Tuesday, January 06, 2009

My Niftiest Christmas Gift

My mom is a weaver, and last year she made me a beautiful warm, wool afghan as a Christmas present. This year I asked for place mats. Here's a closeup of the result. Lovely, no?

The pattern has a story - it's one of the first Mom attempted, years ago. She chose it because of its name, "Sylvia," which is also my grandmother's name. The wall hanging she made has hung in our house ever since I was small - well, in the seven or eight houses where mom has lived over the course of those years.

Currently it hangs in the guest bedroom. So I get to enjoy it whenever I come through town. And now I can have the same thing, on my table! (That is, after we put away the Christmas stuff.)

So this is something that is simultaneously traditional and new, sentimental and practical. Nice!

7 comments:

Dean Smith said...

Hmm... Looks familiar.

BTW the book that you got on or about Christmas Day was from Jennie's parents. I made the purchase for them through Amazon.

Yer luvin dad

Anonymous said...

Interesting the gift that you enjoyed the most is the gift that was the most personal investment. It is kind of like a piece of her life is in it.

Megan Noel said...

she wove me a beautiful chenille scarf. i have worn it 3x already! your placemats are very pretty. i helped choose the colors - i hope you like them! seems like they would look nice in your dining area.

Gretchen said...

They're fabulous! But what ever will you do if they get food spilled on them? I'd be so worried I'd never use them - or are they just for pretty, anyway?!!

Either way, they're great!

Marti said...

Gretchen - I also have handwoven dishtowels, which were at first hard to dare to use. But like those, these CAN be thrown in the wash! And... since she only finished three of them, I may leave ONE not-so-nice one on the table for everyday occasions when spillage seems likely.

Anonymous said...

What a fascinating skill your mother has. That is so wonderful to have treasures from her around the house.

Marti said...

Yes - it's great to have mom-made stuff around the house! My twin sister is quite the artsy type too, so I (who generally resort to BUYING my gifts) am well supplied with homemade loveliness!