Bob had to go down to the basement for something last night, and he let the cats go down--a rare treat for them. I decided to go down, too, and root around in my yarn stash box to see if there was anything interesting. I hadn't look at in a long time. Most of what I had was dishcloth cotton; I can't remember now what I was doing with that stuff. Something crocheted, I suppose.

There were a few skeins of interesting stuff: a skein of pale blue mohair, a couple of skeins of nubbly pink and white wool, and some red baby yarn. But the most exciting thing was that I found my box of View Master reels.

A few weeks ago I was thinking about them, and bemoaning their loss. I assumed I had sold them at a garage sale when I was a kid, like I apparently did with all my doll clothes that my grandmother had crocheted for me, which makes me absolutely sick. I'm probably trying to make up for that now . . . (I ordered Knits for Barbie Doll and Crochet for Barbie Doll with my Amazon.com commission check this month.)

Anyway, I had thought they were lost, but down in the bottom of the yarn box was my cardboard school box from the Fifth Grade, and inside were all my View Master reels. I didn't have a lot of them, only eight sets, but I remembered them all so vividly. I must have looked at them hundreds of times. I remember poring over the list of reels that came with each package, planning which ones I would get if money were no object and, I assume, figuring out which ones I would ask for for my birthday or Christmas, since I'm sure that's where most of them came from. They're marked $1.25, which was a lot of money then (early 60's, I think), and I doubt I had any money to spend of my own.

I had:

• Heidi
• Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum
• England
• Bambi
• Wonders of the World
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
• Carlsbad Caverns
• Birds in their Natural Habitat

I remembered all of them except the birds one. I'm guessing that was one my parents bought me that I didn't specifically request.

I was really thrilled beyond measure to find them. Bob and I laid down on the bed in the basement and looked at the reels, holding the View Master (I had found the viewer, too, but that wasn't as vital as the reels, since I could have always bought a new viewer) up to the light and clicking away.

It was a very cool, nostalgic moment, and I was amazed anew at the three-dimensional pictures.

I keep running across knitting blogs and thinking about doing one, but I'm not sure I'd keep it up. So I'm resisting the urge. Right now I'm knitting a doll sweater from a 1904 pattern. It's knit in garter stitch, which is kind of weird, but I like it. I'm using a blue and white variegated yarn (the actual yarn name is "Denim Blue Marl.") Using garter stitch (knitting every row rather than knitting one row, then purling one) gives it kind of a "raw" look, which is interesting.