Of Projects and Pots

Since my last post had to do with growing old, I thought I'd post a picture of myself when I was young...and blond...and pastic. Actually, this picture is not me at all. It is a picture advertising a free pattern to crochet this little doll dress. The other night, while the rest of us sat vegging in front of something, my daughter, Catie, did a little search on the computer, found this pattern, and then proceeded to make it. I swear, her finished product looked every bit as good as this one, complete with little tap pants below the perky skirt. When she showed me, my mouth hung open.

As nifty as it is to have a talented little girl in the family, the even niftier thing is to see her continue a legacy her great-grandma Della began in her when she taught her to knit and crochet. Two and a half years ago, my husband's grandmother, Della, moved in with our family. Even before this time, she was always good about teaching the girls how to make so many of the things she was always keeping her hands busy with. Her projects included quilts & more quilts, cake decorating, the best pies you've ever tasted, anything to do with yarn, porcelain dolls, painted plates, spool dolls, and more things than I can remember. She loved to teach others the things she had learned, and Catie was one of her best pupils.

On our recent trip to Ecuador, I took this picture during our flight out of San Francisco. I was shocked to see she had made it on to the plane with those huge knitting needles in her carryon--apparently honkin' knitting needles aren't as dangerous as chapstick has now become! But I got a kick out of her knitting away on her scarf -- another tribute to her great-grandma Della.

Grandma has occupied many of our thoughts this summer as we had to say goodbye to her on July 10 when she left this life and went home to be with the Lord. She was 96 years old. We were privileged to have such a wonderful, godly example in our life. Those busy hands of hers managed to make almost 400 baby quilts for the Pregnancy counseling center alone, many more when you add in all the others she gave away. To see part of her legacy live on in the things she passed on to our family is sweet indeed.

The same week Catie crocheted the cute little dress, I had two occasions where I left things boiling on the stove until the water had completely evaporated and the contents of the pot began to burn. This too reminded me of Grandma as it was something she was often guilty of as well. I began to chuckle as I thought of both Catie and I, continuing in the path of Grandma Della, her with her projects and me with the pots. Grandma loved to laugh and I think she would have gotten a kick out of this observation--right after she exclaimed, "Oh my, what are you going to be like when you're MY age?!?"