Crafty Granny

I'm not just a pretty face...............

I recently was asked the question, "do I knit?" Well, yes I am a knitter among other things. I have over the years done: crewel, counted-cross stitch, needlepoint, crochet, theorem stenciling, sewing and cake decorating. I'm basically self taught, we lived in West Africa for four years and there was only so much reading I could do, I needed to do something with my hands. I met a wonderful group of women of all nationalities and we met several times a week, everyone was always working on something. For me it was sink or swim, learn and join in or spend four years, cursing the heat, the lack of water, electricity, the constant rain for six months of the year and the brutal heat and dust the other six months and children who just wanted to go HOME. There was nothing to buy there, so initially I became the resident seamstress, we made dolls and toys for the orphange. The first opportunity I had to get on a plane, I was out of there with a list of needed supplies and two empty suitcases!! I think my stash fetish began then, the fear of running out of something and not being able to jet to Europe to replenish!! Cake decorating came because there were no bakeries and when you have half a dozen children, they expect birthday cakes. A very talented woman, whose husband was with the U.S. Military Mission, started a Wilton cake decorating course. She was able to get the supplies flown in with the Misssion's food supplies. Try making buttercream roses in a 115 degree climate, not easy, if we had power every airconditioner was run a full speed, just to keep the icing firm enough to work with. Needless to say, when we returned to the States, I swore I would NEVER make another cake, if I could buy one. I didn't count on the fact that I had actually gotten to be a pretty good little baker and gourmet cook (what you can do when you have to!). So yes, I am a knitter, but I do have other talents, I've just run out of wall space and my daughters aren't into these "treasures", my son and his "Better Half" , Miss B, do seem to have an appreciation and I so enjoy passing them on to them. That, my friends, is a glimpse of a very small part of my life. Hubby Dearest is stil recovering from his surgery and has gone from quite and docile, to grumpy, uncomfortable and bored to death. I told him to take up needlepoint, Rosey Grier, the football player is quite talented, I got the "you've got to be kidding me look". Tomorrow, I'm going to start working on my escape plan!! That is after I bake Birthday cupcakes for Master W's party at school. How many parties do these children have??? No, I did not get much knitting done today.