The shoemaker's kids

Lookie lookie at what I found on ebay. Teeny tiny little copper cloisonne medallions (1cm) in the Fuji pattern. That's so exciting! The larger one is the size of a quarter. The only issue I have with it is that it's been chemically cleaned, so now it's rough and nasty. How do you restore 50 years of patina?

The design is my family's kamon. It's called Fuji, but it has nothing to do with the mountain. It's wisteria. I happened upon it years ago, while reading East West Quilts. My brother, looking over my shoulder, grabbed the book and said "Hey, that's on our grandparent's grave!" Indeed it is, and we've been wearing it out ever since. My shoemaker grandpa would be proud. Or maybe he'd pronounce us all "Baca!" and shrug. No telling.

I later learned that this kamon is kind of the "one size fits all" crest-it's like being named Johnson or Smith. Ah, well, we still have a crest, and I am excited that I have the medallions. I need findings to make some Christmas gifts.

You know that old saw about how the shoemaker's kids never have shoes? Well, the same thing can happen to knitting grandmas. I have been remiss on grandkid knitting. Remember I have a stash grandkid? I tracked down the dress from the SOAK ad. (I had to buy the yarn to get the pattern-but don't think I want to make an alpaca dress-because you know it would get felted. You just KNOW.) I am working on it in Zarina. And I have to work on something for the small boy too, and Christmas stockings. Fortunately, all family knitting is relatively small. Like the people I have to knit for.