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Turning into my Gran?

(117 Posts)
agnurse Fri 18-Feb-22 00:05:59

I love cross stitching. My great-nan and great-aunt did quite a bit of embroidery - not specifically cross stitch, but other types. To me, cross stitching is a connection to my heritage.

Chrissyoh Thu 17-Feb-22 22:49:03

Redhead56

Chrissyoh My gran and mum made their own pastry as I do. They initially topped it with pastry so it was more of a filler. Both my grans had ten children my mum had eight so the Scouse had to go along way!

?
My Mam was one of 10 kids - she then had 6 - Scouse definitely had to go a long way didn’t it ?
But I still love making it & giving it to my 3 & their kids smile- x

Serendipity22 Thu 17-Feb-22 22:33:28

I too have 1 of those 'Mushroom tools' it was my mums, its still in her sewing box, it might have been my grans originally.

I never think to use it ( slap on wrist for me ) and i actually darned some socks of my husbands, they were a thick pair and the heel had gone.

Glad i read this thread because i will remove the 'Mushroom' from my mums old sewing tin and pop it in my own.

smile

Redhead56 Thu 17-Feb-22 22:16:06

Chrissyoh My gran and mum made their own pastry as I do. They initially topped it with pastry so it was more of a filler. Both my grans had ten children my mum had eight so the Scouse had to go along way!

Chrissyoh Thu 17-Feb-22 22:05:04

Redhead56

I still make a lob Scouse (stew) like my grandma and mum made it. In a pan until it breaks down put it in a large bowl and cover it with pastry and finish it in the oven. I still make a big pan of it coming from a big family it's a habit I can't drop.

Hello Redhead56
I’m a Scouser - 71 yrs old - & still make Scouse - no pastry involved from my neck of the woods though - served with beetroot - delicious - especially in Winter ?.x

Urmstongran Thu 17-Feb-22 21:49:56

I played ‘hide the thimble’ recently with my grandchildren (using a ping pong ball). They asked me “what’s a thimble?”.
?

Redhead56 Thu 17-Feb-22 21:47:39

I still make a lob Scouse (stew) like my grandma and mum made it. In a pan until it breaks down put it in a large bowl and cover it with pastry and finish it in the oven. I still make a big pan of it coming from a big family it's a habit I can't drop.

Smileless2012 Thu 17-Feb-22 21:36:44

I have my gran's darning mushroom too Grandmabatty and her thimble, needle book that my mum made for her when she was at school, her sewing scissors and her hand Singer sewing machine with all the bobbins and needles.

Pantglas2 Thu 17-Feb-22 21:31:47

Sooooo impressed Meg, I bow down in awe because I couldn't find a darning mushroom ( methinks my dad has it, along with grandmother’s Singer sewing machine) but I’m sure I could do a passable job on a pair of woollen socks if I had to!

In other respects I’ve been my Nain (grandma) for a long time in that I make my own jam etc, air beds for hours before making them up and never go empty handed when I’m invited to somebody’s home for the first time.

All these things are so old fashioned nowadays (my DD and DGD smile benignly when I do these things) but I hope that hospitality and small kindnesses will become their habits as they mature!

Callistemon21 Thu 17-Feb-22 21:29:33

Meg54

A "mushroom" tool must have been a bit out of my family's reach.
I remember a thin lid from a jar of something, so you could pull the yarn through.

I'd send it to you if I hadn't thrown it out years ago, Megs!

Callistemon21 Thu 17-Feb-22 21:28:47

Urmstongran

Not me, but Himself mentioned the other day he’d not had ‘cabbage and ribs’ for 50 years (since he married me I suppose) that his gran used to make in a big pan on the hob. Said the meat ‘fell off the bones’.

Poor neglected man.
I’m a mean woman.

DH makes a hotpot just like his "old Gran used to make".
It's very tasty!

Urmstongran Thu 17-Feb-22 21:11:07

Not me, but Himself mentioned the other day he’d not had ‘cabbage and ribs’ for 50 years (since he married me I suppose) that his gran used to make in a big pan on the hob. Said the meat ‘fell off the bones’.

Poor neglected man.
I’m a mean woman.

Meg54 Thu 17-Feb-22 21:10:38

A "mushroom" tool must have been a bit out of my family's reach.
I remember a thin lid from a jar of something, so you could pull the yarn through.

Septimia Thu 17-Feb-22 21:09:33

I have the darning mushroom that I inherited. I used it just the other day to mend DH's almost new socks which had got caught on something. Not quite traditional darning but you can't see the mend! Very satisfying.

Callistemon21 Thu 17-Feb-22 21:00:58

Funnily enough, DH and I were talking about darning socks just yesterday.
His Gran used to darn his socks for him beautifully. She had a kind of mushroom shaped darning tool.
So I did try when we first got married but they became very lumpy.
He mentioned darning yesterday and I said, very firmly, "They're in the bin".

Grandmabatty Thu 17-Feb-22 20:57:48

I have my gran's darning mushroom! I haven't used it for years though. Good for you.

Meg54 Thu 17-Feb-22 20:56:00

I am shocked to admit that today I darned a sock.

The sock was from M&S bought just before Christmas, (part of a set) with a voucher that was about to expire.

I am shocked because:
A. Marksies socks are so flimsy, after 11 weeks!!!
B. I actually took the time to do it
C I had the materials to do it
D. I remembered how to do it
E. I even lamented that coffee jar lids were now too deep to act as an appropriate, whatdoyoumacallit .
F. It took about 5 minutes.
G. I now have the contents of my "sewing stuff" drawer spread out on the dining table, which I know will take a week to organise before putting away again.
H. And I still feel kind of smug about it - even though I am not short of socks.
Anyone else ready to confess to Grannie moments?
Meg.