New Free Pattern Links

I am currently changing the links to the free patterns. They will be stored in Google Documents and will be accessible by clicking on the name in the menu as before. However, when I am done just the pattern in PDF format will come up. You can then print it or download it. If you download a pattern it will show up in the Adobe Reader you are accustomed to. Save it and print it at your leisure. I should be done with the changes in a couple of days. More free patterns are coming so keep checking back.

Update

Well, once I got going I got done sooner than anticipated. All the patterns currently listed have links to a PDF of that pattern.

Things I Miss

Something came up the other day that brought to mind how much has changed during my lifetime. Some of the changes have been for the better, of course, but along the way we have lost some things I remember with fondness and I miss.

I miss summer band concerts in the park. If you lived near a military facility there was always a band. The highschool band was always available as well, and some communities had a community band made up of local residents. The members of the bands wore uniforms and played show tunes, a few popular songs of the period and Sousa marches. As the sun went down taking the heat of the day with it, you sat on a blanket on the grass, eating an icecream purchased from a vendor parked nearby while the stirring sounds of a march had you tapping your toe.

I miss the free fudgcicle stick. I don't eat fudgccicles anymore, but I miss the idea that with each fudgcicle you purchased was the chance to get a free one. Fudgcicles were an icecream bar on a stick. Some of the sticks had printed on them that they were worth one free fudgcicle. As you finished your icecream full of hope you looked at the stick and maybe even had your fingers crossed. Many my age have a fond memory of the moment they saw the brown imprint on the fudgcicle stick that made them a winner.

I miss lunch counters. Every department store used to have a lunch counter. Some of the more upscale stores had tea rooms or small restaurants, but Woolworth's , Kresses and stores of that ilk had lunch counters. The menu was limited and usually included tuna salad sandwich, grilled cheese and bacon, lettuce and tomato among other sandwiches. Chili was generally on the menu as well as cake, pie and cookies that looked like they had spent the better part of that year under the glass dome covering the display. These counters were the fast food of the day and gave young women an entry level job as well as providing supplemental income for married women.

I miss soda fountains. There was a time when every drug store had a soda fountain. Icecream sundaes in those special fluted glasses, covered with topping, nuts, and real whipped cream. Malts so thick you had to use a spoon, icecream sodas, root beer floats, who could resist. Even the soft drinks did not come out of a can but were made in your glass with the syrup and fizzy water. Kids hung out after school at the soda fountain, the girls together looking over the boys, the boys together looking over the girls. Then once fortified with some gooey creations it was time for the long walk home. The girls leaving together, of course,

I miss the cooler full of soda that always sat outside the Mom and Pop grocery or the service station. It was always full of an assortment of soda in bottles along with the ice keeping the soda cool. On the front of the cooler was an opener to pry off the bottle cap. It worked on the honor system. It was just assumed that if you took a soda you would step inside and pay for it. What ever happened to that concept.

These are a few of the things I miss. While some have been replaced with something similar as the lunch counter has been replaced by the fast food outlet, the atmosphere is different. The experience of rushing in, getting a burger, and eating in your car is not the same as a leisurely break at a counter with your fellow man.

New Pattern

Despite a very sore finger I managed to finally get a new pattern ready for listing. Best Friends is a doll you can make up in the face color of your choice. A toddler 10 inches tall when finished. If you would like to take a look and read a detailed description you will find the pattern here

Now I can get back to knitting for Christmas. We just got the news that a granddaughter and her husband had their second child. That makes fifteen great-grandchildren for my husband and me, but whose counting, right?

Time, Time, Time

Where does the time go? With designing, trying to get some things done for Christmas and family stuff, I never seem to have enough time.

I was eighty years old in May. One finds as one gets older that there are household tasks one can no longer do. Anything that requires a ladder is definitely out as is anything that requires one gets down on the ground. Down is easy. It is getting back up that is a problem. As my gift my family decided to come over and do those things we couldn't and were fretting about. The best gift ever. When they left every surface was scrubbed, vacuumed or polished. Every curtain taken down, washed and rehung. Windows washed, shelves and knick knacks cleaned. While all this was going on inside, some of these gallant workers were trimming hedges and trees, removing old ratty plants and replacing them with new. They even brought the food with them. It was a joy to see my family working together , laughing and teasing each other.

