Congratulations 'Give Away Winner' - and remembering....

Thank you for all your comments regarding the 'Lantern Scarf' my models and the Blog Interview.  The winner of the 'Lantern Scarf Pattern and Yarn Give Away is Becks.  Becks has already been knitting her little girl a hoodie in the same yarn, so now she can have a matching scarf too :) 
I used this Random Number Generator here.
Yesterday, 17th November,  Becks wrote a touching post on her Blog Here at 'Knit Sew Hooked' it is called beginnings and talks about her learning crafts from her Grandmother.  Yesterday would have been my Grandmothers Birthday.  Kathleen Annie Maude Kettle.   We all called her Nana.  I would have a hard job describing how fantastic my Nana was.  It was Nana who encouraged my love and knowledge of crafts and cookery.  I can not remember a time when she did not have time or patience for me...and I was enough to try the patience of a saint!  She made many sacrifices for me both in time and money.  I secured a place at a university 200 miles away from home in 1991.  I had been seeing my Grandmother practically daily.  One day she seemed a little uneasy and she shared with me she had a problem with her breast.  That generation really didn't like to discuss their bodies.  She allowed me to examine her and she had a huge lump.  It turned out it was Breast Cancer.  She refused surgery as she was elderly and infirm, but with medication the cancer was kept at bay.  As she lived to her late eighties her health suffered she got diabetes, she had minor strokes, causing confusion and demetia and in the end she also had cervical cancer.  She ended her days in a Nursing home, safe and medicated.   It was very hard to go to University, but I traveled home each weekend, to be with my family, dogs and my boyfriend at the time (who would be my ex husband, Henry's Dad).  In my second year at University I had the chance to go to the USA for two months on Teaching Practice.  We would be there in the depths of Winter.  Nana knitted this fantastic Aran for me to take and it has survived 19 years so far and looks almost as good as new.  The miracle of this Aran is it has stretched with me, so it still fits.

Now only knitters would know the love and care in each stitch.

If I am cold or poorly I love my trusty Aran.

I realise how much Nana's wisdom and example has shaped who I am today.  If I am wrestling with a situation I often think 'What would my Nan say or do?' and it is usually a sensible option.  She was a feisty independent lady.
I have one picture of Nana with Henry she passed away before he was a year old.  This photograph was taken on Henry's First Christmas Day.  Her favourite saying to me was "You'll get old some day."  This photograph lives in Henry's room.

I have loved Winnie the Pooh for years but never read the ending, when I did it made me cry!  I didn't know Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin had to say goodbye when Christopher Robin was a big boy!

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard"
A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

I am sure she would have been an avid reader of my Blog and she would be offering up her constructive criticism willingly.
I know many of my readers are Grandmothers, some are brand new grandmothers, some are patiently awaiting the title with with an imminent bundle of joy, I think you all do a fantastic job.  x
God Bless 'Nanas'.  I can wait a while before I am one!