Happy Easter Bunny!

I always find these cute patterns for sewing stuff, but when it comes down to it, I don't sew much. I'm able to sew, but it generally takes more time than I have or want to spend on any one project. However, this week, I found this cute pattern for making a bunny keychain for Easter. When I printed out the PDF pattern, it was much too large for a keychain, unless you are the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk fame. Anyway, I had been wanting to do a stuffed animal decoration and the size was perfect. When I got home, I remembered having a bunch of fabric squares gifted to me from my mom. I think they were leftover from a quilt she made once, so I sewed 16 of them together into a 4x4 square and traced out the pattern. I also had some fabric leftover from a green checked shirt my mom had given me, but didn't fit. I think it was the same fabric that I used for the money cuff from an earlier post. I sewed the bunny, right sides together, leaving an opening at the back for stuffing and the tail. After it was stuffed, I added the pom pom (made by wrapping yarn around a fork), a button for the eye, and a piece of knitted lace around its neck.

Here's the story about the lace. It was knit by my great-grandmother. She was nearly blind, but knew how to knit this lace by feel. I was told she knit yards and yards of it. I have quite a bit. I also have quite a few  of her old steel knitting needles. I'd been looking for something to do with the lace and thought it might look nice on this bunny. I really like how it turned out and am looking forward to displaying it this Easter.

Connecting with my past.

I've been thinking and thinking about knitting lace. So, after some research and recommendations, I bought myself some thread and lace needles. I have a couple of different options in mind.

I stopped by my folk's house and mentioned this to my mom and she said, "Oh, I remember my grandmother knitting lace." and she digs through a cabinet and pulls out a whole bag of knitted lace from my great-grandmother. She thinks she might be able to come up with the pattern too. Anyway, above is a photo of the lace and below is a page from my baby book.

My great-grandmother was Fora Bolier and she was born on August 17, 1860 in Scherpenisse, Netherlands. She married Adriaan Kaashoek when she was 25 and he was 42 on November 6, 1885. At some point she had children and immigrated to the states. She died in September, 1948 at the age of 88.

I googled her name this morning and came across these dates on a distant relatives website. He put me in touch with another distant relative who I have yet to connect with. Interesting stuff this geneology, but even more so is the possibility of knitting the same lace that my great-grandmother knitted.