Socks a la Grape

I finished the socks, I finished the socks! Next time I'll make them shorter in the leg, because I have VERY shapely calves!! I used the Yarn Harlot's plain vanilla sock pattern, and my own (well, KnitPicks own) sock yarn that I hand-dyed.

In answer to Julie's comment on my last post, I think I just like everything. Except heights and speed and cold. Hence, no skiing for me. Both my grandmothers gardened, sewed and baked, and I think they were a big influence on me. My mom sewed some of our clothes, and made our doll clothes without a pattern. I always need a pattern, unlike my sister Betsy. Brat.

My Dad's mom, Grandma Ryan (she hated that - "Just call me Grandma!!!") also caned, refinished, scoured estate sales for goodies, crocheted, knitted, upholstered, made all her own draperies and curtains, collected antiques before it was fashionable and was even known to make her own bathingsuits. She also bowled, biked, swam, painted, played the piano and belonged to the garden club and her ladies stock exchange club. Her sister, my Aunt Lee, was a miliner. I didn't even know what that was when I found out. Whew!

My grandma Mimi (who is somewhere about 91 or so) had a bunch of kids, a bunch of grandkids, and eventually a small farm. She didn't have the city garden like Grandma Ryan, she had acres of stuff. It took me years to eat green beans after living with her. I can remember her finding a long lost zucchini and dragging it up to the house to show it off. Those suckers would get as big as the little kids. She took a part-time job when we were younger at a local dept. store in the fabric department. OMG. I know where I get the hoarding gene. When she and my Grandfather moved to a mobile home park, she had all the polyester material that had ever been made in her attic. I wasn't there to see this spectacular sight, but I heard about it. She also liked to listen to talk radio in the morning. Dan Ryan on the radio. I still hate talk radio. They would have recipes over the air, and she would keep a spiral-bound notebook in her small kitchen to write them down in. My sister has some of these notebooks (Mimi threw NONE of them away)and we found that Mimi would write down notes in the margins. Like what the weather was like that day (they were dated) and if it was someone's bday, stuff like that. It's so neat to read through them. My eldest daughter collects cookbooks, and fills spiral-bound notebooks with recipes. And like Mimi, she throws nothing away. She comes by it honestly.