ode to thimbles...

...those little cup-like thingys - worn on your fingers for protection

remember them? they'd save your fingers from needle pricks... when you were sewing - darning... doing any kind of needle work... my grandmother wore them like they were another appendage of her hand... so much so the thimbles she owned became deformed - no longer round in shape... more oblong instead - conformed to the actual shape of her fingers - sometimes grandma forgot she had them on - would get up from her needlework projects the thimble still on her finger - going about her business... i thought that was the funniest thing...

for me - i never got the hang of thimbles... couldn't get used to them being on my fingers - felt uncomfortable - i determined i'd rather suffer with the needle pricking than have the thimble on... grandma didn't understand this at all as she taught me embroidery - i believe it was one of those traditions of the ages, passed down through the generations... since using thimbles traces back as far as the 1st century ad - the first thimble was actually roman, being found at pompeii, made of bronze - how cool is that? from there the history is richly woven throughout europe... with them being made out of various metals, sometimes even glass - typically, the ones grandma had were silver. so instead of using them - in later years my fascination grew into a collection... i now own around 75 little thimbles - all kinds - some even have precious jewels... some made of wood... to this day, i've never worn or used any of them for their intended use - i simply admire the look of them... the craft it took to make them - the memory of grandma using them 'cuz some are hers - the pleasure of sharing them with others, like now - since it makes for...

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happy day.....