedlecraft.com/ coming up in 10 days (new venue this year – when it comes to yarn, fabric and needlecrafts, bigger is definitely better!) and our annual OKG http://www.ottawaknittingguild.ca/Public/Home.aspx vendors market next Monday evening, I’m doomed and refuse to set myself up for certain failure by trying to keep to my stash reduction diet. It would be like trying to eat turkey without all the trimmings – not a chance that’s ever going to happen! Better that I should diligently resume my diet after these events are over and done with and my need to buy yarn for the long cold winter is sated. Therefore this week will be spend culling together all the projects I have wanted to do but haven’t purchased yarn for, and compiling the necessary purchasing information for my ultimate shopping pleasure!

Knit on…

kate

Well that was quick…

This fun moment was brought to you by, well, the Moments scarf by Araucania! It is all finished and I have already worn it to work this morning. It was so gloomy and cool at 6:20am this morning that I was really glad to wrap it around my neck as I walked through the big parking lot on my way in.

Now I will definitely make another (DD1 has made a request for a longer version), but I think I may have to sub some different yarn, as the Nature Wool is a bit scratchy, and although I can tolerate it just fine, especially when it is damp and chilly, the DD’s have no love for scratchy things. I’ll have to dig through my stash for something appropriately softer.

Now one minor annoyance is the fact that the pattern calls for 2 skeins of Nature Wool and 1 of Magallanes, but the scarf actually only used enough yarn from the second skein of Nature Wool for one row plus the bind off row. My finished measurements were very, very close, in both finished length and width, which I’m calling meeting gauge (it’s only a scarf people!).

However, that extra skein annoys the*bleep* out of me to no end! At $9.99CDN a skein, this yarn is not cheap (not saying should it be, it is so beautiful!), so why on earth wouldn’t the designer alter the pattern to use only one skein of both or conversely much more of the second Nature Wool skein. I now have 99.9% of a skein of yarn that I really didn’t need to purchase. Of course it will go into the stash and will not go to waste. Anyone who saw my Afghans for Afghans blanket knows I know how to use up a stray skein of two of wool, but still I resent being stuck with a lone skein with no plan. Had the scarf only taken 1 of each skein (2 in total) I would have preferred to spend even more money on two more skeins in another colorway for a second project. I wish designers and yarn manufacturers would remember when they were just knitters on a budget, trying to get the most bang for their buck at their LYS. Surely it would remind them to adjust their patterns to actually use most of the purchased quantity so that knitters would ensure they get their monies worth at the completion of a project.

Still, it is lovely isn’t it?
In other, but related, knitting news, my entry into Ravelry truly is like falling down the rabbit hole! Countless hours have been lost last week surfing around and learning the ropes and I’ve already fallen victim to my first ever yarn swap over here at KTS 4 http://knittersteaswap.blogspot.com/.

And, oh lucky me, my lovely in-laws treated me to a wonderful gift certificate for Yarn Forward http://www.yarnforward.com/ for my birthday! Do they know me, or what?! However, with the previously mentioned tumble off the wagon for want of the above scarf, I think my stash diet is officially over for the season. With the Inspirations Needlecraft show http://www.inspirationsneedlecraft.com/ coming up in 10 days (new venue this year – when it comes to yarn, fabric and needlecrafts, bigger is definitely better!) and our annual OKG http://www.ottawaknittingguild.ca/Public/Home.aspx vendors market next Monday evening, I’m doomed and refuse to set myself up for certain failure by trying to keep to my stash reduction diet. It would be like trying to eat turkey without all the trimmings – not a chance that’s ever going to happen! Better that I should diligently resume my diet after these events are over and done with and my need to buy yarn for the long cold winter is sated. Therefore this week will be spend culling together all the projects I have wanted to do but haven’t purchased yarn for, and compiling the necessary purchasing information for my ultimate shopping pleasure!

Knit on…

kate

A little bit of a pity party going on here, and not much knitting...

Now it’s no secret – I like to collect things. I have collections all over the house. Fabric, yarn, favourite books and magazines, photos, travel mementos, clothes, china, baby things, quirky objects, and bits of family history, saved as families merge together. You know the usual things collected over a lifetime of living.

I never really thought of it as a big logistical problem (even though our moving trucks have progressively gotten bigger over the last few moves) until last week. Now I know I will need to re-think my collecting strategy, as well as my record and document keeping habits. Streamlining, keeping only what I really love and will use and regular purging will have to become part of my annual rituals. Labelling and good storage areas will be key. Not only will I need to do this for myself, but for the unfortunate soul who may have to someday have to come with me or behind me and sort through all my stuff.