I did manage to work up a free pattern for you, however. It is a dragon hand puppet. You will find the pattern listed in the Free Pattern Menu. Enjoy.

Sayings From My Mother

When I was a child my mother had an admonition for every situation and an explanation for every event. The problem is that most were not true. I don't know from where they came, but here are a few of the pearls of wisdom bestowed upon me time and time again as I grew up.

1: Don't drink out of the garden hose. There are spiders in there. (Well, this one may have been partially true)
2: When it is raining it is because the angels are crying because some children were bad. (Try walking around all day with this hanging over your head.)
3: Don't put your knive gangplank fashion from the table to your plate. Germs will walk up into your plate. (Come on, Mom. Really?)
4: When eating watermelon, don't swallow the seeds. Vines will grow out of your nose. (I bought this, and watermelon was a constant source of worry.)
5: In the same vein, don't swallow your gum. Your ribs will stick together.
6: The best helping hand is at the end of your own arm. (A gem of good advice. Way to go, Mom.)
7: Last, my all time faborite. Don't pick your belly button. You'll come untied and fly around the room like a balloon. (Not a pretty picture.)

If your Mom had a gem or two she laid on you, please share them with us.

I finished the knitting mouse pattern Three generations of mice are represented from grandmother to teenager. Pattern is available at KnitPicks as a download. Tell me what you think.

Perils of Childhood in the 30s

With all the discussion recently about childhood vaccinations, I started thinking about how it was when I was a child. No vaccinations, of course, other than smallpox. Having what were called childhood diseases was a rite of passage. Oh, we did have one form of immunization. Your friend came over to play and went home early because she didn't feel well. A few days later you came down with the measles or mumps or whatever was going around at the time. Your Mom called the school and informed them you were sick, and would be out a few days. The school nurse then came to your house and checked you out confirming you had the measels or whatever it was this time. She left your caregiver instructions on your care, and on her way out posted a large quarantine sign next to your front door. Of course, everyone coming and going had been through this routine in their own childhood so were immune. I don't think much attention was paid to those signs except perhaps by curious neighbors who now knew what was going on in your house.

You were sick for a few days during which you got special little treats. Then a few more days to fully recover, and voila! You were now immune to whatever it was. Parents were not even upset with the family who let their sick child come over. The general feeling was to let your child get "it" then it was over and one less thing to cause concern. No one, not even the family physician, knew at the time that these diseases could have serious side effects sometimes leaving the child with life long problems.

Every child did get the small pox vaccination. You went to your local Health Department on the day the shots were being given, stood in a line, got up to the nurse and stuck out your arm. Pretty much like the flu shots of today. You got a slight swelling at the site of the shot and were left with a little round scar. Every person of my generation and several generations to follow can show you exactly where they got their smallpox vaccination. Our daughter who was born in 1962 was a member of the last generation to get a smallpox vaccination. The disease had been eradicated.

Injury was not uncommon. We did not have TV so spent our time outside running around and playing. This was during the depression so few families had the money to rush a child to the doctor for simple cuts and scrapes. Oh. a broken bone warranted a trip to the emergency room as well as an injury causing massive bleeding. Other than that, every family had a large bottle of iodine on the bathroom shelf. This was the standard for all cuts and scrapes. Vaseline or even butter was put on burns. No antibiotic ointments to prevent infection and certainly no tetnus shot. Those things are great, and I wouldn't want to give them up, but it is amazing the curative powers of a funny face when your mother draws it on your cut with iodine.

Patterns Online

Well, the patterns are now on Knit Picks. You can find the hand puppets pictured here. The patterns can be downloaded from the site and are very reasonable. Let me know what you think. Working on knitting mice at the moment. Lots of fun and they too will be available soon.