Onward, to the crocheted things from my mother's hope chest:
I honestly am not sure what they were intended to be originally. Maybe tablecloths, maybe bed coverings. My mother stored them in the hope chest for, oh, most of my life, but sadly, they are damaged in all sorts of ways - stains, weak threads, etc.
Only one is intact enough to function as a tablecloth, and is the only keeper in the collection.
Meanwhile, I must report this as a public service to all concerned about attack furniture: The Dog Eating Chair is not the only innocent-looking yet actually carnivorous seating option out there. I give you...the dog-eating loveseat.
I blame that first tablecloth for my current spell of dizziness.
ReplyDeleteum, did Dudley make it out without too much trouble? Such a brave dog to risk his limbs on your furniture.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the cloths aren't keeper quality, but they are beautiful. Are any bits on the non keepers salvageable? Hope so.
I didn't try to salvage; I have no use for them and if the threads a foot over were weakened, how long would the rest of the structure last? It really is impressive work and from a historical perspective of the "handiwork of the working class Irish of the very early 20th century" I hate to pitch them, but they really are in crappy shape. I have enough family photos that need preserving, and I still do have a life in the here and now to deal with. If my mother, who was retired for 30 years, never got around to Crochet Preservation, I don't feel guilty for not taking on the job.
ReplyDeleteI did keep the one fully intact cloth that would be a great very special occasion tablecloth, and a few other small pieces of this and that. But honestly, if my mother couldn't bear to part with these things but also didn't want to use them for 30 or 40 years, I don't really think it's my responsibility to keep them too. I am downsizing drastically (from small house to hamster habitat at this rate) in the next year (as soon as the house sells, God willing).
Now, the photo of my grandfather playing on a minor league baseball team around a hundred years ago, along with his Distinguished Service Cross and Croix de Guerre citations, will be getting preserved professionally. Still looking for the medals themselves. I think they are in the safe deposit box I still haven't gotten into, but that's a rant for another day!
Must edit self - I am preserving my grandfather's stuff not just because he was a legit WWI war hero, but because all of his shit together takes up far less space than one of those crocheted cloths. It's not a comment on women's history vs. men's, it's a practical consideration.
ReplyDeletelol! Ok, I do understand and maybe it's time to go through my mother's hope chest, too.
ReplyDelete