Resuming a tradition

You know it's been too long since your last post when Blogger makes you sign in. Sheesh. I hope you enjoyed a wonderful, relaxing couple of weeks in the meantime. I've been eating, reading, playing, strolling, road-tripping, knitting, border-crossing, puzzle-piecing, sewing, trying new hair routines, and letting the cat sit on me for hours. I love Christmas vacation.

But let's resume, shall we?

My Oma made a lot of afghans. She made at least one, if not two of them for all her six grandchildren, for friends at church, for babies, for who-knows-who-else. That's why many of my clearest memories of her, aside from the ones in her kitchen, are the ones with her sitting in her chair in the living room, with her dog Teddy nearby, and a basket full of colorful yarn next to her. When I would stay with her for an afternoon, there was always at least an hour devoted to knitting - namely the hour when "As the World Turns" was on. She knit quickly, often without looking, using the continental method (known for its speediness). Her signature afghan pattern was a rainbow pinwheel with Red Heart yarn she purchased at the grocery store down the street. She didn't design any particular color scheme - sometimes it was alternating colors, sometimes it was a hodgepodge of bold or pastel colors. We all loved the results.

With the remaining stash she made us slippers. With pom poms. We wore holes through them and she made us more. 

It's been over a decade since she left us, and I couldn't tell you the last time I wore anything adorned with pom poms. This Christmas, I felt the urge to bring back an Oma tradition. I couldn't post this full photo until after Christmas when these things were safely on Mom's feet (though you might have noticed a preview of it in an earlier post):

I made another pair for Dad, too.

They knit up so quickly that I suspect more are coming. If you'd like to try this old-fashioned pattern yourself, find it here.