Sugar Bunny Boulevard

B is for Buttons

When I was 17 and got married and left home I took a jar of buttons with me.  I took some of my mom's buttons.  Buttons that she had gotten from her grandmothers and various other places.  It was the thing to do, I thought.  Dresses and coats and shirts wear out.  Good buttons do not.  My mom was raised to be frugal - to recycle clothing - to keep and save and reuse what you can.  She passed that same philosophy to me.  She's a wise keeper of things ... or maybe I should say she's less of an impulse buyer than I am.  I have a house full of stashed things.  She has more like a few boxes.

So as I was saying, When I was 17 I went to the cupboard and got an emptied washed and saved-for-just-such-an-occasion Hellmann's Mayonnaise jar.  With a metal lid.  And started a button jar - since I would soon be leaving home.

A tiny sample of my button collection.

I took some of Mom's buttons.  Big and small.  Plain and colored.  Shell and plastic and metal.  Over the years I have used some of them but not many.  I'm a sentimental keeper and couldn't bear it if I used a precious extra pretty or special button that got lost or damaged.  It's a little like a memory book.  See that pink flower button in the picture above?  It's one that I added a few years back - taken from a dress that my daughter Katie wore out - it was a thrifted dress but I loved the buttons and it reminds me of Katie when I see it.  I probably have the dress fabric stashed away somewhere too.

For some reason I especially love the ones with threads or fabric still attached.  Like they had to keep this button but didn't take the time to snip off every thread.  So funny to me.  I'm so meticulous about things I would have snipped away every shred of evidence of its former life.  The back side of a shell button is usually so much more interesting than the front too, don't you think?

This little animal button is another favorite that I'll probably never use.  Is it a dog?  Sheep?

So a few weeks ago something happened that surprised me.  I had been trying to decide what color of Cascade 220 to use for the EPS that I want to knit for myself.  I had seen a pale lavender heather that I love but Twist didn't have that color.  Nothing else really "spoke" to me as The Color so I was waiting.  For something.  Waiting.  Apparently for inspiration.

Enter Inspiration.

When I saw these green glass buttons at Twist I had to have them.  And they inspired me to instantly KNOW what color yarn to use.

It just so happens to be the same color of green heather that I made Emeline's EPS sweater with, which was a complete but pleasant coincidence.  I haven't started my EPS yet but I look forward to it.  I'm working on a 2nd small one the same size as EPS1 so that Lila Pearl can have one while it's still cold this year.  She'll probably just inherit ones from Emeline for the next few years.

So that's it for today!  I'm doing some yarn dyeing today and hoping to order more sock yarn to dye for the shop.  And - to my surprise - I'm thinking of writing up a lace pattern.  Still gotta get the Westwood scarf pattern written.  Much to do.  Not enough hours in the day.

Everyone have a wonderful week and take good care of every little thing.  :)

XOXOXOXOX

A is for Arin

No, I didn't spell that wrong.  It's not Aran.  The letter A is for my sister, Arin.

 

I was nine years old when my sister Arin was born.  When Dad came home after she was born he said that she had at least four chins.  I think she grew out of them.  heh

Arin was the flower girl in my first wedding at the age of 8.  I left home and moved to Texas and never spent much time around her when she was growing up.  I visited with my family and saw her about once a year or sometimes twice a year after that.  Christmas, Spring Break.  Various occasions in between.  Every visit was fun and created great memories.

My sister Arin is grown now, obviously, and is a beautiful woman.  She is talented in so many ways and I am happy and blessed that she is my sister.  She is not only beautiful and talented, she is also generous, thoughtful, kind, intelligent, resourceful, and very independent.  Everything a woman could wish to be.

February 2005 (that little one is Emeline!)

When Arin was in high school she was often (or was it always?) the lead female in the school drama productions.  Most memorable were Maria in West Side Story, and Cinderella (I think they were picking these productions just for her).  After playing Cinderella she was virtually a local celebrity.  It wasn't unusual for her to sign autographs for little girls at the grocery store when they recognized her.  heh  The only production I ever saw in person was West Side Story and it was one of the most intensely moving crazy emotional things I ever experienced.  I sat in the front row with my mother and they used the area just in front of and beside us as well as the stage for some scenes.  At the end of the story when Maria was threatening to shoot herself she was standing there over Tony's "dead" body which was laying on the floor about two feet away.  The entire place was dark and a bright spotlight was there on Arin.  She was so dramatically convincing that I was very overcome with emotion.  But I couldn't actually cry and be disruptive... she was only a few feet away and it could have been quite distracting if I really let go.  My sister was standing there about to shoot herself!!!  I could hardly hold back my emotions and tried to stifle myself from crying out to the point that I was shaking, nearly convulsing, and my chair was moving around.  Looking back it's a little bit funny but at the moment it was really crazy.  It was just a play.  When I told her about it she said "Wow, thanks!  What a compliment!"

She was in several other high school and civic productions as well as a summer dinner theater production of Oklahoma in which she played Laurey.  Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Fiddler on the Roof (twice - once she was the fiddler because she also plays the violin), Damn Yankees, Snow White, Guys 'n Dolls... way too many list.

 

Arin is also a very talented musician.  As I mentioned above, she plays the violin, learning the Suzuki method.  She plays the piano and joined the high school band in her later years playing the trumpet.  I believe she was the concert mistress for the Jackson Symphony (Michigan) while still in high school.

Now she's still my little sister.  But has been to college and has been very successfully selling advertising for a major television network in Detroit for about seven years.  That sounds so small but it's a very competitive industry and quite a rat race.  She handles the stress amazingly.  It's too bad there is so much stressful competition because (for lack of a better way to describe this) I think it stifles her creativity.  It could be a much more rewarding career on the creative side without the competitive and corporate stress.

Arin is my sister who is getting married in June.  She is my only sister and I'll always feel happy and blessed that she is.

Today is Arin's 31st birthday!!  If you remember, she was here visiting last year in January shortly after her visit.  I made Argosy as a gift for the occasion.

Arin is a very fun Aunt!

Arin is coming back to visit on January 17th - I'm sure we'll have more fun and take more pictures!

Have a Wonderful Happy 31st Birthday Arin!  Maybe I'll let you take Argosy home with you this time.  :)