Cutting Edge...

I took this photo a few months ago. I was cleaning out the work drawers in my studio and realized that I have amassed quite a collection of scissors. You already know I love pincushions and all things acorn, but even I didn't realize that I'd been collecting scissors!

You'll see my beautiful green-handled Kai scissors. They have a serrated edge which holds even the slipperiest fabrics. There are Gingher scissors of all types and sizes, along with dressmaker shears in two sizes, antique Sheffield scissors and a treasured pair of embroidery scissors in a tooled sheath that I purchased when I owned Stitches in Wisconsin.

There are scissors for applique' work, machine embroidery work, a pair that leave a pinked edge, and there are pairs of snips, large and small. There are bent-end, curved tip and hooked to get under the tiniest, finest stitches. There are scissors that fold, too.

Arrrgh! As I looked at my photograph, I realized that the beautiful rabbit embroidery scissors that were a gift from my blog-bestie, Shell May didn't make the shoot. In my defense, they're attached to the gorgeous pincushion that she made for me, so I keep them in a needlework case that travels from room to room with me. I promise to share them separately another day.

I also forgot my heavy-duty, needlepoint canvas-cutting shears and my scissors used just for cutting multiple layers of fabric for those raw edge quilts and garments. They're safely tucked in the back of a drawer in my sewing cabinet so I missed them.  The latest addition to the collection - a small pair of embroidery scissors with a British flag paint job - didn't make it into the shot either. Next time.

In my defense, I will remind you that I have three different sewing/serging machines that reside on three different cabinets, so it's hard to keep them herded into one organized group. In the interest of efficiency (yea, that's it!), each table has its own set of scissors (and needles and threads and other tools). That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

What do you call a collection of scissors anyway? A herd? Or a flock? How about a "litter" or a "pride"? Hmmmm. I think I like that one.

Are you a collector of special things in your work room? What do you find yourself looking at whenever you head into a quilt, needlework or fabric store? Certain tools, like rulers? Come on. Spill. I won't tell a soul. Your secret will be safe with me.

In Her Hands...

She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. - Proverbs 31:13

If you've followed my blog for a while, you've read that my mother-in-law, Evelyn, was an accomplished needlewoman. These are some of her sock darners - now mine. Reminders of a time and place when part of a woman's homekeeping skills included repairing her family's socks.

Handsome told me that Evelyn used to knit argyle socks. Knowing that, I'm sure that she took special care to keep them in wearable condition. In those days, you didn't throw away a damaged sock. It was, instead, repaired.

I love to make socks, and know how much goes into creating a pair, so I have a great respect for Evelyn's ability to make them using the detailed argyle pattern. How I would have loved to sit knitting with her, but we never had the chance.

One of my favorite family photographs.
Evelyn, with Handsome on the right and his brother on the left.

When I hold these tools, I imagine them in the hands of my elegant mother-in-law. I can picture her sitting in her favorite chair with a basketful of socks awaiting repair. I can see the bits of yarn she would use to weave a new heel across the well-worn wood of the darners. I can hear Handsome and his brother teasing her, and her good-natured responses. I can imagine the socks being restored to their former glory in her hands.

She was a woman who loved her family deeply, and cared for them, above all else, her whole life. These tools are precious to me because they represent that devotion. They also remind me of a more genteel, innocent time. I like that.