News & Views of Phillips Since 1976
Wednesday December 24th 2025
Two Pointy Sticks and a Piece of String: Knitting Exhibit at Ingebretsen”'s ”“ Latvian and Norwegian Inspirations
This Mitten Display on an Ingebretsen Classroom wall is one example of Diane Thomson”'s Textile Art that makes the room so charming and inspiringÂ
By Carstens Smith
Two Pointy Sticks and a Piece of String: The Knitted Art of Diane Thomson is an exhibit of intricately made mittens and hats that will be on display in the Ingebretsen”'s classroom until the end of April.
Diane Thomson is a knitter and an instructor at Ingebretsen”'s. She focuses on creating mittens and hats in the tradition of Latvian and Norwegian knitting; her work is multi-colored with lively geometric designs throughout. The exhibit”'s title comes from a comment Diane made regarding the art of knitting: “It”'s amazing what you can do with two pointy sticks and a piece of string.” It”'s certainly amazing to see what Diane does with those tools.
Surprisingly, Diane is not a life-long knitter. She had to knit for a high school class and found it to be “boring and tedious.” Years later, Diane had her first child and she wanted to knit handmade mittens and hats for her new daughter, the way Diane”'s mother had done for her.… Read the rest “Two Pointy Sticks and a Piece of String: Knitting Exhibit at Ingebretsen”'s ”“ Latvian and Norwegian Inspirations”
Carved stone lambs mark a few of the scores of children”'s graves
Lambs are often on the gravestones of children depicting youthfulness and innocence. Religious meaning for some is in relation to Biblical verses about the Lamb of God and the Shepherd guding his flock of young lambs and older sheep. Many lambs of Pioneers and Soldiers Cemetery have weathered or disappeared as have approximately 700 other tombstones.
By Sue Hunter Weir
Rampant, communicable diseases caused early deaths now preventable
On the north side of the cemetery, in one of the blocks of graves overlooking the Midtown Greenway, there are nine lots divided into half-size graves. They are children”'s graves, mostly from the early-to-mid 1890s. It”'s not clear why the cemetery”'s owners set aside these special sections for children at that particular time. It may have been to meet the needs of parents who couldn”'t afford full-sized graves but who didn”'t want their children buried in the paupers”' section of the cemetery. It”'s may be that parents found comfort in the idea of their children being surrounded by other children. It may reflect a greater-than-usual mortality rate among young children. It may well have been some combination of all three.
While there are more markers in these sections than the Potters Field, not every grave was marked.… Read the rest “Carved stone lambs mark a few of the scores of children”'s graves”
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