Family revisited

I met a cousin yesterday on Ancestry.com.  Kyle is the great, great grandson of Isaac Jones and I am the great, great granddaughter of Isaac Jones--3rd cousins who have never met.  My grandfather, John Corwin Shaw Sr., visited Kyle's great grandfather, Isaac Jones Jr. in Sentinel, OK back in 1927.  In case you're totally lost, Isaac Jones Jr. was John C. Shaw's uncle--his mother's brother.  During their visit, Uncle Isaac shared all he knew of the Jones family history with his nephew, who recorded it in his journal, an accounting of his daily activities that he maintained throughout his life.  I am thankful that he took the time to visit distant family, to listen and record memories of his elderly relatives and copy the dates from their family bible.

I am knitting a shawl right now that creates a spiral design, each circle building on the one before.  I like the symbolism of it.

Funny how families too, are knit together, by the stitches created by ancestors long dead.

Big Brother: Jordan Wins!

Garage Sale Bargins--Yippee!

One of my favorite things about springtime and nice weather (which we're lucky to ha v ve some of this week in Eugene--summer doesn't reliably arrive in this part of the country until July) is garage sales. Best of all is finding a garage sale that has yarn, good yarn, and especially really inexpensive good yarn. Today I found such a garage sale. Three bags of wool, alpaca and cotton yarns, and a cane thrown in, all for $5!

And I'm off (so to speak...)

I didn't really think that I would ever be a "blogger". I've thought of myself as the "write things in your diary and hide it under the bed" kind of girl. But I suppose there are those things that are meant to be kept to yourself (and for whomever inherits your journals), and there are those things we're meant to share. The latter is what you'll find here. No deep dark secrets will be shared (as if I have any), no amazing revelations.

Mostly, I will be writing about knitting, and possibly about how my life has changed since medical problems related to Marfan Syndrome, 3 years ago, left me unable to work, requiring me to retire from my former 20 year career as an RN, 13 of those years spent working as a Hopice nurse. Finding a new way to find meaning and purpose in my life has taken time.

Being a mother is of course rewarding at times, but more often than not leaves me questioning my qualifications for the job, and seeing my own mother with new and more forgiving eyes. So I've searched for something more, and what I've found is knitting. More to the point, is a desire to share my love of knitting and other needlework with others, especially kids.

Last fall I started a knitting club at Edgewood Community Elementary School, and have had a loyal group of students gather each week to knit, crochet and enjoy each others company. We have had terrific support from the school, as we've been given a place to gather, had donations of yarn from parents and faculty, and most importantly the interest and support of teachers, many of them knitters themselves, who include knitting in their yearly lesson plans.

Now I plan to branch out further and begin teaching knitting classes. I am planning classes for this summer, with class subjects and times to be posted shortly. My hope is to not only teach kids a skill that has brought great joy to me, but to also fill that space in me that continues to want to contribute to my community.