When Isabel was born my grandmother knitted this blanket for her.
She had made the same blanket for my cousin who is born in the late 80's and she claimed the pattern was made up from a blanket the Princess Diana had used for her newborn son Prince William.
She found it in a weekly magazine she read all the time when I was a girl.
The blanket is huge and rarely used. Isabel was a very warm child who always kicked off her blankets and got too hot if forced to use one.
I think she had it in her pram a few times when we were out for a Sunday stroll.
When Sofia was born in 2007 my grandmother had suffered a broken arm and could no longer knit such large items so instead she made up two doll's blankets based on the same pattern for both Isabel and Sofia.
The pink one is Sofia's.
I love that my girls will have a connection to my grandmother. I was almost 20 by the time my great grandmother passed away but she and I were never close. I'm sure she loved me but we never connected.
My grandmother however, is one of the most important women in my life. My parents were away a lot in the evenings when I was a child and I stayed with my grandmother and grandfather until I was old enough to be by myself, and by then I often visited them anyway cause it was so boring at home.
Until I moved into my own apartment in 1996 I think I visited them if not daily then at least 5 times a week.
My grandfather passed away in 2005 just a week after his 92nd birthday but my grandmother is still with us. She'll be 89 next spring and although not as spry as she used to be - she's started using a walker after a few nasty falls the past few years - she's definitely not one to slow down just yet. She's broken both her arms and last year she also fractured her pelvis after such a tumble. She was in so much pain before the doctors realised she had the fracture. It think it was well over a month after the fall before they figured it out.
Whenever we have a gathering I make sure to invite grandma. I hosted our annual turkey dinner on Saturday and she was there.
She always accepts the invitations with a heartfelt yes, "I'm so happy to be able to join you", and she loves the girls so much and it's one of her great joys to be able to be around long enough to get to know them and for them to get to know her.
She's also joining us for Christmas and I helped her make almond cups two weeks ago because "I'm not as fit as I used to be" she said. Then a week later she arrives for turkey dinner with two boxes full of cookies - ginger snaps, currant cakes, almond crisps and rolled lace cakes.
So much for not being as fit as she used to.
