Wood Shawl Pin

One Pair of Hands: One, two, or three pairs of hands?

Considering the number of times I show you someone els's stuff, calling this blog One Pair of Hands is a misnomer, isn't it? Today I'm at it again, displaying the work of two or maybe three pairs of hands. The man of the house has made this shawl pin from a piece of apple wood, collected after the pruning of one of our apple trees last year. That's one of Mum's doileys the pin is sitting on. I remember Mum making that doiley, many years ago, then tossing it to me casually and saying, "Here you are, do want a doiley?" What a question, I certainly did want it. I don't remember seeing her working from a pattern to make it. Mum had done so much crochet over the years that I think she had most of her patterns stored away in her head. The very nice box is more of the work of the man of the house. This was made from some good quality lining boards that he purchased from the storeroom at the woodwork club. The doiley under the box is a table centre, but the awful thing is I can't remember whether it was Mum or Nana that made that one. Nana was always tucked in a comfy spot working away on something and she loved the pineapple pattern, so it could possibly be hers. I'll take a proper photo of the table centre and post it another time. Sadly, I got so used to seeing all this lovely work about our house as I grew up that I didn't value it as it deserves and a lot of Nana's embroidery was used for everyday wear and got worn out. One day, long after Nana had gone, I realised that the well was drying up and so I put the remainder of her things away (though I know she expected me to use them and would have been hurt if I hadn't.). We're a complex mixture, we humans, aren't we?

Wood's library of standard medical authors

The Practical mechanic's journal

American medico-surgical bulletin

Textile traditions of Mesoamerica and the Andes, an anthology

The camera and darkroom