Thursday, September 24, 2009

More Candy

I've got a good two and a half hours of alone time this morning, during which time I plan to drink tea, have a second breakfast, and KNIT. Bliss! Unfortunately, the downside is that this afternoon I'll be accompanying Phil to the hospital, where he'll be having surgery on the FrankenFinger to repair the tendon and nerve damage he suffered last week. The surgery is fairly simple, apparently, but the recovery will be long and drawn out, natch. He'll be wearing an Arm Brace from Hell (I think that the technical name for it) for the next 12 weeks, with his hand completely immobilized for the next month. No more Guitar Hero in this house for a good long while!

So today I want to talk about buttons. When the Fall Twist Collective came out a few weeks ago, I was immediately smitten with the Piper hat, and thought wouldn't it be great to find a kickass vintage button for it. Then when I finished Amelia (pictures coming soon, I promise!), I had a really particular idea about the kind of button I wanted to give her just the right finishing touch. I had buttons on the brain, people, and it was time to pay my mother a visit and hijack her Bucket o' Buttons.
Ever since I was a little girl, I have coveted this bucket. I mean... just look at it! First off, it's got CANDY on it. Not only that, but it's got this whole illusion thing going on where the bucket has a picture of another bucket, which has another picture of a bucket on it, and so on and so on.... Fascinating (you know, when you're seven).

And in it were hundreds of what I considered to be jewels for me to sort through and categorize and count and play with. Honestly, getting my hands on this bucket was always a special treat, so I was really looking forward to diving into it now and finding the perfect vintage buttons to give my projects just the right effect.

Now, I've got to be honest. Most of the buttons in there weren't that great. I'd say about 80% were my grandfather's old dress shirt buttons, your standard white plastic schtick.

But there were a few in there that, even though they didn't work for the projects I had in mind at the time, I still got a kick out of looking at. And who knows, I might just find the right project for them someday.
Happy Knitting Everyone!

6 comments:

kate-the-enabler said...

Well - that was a nice surprise - I'd sort of forgotten that we were waiting for the button bucket story....worth the wait. But no perfect Piper button? Does that mean you'll have to go SHOPPING??? Phooey ;)

Good luck with the surgery - sorry to hear about the length of the recovery period - just remember we're here if you need anything (and that includes shoe tie-ing etc., should you need it Mr. Hide...)

Ali P said...

I have my Nanny's buttons too. An ice cream container ...your's is way prettier. LOL
what were jewels as a child now seem kinda cheezy and manky...lots of plastic. Where are all the beauties that used to live in the bucket??? sigh... I think someone made off with them before the bucket got to me.

Anonymous said...

I had the romantic notion of having a button vase that would sit on my (immaculate) dresser and sparkle with all its shiny jewels. Then I remembered I a) have 2 young boys, b) have a really messy bedroom, c) hate spiders and would FREAK OUT if I were to spill out my buttons on the bed to go through and something crawled out, and d) how annoying would it be to pour out each time and what I lost some?

I now have a button bin, one of those toaster-oven sized rubbermaid containers. It's about 1/2 full 'cus I went on a $60 spree at Value Village a few years ago, buying up all their bags of assorted buttons.

If you ever make anything nautical and need those perfect little brass buttons- I'm your gal!

Alrischa said...

Oh... 12 weeks for one quick cut doesn't seem very fair. Poor old guy! You're going to have fun tying his shoelaces for him, hey?

Have a great time button shopping ;)

birana said...

Poor phil! No more guitar here.. We would be sad like this, no knitting! Which him to be better fast.
An nice buttons and button candy pot ;)

Montreal Mama said...

Hope Phil's recovery is quick! Get him velcro shoes like back in kindergarten so you don't have to do laces! :) Or even better - slip on shoes!! That's what I wear now, cuz I can't tie my shoes with a baby in my arms...!

Love the button stash. How often are you allowed to raid your mom's stash?