Last week, my siblings and I spent the week helping my mum pack up her most recent home of 35 years. Some 7 plus decades of living are contained in this home, even harbouring some up-packed boxes of our move there so long ago. This is a hard and heavy job I won’t wish on anyone, accomplished with the usual bits of family bickering. Emotions running under the surface about leaving the farm, some of us sad, some ambivalent and some just wishing it to be done and over, all things our family does not do well at expressing. We are a largely un-sympathetic bunch, each with set ideas about how things should go, and getting consensus about anything is rare and difficult, especially under trying circumstances such as this. I fear we will fall away even further from each other now the family farm is gone, and there is no longer one large place to gather the clan. It is an uncomfortable premonition of things to come.

It was both bittersweet and an exercise in complete frustration, the change from a very, very large family country home to a smaller village house. So many memories and yet, so much of it is no longer useful to mum or the family. Too good, too historical, too important, too whatever to throw out. But what to do with it all is the question? We have a wide variety of material styles in our family ranging from pack rats to those who prefer newer materials and clutter free spaces. Those who already have too much can’t take it, and those who have the space don’t want it!

The memories part of it is truly wonderful, taking time to learn more about the history and character of our family and key players that brought us where we are today, the people we know as our parents but who are also persons in and of themselves with a whole life history we have never known as their children - but it slows the whole packing process to a crawl and time is running out. And then there is the actual decision making part – agonizing over what to do with the boxes and boxes and boxes of mementos, photos, and documents that mean something only to their keeper. And at what point to they become a burden rather than a wonderful memento? They have no relevance to anyone else especially outside the family, but we are afraid to destroy them in case they have some kind of historical or sentimental value.

Sadly many large items, like the antique baby crib, which is no longer considered safe for children, will end up in the dump as there is no room in the new home and there is no practical need elsewhere for it. Yet it is sweet, the slim iron bars painted antique blue (probably lead paint, though!!), a patchwork baby quilt tucked in around the mattress. It has sat in the corner of my sister’s room for 35 years housing teddy bears and dollies adding sweet quiet charm to the room. Very sad to see it go off to the dump.

And then there are oddities like the antique organ in the family room. A monstrous and ornately carved piece in working, if not good, order, left over from when my mother was the organist for the local church and practiced at home. She doesn’t play any more. No one wants it. We can’t even seem to give it away. We’ll be calling 1–800-JUNK…. Somewhere someone is saying “Waaaait………….”, but we are out of time to source alternatives.

The obvious answer is to give away things like photos and documents to family, but then the problem is just perpetuated to the next generation like me. Some things we have sent back to family members who have a passion for family history, and hope that they have a better organizational plan than we did. Other things we have dumped and hoped not to regret it down the road. And some things that have meaning to us now we divided up and have taken with us back to our respective homes, and now it is piled on the dining room table, waiting patiently for us to decide where and how it will be used. Still much of what was left was just re-packed carefully for the move, with the understanding that it may stay packed until the next time sorting and moving on is required.

The rooms and rooms of old Quebec furniture – since we are grown children with fully furnished homes of our own, we have little room for much more and Mum not yet knowing what the new house will hold and what will look best. Well, it’s all going to be moved over, placement decisions to be made on site. It’s gonna be very squishy in the new basement for a while!!

I am happy with the mementos Mum has given me, and I am beginning to understand how it happens that our collections grow over the years as each generation passes down the objects they consider important and worthy of safe keeping. The treasures I brought home, amongst other things, include some family photos of my Great-grandparents and war medals of my Grandfather, the sign from my Grandmummy and Grandpop’s cottage on the St. Lawrence where many happy summer vacations were spent, two quilt tops made by my Grandmummy, which I hope to complete, and also her knitting yarn basket and her very old family swift in need of some minor repairs which will give me great pleasure to use.

And bags and bags of table linens in excellent condition, belonging to Grandmummy, some older than my mother, collected over a lifetime, and used every Sunday and on special occasions when good table linens were prized and precious and ironing was part of everyday life. We almost threw them all out, knowing we would never use them these days, all that ironing and starching. But at the last minute, that textile-freak and fibre-y part of me couldn’t do it, and dragged them home, to see what I could do with them. Perhaps I’ll keep some, and perhaps I’ll sell some to collectors who will appreciate the care that is required. Perhaps I’ll give a piece or two to her great-grand daughters.

Now I must go stare at the boxes in my own basement and contrive a plan to deal with them and weed them out in the least stressful manner. I am resolved not to do this to my children.

Please, knit on......