Hooray for the fifth! It's time for our top five! After our top five knits list last month, the very clever melinda suggested that we list our top five favorite handmade goods this month. So we did!
Here are Melissa's top five:
1. this is the family tree neckalce by lisa leonard deisgns. brian gave it to me this summer to commemorate the 10th anniversary of our first date. it should be obvious why i am in love with it.
2.my great grandma knit this for me when i was a wee one. i've used it for every christmas i can remember. a few years ago it was falling apart and i sent it to my aunt for repairs. i hope it can last me another 33 years at least!
3. lindsey embroidered this bag for me and i can honestly say it is the perfect knitting project bag. not too big, not too small, absolutely *perfect* for socks, not to mention it has a squirrel on it! love!!
4. claire knit me this scarf for my 30th birthday it's the backyard leaves scarf by annie modesitt. i wear it all. the. time. you can tell because it is all beat up and rolly and careworn and loved (totally the velveteen rabbit of scarves). it could use a good re-blocking, but then i'd have to stop wearing it while it dried and i just can't seem to do that...
5. this is a fluid one - it's what ever current art my daughter is giving me. some days i get dozens of drawings and i honestly love each and every one. i keep them all. in a box in my basement. god forbid my house should ever catch on fire...
6. another lily art. she made me this "mixed media piece" in august 2008 and it's been hanging in my dining room ever since. i love it because it is everything i'm not (pink, bejeweled, sparkly... did i mention pink and sparkly?) and yet i love it with every fiber of my being because lily created it with love and gave it to me. it serves as a daily reminder of how much knowing lily has made me grow as a person.
Lindsey's top five:
1. Peter L. Smith, a Cup'ig artist from Mikuryarmiut village in Nunivak Island Alaska made this in the 70's. My parents bought this in Alaska (where I was born). We moved away when I was 2 and even though I don't remember Alaska I have always loved the history and heritage this represents.
2. This beautiful, amazing sweater arrived at my door just a week after I told Claire and Melissa I was pregnant. I was amazed that they made it so quickly. The tears of joy only increased when they told me that they made it a long time ago, when I first told them Michael and I decided to have kids.
3. My mom painted this for us as a housewarming gift. It is an abstract of one of our engagement pictures. The purple rectangle is Michael's face, and the turquoise J shape is mine.
4. My grandfather made this rocking chair. Mom was rocked in it and her dad taught her how to draw in it. Sarah and I were rocked in it and I am looking forward to rocking my daughter in it. Maybe she will even learn to knit in it. I can dream can't I?
5. The story [ jotted down on an envelope] reads: Quilt pieced by Great Grandmother Wyland, (Clara Osborn) and quilted by great Grandmother Florence, (Margaret Lang) Given to Dorothy W. Elder [my grandmother] by her mother, Grace Edith Florence Wyland, in 1937. This quilt contains many pieces used to make Grandpa Wyland's shirts when he was a little boy.
cmv's list:
1. my father is an incredible carpenter. he built me so many unbelievable things when i was a kid (a completely furnished treehouse, a jungle gym, a climbable puppet theater, a rocking duck...) and this dollhouse is one of my absolute favorites, especially because it's the only one that's really still around and being used by kid visitors. he built some of the furniture inside and mom helped with the ultra-cool interior design. you can see the utter joy on my face to receive such an incredible gift!
2. my grandmother was a master knitter. she never used a pattern in her life but knit sweater after sweater that were just stunningly intricate and gorgeous. i was famous in my elementary school for my sweaters. and the baby ones are even more adorable! thankfully, my mother has saved each and every one so that one day my daughter can be the 'sweater girl' of her own school!
3. one year when i was teaching second grade, my mother got it into her head when i was visiting her for thanksgiving that she wanted to knit something for all of my students for christmas. namely, 23 bears in TWO WEEKS! she is so incredible and to this day (3 years later) my students still talk about their bears.
4. i have always suffered from terrible earaches and one of the only things that helps that pain is a hot water bottle. so the incredibly thoughtful and outrageously creative and talented melissa created this pattern and knit it for me. so so sweet.
5. i love these circles! lindsey painted them and gave them to me years ago. they not only look beautiful but have such lovely messages- i love to play with switching them around to fit the mood of the day!
I think I can speak on behalf of the entire sandwich when I say how incredibly grateful we are to have such wonderful creative influences in our lives! (I'm getting all weepy writing this post today- I mean, how lucky are we!)
What about you? What are your five favorite handmade treasures?
-cmv & the sandwich
p.s. You can take a closer look at the individual images here if you'd like. And, as always, feel free to share your images with us in our flickr group.
