OP SHOP SWAP PARCEL HEADED OFF TODAY ....

I'm so excited about the Op Shop Swap.  My parcel has gone .... is off in the mail to my recipient, Charlotte at The Hours Between.  She has already contacted me and let me know that mine is on it's way.  I'm hoping that she enjoys the things that I sent.  I've never done a swap before and hope I've met the criteria okay.  It was so much fun and I'd definitely be involved in another swap.  I would so love to share a picture of one of the things that I made, but will wait until my recipient shares.

During my travels around the various Op Shops I came across this knitting book above and I love it.  People don't knit for babies the way they used to, or at least not to the same degree.  I love little knitted dresses for babies and this has a couple of cute ones in it.

My family are great knitters, or at least we used to be when we were younger.  My mother, grandmother and great-grandmother all taught me to knit and I loved it.

The nicest memory I have of knitting in our family is a story my mother relates of how at 8 months into her pregnancy my mother had gone to one of her doctors visits at the public hospital .... and the nurse came into the room and started to check my mother to see how the baby was going.  Mum had only found out at 4 months that she was actually pregnant.  The nurse was looking very puzzled and mum started to get worried.  The nurse then went out and called the doctor into the room to examine my mum and her comment to the doctor was that she "could feel two heads".  This was mum's first pregnancy and so she had visions of a two headed baby.

Without further ado mum was sent to have an x-ray to see what was going on .... after many an anxious moment, mum was informed by the doctor that she was having twins.

As my grandmother tells the story my mother was in shock.  She rang my father and told him that he'd better sit down, and then to proceed to tell him that they were having twins.  My dad was apparently very excited about the whole thing, as he really wanted to have children.

They then proceeded to walk down the street bumping into people along the way .... both of them were so excited.

My grandmother then went home and started knitting another of each of the baby jackets and things that she had already knitted in anticipation of a second baby.  Don't know what colours she knitted, but in those days they didn't have ultrasound scans and so would have had no idea of the sex of either child.

I have lovely visions of my mum and grandmother happily chatting about the impending arrival of my twin sister and I.