Thursday 28 January 2010

Buttons of Miscellany

A friend of mine had a grandmother who collected buttons, which were squirrelled away over the years, snipped off shirts and sweaters that were outgrown or headed for the rag pile. One night when she was visiting Toronto, we had a couple of martinis and she told me about them. How old they were, how pretty, and how she couldn't' bear to give them to goodwill. "I'll take them!" I said. "I always need buttons."

So.... she sent them to me. Along with some yarn as wedding present (How awesome is getting yarn for a wedding present?! Hooray!!)

 This in an incredible amount of buttons, people. And these are just the ones in the 'white buttons' bag.  Now look closer- I've flipped them over so you can see their backs in the second shot. Do you see what I see?




They are shells. the vast majority of these white buttons are made from a white and pink shell. I want to say they look like conch, but I'm not sure. I'm not up on my shell nomenclature.They have this substantial weight to them, you can tell right away they aren't plastic. And then there was another giant lot of coloured buttons, all shapes and sizes. I've taken a few shots of my favourites:


I can't wait to use them!! I foresee a lot of button embellished projects in the future....

Erica and I went to Tango Palace Coffee Company recently. It's my new favourite coffee joint!! Tonnes of bakery goodies, nice and cozy, unhurried atmosphere, and only a few doors down from The Purple Purl. If Erica hadn't totally called me out on exploring somewhere new, I might never know how great Tango Palace was. They have a hot chocolate menu that rivals a starbucks coffee menu. That's pretty fantastic in my world.


 Here's Erica knitting away at the collar of her cabled seed stitch cardigan- it's already gorgeous, and it isn't even off the needles yet!


Tomorrow I fly out to Chicago, to visit Eliza and have a weekend getaway in the Windy City. Report to follow!!

27 comments:

MaryMary86 said...

The buttons are truly amazing!! What a great stroke of luck!!

Kim said...

that collection of buttons is amazing! makes me wish I had a grandma. have fun in Chicago--it's one of my favorite cities!

Anonymous said...

woot!

(ps- those buttons are pretty amazing...)

erica-knits said...

Yes, those buttons are so amazing. Thanks again for a wonderful knitting night at a fabulous cafe! Have fun in Chicago!

all style said...

hi julie, my grandmother did the very same thing and i got the buttons when she passed away, all in pretty vintage tea tins.

i'd love her to know how much i like them and how glad i am that she saved them all so carefully.

Jen (pieKnits) said...

Wow I love buttons, what a gift!

Christine said...

What a wonderful gift, I wish I had a Grandma that had a button collection.

Unknown said...

I love that you got awesome vintage buttons as a wedding gift. Very cool. My grandmother has a similar collection, it's so fun to go through them once in a while!

Next time I'm in Toronto I want to set aside an entire afternoon to browse at the Purple Purl and then try as many hot chocolates as I can at that cafe!

Farrah said...

You have totally hit the button jackpot- that is truly an almost priceless collection.

It is so crazy, but I was in Toronto this past summer and while I was fabulously traveling by streetcar to find yarn shops, I randomly stopped at that Tango cafe and it was absolutely amazing! I felt like an ultra-cool real Canadian, with wool and my public transport and my delicious baked goods in a cute little cafe. I feel even cooler now that I hear you go there too!

Anonymous said...

oooh, lovely buttons.

Is that cabled seed stitch cardi from a pattern? If so what?

Teresa said...

Holy wowzers - that's a fantastic gift! How exciting to receive a gift with so much history and future potential :)

sewfunky said...

awesome gift... it's so nice when you actually get something you really appreciate!

Buttons are FANTASTIC!

Sarah said...

I love those button pictures. And the hot chocolate menu sounds like a dream.

Natalie B said...

wow, you are one lucky girl! quite the treasure trove!

Anonymous said...

So jealous on yonr new button stash! It's amazing with the sizes and colour choices there are.....have fun with them!
Thanks for sharing the info on the Cafe. I look forward to try it when I go by The Purple Purl!
Last but not least, have fun in Chicago and can't wait the updates!

Maryse said...

A real treasure! Wow! I'm sure they're in good hands now! Fabulous heritage!

Kat said...

wow that is a lot of buttons! I wish I had a big button collection like that. One day it will happen.

The Sweatshop of Love said...

What a treasure! I love buttons so much I would just want them around me so I can cuddle them.

Have fun in Chicago! But come back in the summer so you can really have a good time.

Ibunnysavetroy said...

hmmm any place with tons of hot cocoa = amazing in my book!

Anonymous said...

Love all the buttons. Have a safe and happy trip.

Hilary said...

Wow, what an amazing haul!! It must have been so much fun looking through all those gorgeous buttons. Have fun on your trip!

Clumsy Knitter said...

Buttons! So perfect! I've been wishing my mom would hand over her old button collection for ages. *sigh* ;-)

Anonymous said...

Wow, did you ever get lucky. Those buttons are beautiful!

Stephanie said...

Man - now there's a knitter's dream come true! And no plastic buttons! It's like you won the lottery. :) Congrats!

Anonymous said...

Oh my. This woman had marvelous taste in buttons. I LOVE shell!

Have fun in Chicago :)

Michele Saunders said...

Wow! Great button collection. I started one of those a long time ago - it is not even remotely close to the one you just got as a wedding present.

Hope you are having a super weekend in ChiTown!

Jill said...

ooo, I love buttons. I got a huge bag at the thrift store once and sometimes I like to just pour them all out at the floor and look at them. Or organize they by color. They seem to have so much potential!