Mother's Knitting needles

This Christmas we decided to pull all the X-mas labeled boxes down from the barn attic. There isn't any standing room, so it is a bit difficult. We were planning on seeing the kids in Orange Co.. and this was a perfect opportunity to take tree decorations to them.. Well, about 8 boxes went, and about 4 stayed.
The little square tag you see in the middle of the needles is the sticker from Super Yarn Store, "pay only  35.cents". That was one of my first jobs in Pasadena, while in High School. Wonder what we bought for .35.

I had been  looking for my Mothers leather knitting needle container, off and on, and there it lay at the bottom of one of the boxes... She had done all the tooling of the flowers, and the words on the leather wrap.. It reminded me of when I was a teenager. While watching T.V. we knitted sweaters. Mother enjoyed the intricate knitting designs, I loved to do colored patterns. ( I will post those photos later, yes, I have 2 sweaters left)

The case has deteriorated beyond keeping, so now I have a photo of it. Most of the needles were still in fine shape,  some are rusty, and the aluminum ones have pock marks where the out side coating sort of ate away..  I thought I would have to throw those away.. but then I started to think creatively... Why not use them for plant stakes?

I know the pansies don't need a stake,, but this will remind me in the Spring when flowers grow tall and I need stakes to keep them straight..  The other thing I have started to do as plates break or chip, is to put them in the garden also.. Love the color, especially at this time of year, when there are mostly brown leaves scattered about.

Mother died about 25 years ago... but there are always reminders, they turn up at unusual moments.
Memories are like that, something reminds us of the past, some pleasant, some not so pleasant. A New Year is coming, keep the happy thoughts, and learn from the times that were not so wonderful.