Haddock and Dill: February 11, 1972 The Candles, The Embroidery, The Sewing, The Entertaining and The Knitting

Dear Mother,

Friday Evening

"I've written letters off and on all day long and still am not caught up.

I've also been making candles and that is a slow messy job but it is fun. You should see my pretty, fat ones that I can use for center pieces. It has been two or three years since I did this so I had lots of old candle stubs to melt down and use. We still have a big box of broken crayons and I use them for colors in the wax. Smooth tin cans make good molds but they are hard to find now. Most cans have ridges around them and won't work. I still have a few more candles to melt so will probably finish them in the morning. While I have the mess started I'd like to finish them up.

I have finished all of the embroidery on the wool quilt so will bring it and some wool scraps whenever we get to come. If I could have as much time as I have had the last month I might get it done myself. The blocks probably wouldn't look as good as the ones you made but I think I could do it.

Ann is wanting me to make her some things for spring. I haven't made but one dress for her since she got married and I guess she misses that. That is probably one reason I've had time for other things, too. She sent her measurements and I'll have to get new patterns for her.

Our weather has been pretty much like yours. We went to church in the snow storm last Sunday and it has snowed almost every day this week. Today was nice and it thawed a lot but there is packed snow on the walks everywhere.

There isn't any need for you to worry yourself or Barton about your income tax yet. You have until April 15 and it won't make any difference when it is done and I'm sure he'll get it done in time. He probably does a lot of them.

Your sewing mistakes are just like I make sometimes. It sure is disgusting to sew something together wrong. I got out a piece of material to cut today but spent too much time on the candles and didn't get it done.

I entertained twice in one day this week and went to a meeting the same afternoon. It just happened that my book club & knitting group came on the same day and I was scheduled for both. I was pretty tired that night but got along fine and enjoyed it all. One of these days I'm going to knit Ann an afghan but now I just take my quilt to knitting & work on that.