Sunday, July 12, 2009

This one's for you, Mom!

Today's post is half about knitting and half about a certain Norfolk Island Pine. First, the pine. When I was baptized, my godfather gifted me a Norfolk Island Pine. It was tiny, and as I was growing up I watched it grow into a 5 foot tall tree. We even decorated it for Christmas, and each summer moved it outside to enjoy the Wisconsin weather. It was cumbersome to move, and my mom even "lent" it to my dad's office for awhile. I know she was getting sick of it, but I promised her that as soon as I had my own place, I'd take the tree off her hands. I really liked it and liked the fact it was exactly as old as I am. Anyway, here's where the story gets a little fuzzy. I'm not sure if the tree never made it back from the office, or if the Wisconsin weather was a little too windy, but on one trip home from college, the tree was no longer there. I was bummed, to say the least. But today, all that changed. I purchased the little beauty pictured below, and in 23 short years, I'll have my own 5' pine tree to decorate every Christmas!


Now, for the knitting. I'm still working on the vest, but it is going quickly, despite the fact that I have to make it at least 4 inches longer than the pattern calls for to accommodate for my ridiculously long torso. I also keep messing up the diamond pattern, resulting in a lot of mistake fixing with the crochet hook. I am getting really good at fixing mistakes with a crochet hook, though!


I also have a new market bag in the works. It was special ordered by some of Em and my customers at the market. Em is working on sprouted grain breads for them, and now I've been contracted to make a bag with lots of color changes and a new open-work pattern. I'll scan and post a sketch soon!

2 comments:

  1. To set the record straight...the pine only lasted a short time at Dad's office. I rescued it when I realized that they built a wall where there had been a window, and it had been months since the poor thing had seen daylight. It had very few branches. i'm sorry to say the tree met its demise while we were remodeling the living room. The job took longer than expected, and we had nowhere to put the tree (which was also about 5 feet wide!). It didn't survive the cold weather. Maybe you should blame it on Dad's surgery, which he scheduled in the middle of the remodel!

    Anyway, I'm glad to see you have replaced the tree. In 23 years, you'll see just how hard it was to take care of. I'm pretty sure Tom gave me the tree when you were born because I admired the one he had, which was even larger than ours, but never had to be moved. I think he was waiting for me to see reality, as you will eventually, but enjoy the tree and the memories. It will like bright light, but not direct sun, and remember to keep it watered when the top two inches of soil dry out.

    Love, MOM

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  2. Also, maybe you should be thankful for ever having a pine in the first place...no one ever gifted me a plant.

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