I learned how to knit because of and from my maternal grandma. When I was 11, my cousin and I spent the summer with my grandparents at a bungalow colony in the Catskills. My grandmother and her friends there used to sit in the shade of a pine tree and knit, crochet, and needlepoint, so before I spent the summer I asked my grandma to teach me how to knit, so that I could sit with the ladies and work on a project of my own. That summer Grandma and I knitted sweater vests for each of my 2 brothers... I'd work on one, and Grandma would zoom past me on the other, and then after a while we'd swap to even them out. That was also the summer I started calling the ladies there the Scary Ladies, since they all yelled a lot (they were hard of hearing), but at least the knitting part worked out :)
I didn't keep up with the knitting past that summer, but picked it back up in high school on a fluke. Soon after, my grandmother on my dad's side decided one day that I needed to learn how to crochet too. After one afternoon I'd learned all my stitches and we'd crocheted very non-functional orange-and-green purse. She lived (still lives) near my house, and we used to get together to crochet every once in a while. She made the nicest chenille pillows for her couches, and of course finished them herself. Grandma is old school, she can sew and everything.
I got my start cross stitching in the most random manner possible - a class at the library's after-school program for middle and high school students. I was in middle school. It took forever to finish that project, but it's one of the few things I've actually framed and hung on my walls (the rest languish in a stack).
My mom and aunts all learned how to knit, but it never stuck. I think my Aunt E even tried cross stitching once - she showed me her half-finished project - but she is definitely not a cross stitcher. Maybe crafting skips a generation in my family? My cousin I, who lives in Fairfax, VA, started cross stitching this past year, so when I go visit her this month or next the plan is to have a stitching marathon. And of course go shopping - can you believe she has like 5 stores in her area? My LNS is 45 minutes away!
My mom called me at work at around 1 o'clock today (Thursday) to say that Grandma (my dad's mom) fell, broke her wrist, and was in the ER with my mom. She didn't need me to rush over there or anything, it wasn't serious and my mom was with her, but I should stop by after work. Grandma is in her upper 80's, and her short term memory isn't working well at all. I caught up to her in the hallway, as she was waiting to get checked into a real room for an overnight stay *for observation*. My uncle had gone home, and she was just chilling out but very out of it. Her arm was wrapped loosely, but when asked where she was the answer was not "the hospital". The nurses and other assorted staff were very nice, they told me what was going on, moved her into the new room, and got Grandma all set up.
A little backround:
Up until about a year ago, whenever my cousins, brothers and I would go visit Grandma in her apartment we'd always have ice cream, that was the routine. She always had like 8-10 different flavors, sprinkles, and cherries - Grandma is German, so she does everything meticulously. And don't even think about politely refusing, the only option was 3 servings or just 2.
It's sad that Grandma probably won't remember much from today, and was very disoriented, thinking that she was at home. She also forgot that her wrist was broken. A couple of times. But it was really sweet that she kept offering the hospital staff (and me) some ice cream.
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