My grandma taught me to love Shirley Temple and Marlon Brando, Audrey Hepburn movies and Wheel of Fortune. We had tea parties and I'd help her water her plants. I loved days with Grandma Dot. She used to pick me up from Kindergarten and take me to get "pink ice cream" as I called it. We would see movies at PV Mall when there was a theatre there, and always check it they were rated 'G.'
Among many things, she taught me how to knit. I always used to watch her knit things, she had a special wicker basket she kept under a table in the living room. She'd knit while I watched Peter Pan or The Little Mermaid, I loved those movies.
When I got old enough she took me to Joann's and bought me my very own needles, and pink yarn. I was pretty bad at it, the rows were tight and uneven, but I was determined. Now I own about seven pairs of knitting needles, ranging from bamboo, to metal, to plastic.
I cried the first time I walked into Joann's after my grandma past away. I wanted to knit a beanie but I didn't know how to. The sales woman probably thought I was strange because after she showed me where the beanie knitting looms were, I started tearing up again.
Now as Christmas is coming closer than most of us are realizing, I remembered one tradition I did with my grandma. We'd knit 6' x 6' squares, and donate them to the Church of Joy in Glendale where a group of women would sew them together and make blankets for people living on the streets.
I'm making my first square of the season, and thinking about Grandma Dot. It almost doesn't seem right that Wheel of Fortune isn't on right now.