It Begins Today

I now know what I want to do now. I told Gene what my next "venture," just letting it ooze out of my rain and roll off my tongue. When I looked over at him, he was just smiling. I knew he liked the idea of what I was going to start and approved of the ideas that I had. Not that getting this approval was necessary, but it is nice to know that he thinks what I am doing is a good thing and that the way I want to do it IS interesting and does make sense.

My ideas:

• tree of life with some red french knots for apples . . . this may be 3 " tall and 2/3" wide
• around the tree put the symbols I have chosen for my immediate family
• Dad will be a Jack-o-lantern due to his Oct. 31 birthday
• Mom will be a teal/white/tan-ish plaid that reminds me of a skirt she had that I liked a lot
• Lee MUST be a catcher's mitt
• Grandpa Gaumer will be a high-top work boot . . for some reason I have a very clear memory of his boots . . maybe because I was so young when he died and I was at the level of his shoes
• Grandma . . . has to have something to do with crochet . . I got my love of it from her
• Myself . . . I'm not sure yet
• Aunt Ruth . . . I think an ear of corn . . .when I used to visit in the summer I can remember her making cornbread . . in a pan so it looked like an ear of corn. Now, I didn't care for cornbread then, nor now, but I LOVED hers. Heaven, I liked everything she made . .she was a good cook . . but the cornbread sticks out in my mind.
• Marilyn . . . now this brings a real ornery grin to my face . . . I want to make something that looks like a head with wispy curls . . . Marilyn went FOREVER without any hair and when it did come in it as thin and curly. I have a picture with she and I in it, I must have been 2 or 3, with a full head of long blond hair, and there was Marilyn, a year older with thin, short, curly hair.
• Debbie . . . she is like me . . . nothing really stands out in my mind for either she or I . . . so I think I will do something in purple, her favorite color, and the fact that her birthday is a month after mine . . I'm January 11, she is February 11.
• Aunt Helen . . .I want to do a sock monkey . . . how, I don't know . . . but is common joke between Marilyn Debbie and I about Aunt Helen making the 4 cousins sock monkeys one year for Christmas and ending up with a mess from the fiber filling they used in the 1950/60's . . more rubberized than soft and fluffy . . .she vowed NEVER to do anything like that again . . . she must have gotten that filling all over her apartment. Poor Aunt Helen . . she loved us all so much and we teased her unmercifully . . and she loved every minute.
• I FORGOT THIS . . . I want to do a heart in red with Mom & Dad's anniversary date on it
  

So, there are my ideas. Now to see which ones come to fruition.

This is what I bought on my shopping trip today:

1. 28 count cloth . . . Monaco by Charles Craft/Antique Whiter . . .I wanted linen but couldn't find it where I shopped so I am using this instead
2. 3" wooden hoop . . I always liked the smaller ones . . I an get closer to the cloth and thread this way
3. a set of size 26 tapestry needles
4. Dad's Pumpkin Colors: DMC 921 (orange), 699 (green) and 310 (black)
5. Mom's . . I couldn't find the colors to replicate mom's skirt, so I am gong to make a variation on a red Pendleton Plaid . . .Dad would buy Mom Pendleton Plaid for Christmas when I was a child . . . and it had to be red which was Dad's favorite color. Mom's colors are: DMC 321 (red), 803 (blue), 319 (green) and either 7644 (gray), 712 (off white) or plain white
6. Lee's catcher''s mitt . . . DMC 780 (golden brown for the mitt) and 801 (brown) for the laces
7. Myself . . I thought about doing jeans in DMC 4235 which is a variegated blue . . . but I'm might end up making an apple since I LOVE red and green together. My square might be the last one done.
8. Running stitch to divide the material into 1" x 1" squares: one of these three DMC colors ~ 644 (gray), 712 (off white/not quite ecru) or the variegated blue (4235).

It's now 9:17 pm and I really don't want to start making my squares tonight. So, when I wake u tomorrow, I will hope that it is nice and sunny outside so I can give my hands a GREAT washing, sit on the swing and divide my material.

Which reminds me . . I could always make Grandma a rocker since I spent almost every workday morning on her lap while Mom fixed Dad and Lee their breakfast. Or, a swing since I got my love for sitting in a porch swing from her also.

Signed,
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions