When will you teach me to knit (1961)?

The 1961 Rec Room featured a coat of hospital-green paint and an avocado-green, tile floor. My Parents remodeled the room the following year. A carpenter covered the walls with cherry paneling; a gold, wool, wall-to-wall carpet went over the tile; and the back wall got built-in bookcases and a long, lower storage cabinet with a formica countertop.

I got into some trouble shortly after the room was newly decorated: I spilled Welch's Grape Juice on the carpeting. Back then, there was no such thing as "White" Grape Juice.

Suburban Chicago, October 1961. We sit in the pre-redecorating Rec Room. I work at my play table while Mom knits on the sofa. There's one unusual thing here: she's using straight needles. Usually, she knitted (and knits) on circulars.  I have a tea service ready to greet unexpected guests; the aluminum coffee pot is on standby, too. The "White" brand sewing machine that belonged to my paternal Grandmother, Tatjana, stands at the back of the room.