Spring Ahead!

Outside, the signs of spring are peeking out everywhere!

Inside, I've been finishing up a few projects like this dishcloth.

In trying to keep up with my one-a-month plan, I started another one.

I also finished my contribution to Leslie Ehrlich's Sandy Hook Memorial project. Of the two choices, I picked the memory heart.  It was supposed to be a CQ heart featuring old fashioned children's toys, but I did cross stitch and put the CQ on the background. To me teddy bears symbolize comfort.  Hope it's OK!!!  (The bear was from a  corner of  a much larger design called "Baby Blessing," a pattern by Michelle Lash.) 

This fun project is from the current Vogue knitting magazine.  It's a collar and needs a length of ribbon threaded through the beading to be complete.   It's kind of like an itty bitty shawl and reminiscent of collars that were popular in the late fifties. There are seven different patterns in the article, and I plan to knit this one again and try another one that requires beaded yarn as well. Very fun!

Have a great week, and don't forget to change your clocks as it's time to Spring Ahead! Already? How can that be?

Chaos in the Kitchen

Not too much knitting or sewing is going on in these parts. We are updating our kitchen which until a few days ago looked like this:

Gone is that hanging cupboard where everyone has bashed their heads! (One daughter called it the "Shaw initiation.")

Now almost everything else is GONE, and we can't find anything, but progress is happening. Stay tuned!

I've been meaning to post a couple of recent photos from Jill. We are looking forward to seeing them all soon. Here's David all dressed up for something at school. Can you tell he chose his own outfit?

Sophia loves Red Bear which was given to her by our neighbors long ago and is holding up quite well.

Daniel has his own bear. Don't you wish you could sleep this well?

Can't believe it's time to "spring ahead" with the clocks and wish everyone a very Happy Saint Patrick's Day.

On to the Cuff and a Little Stitching... Finally!

We still have some reminders of Christmas at our house. This lovely planter arrived at the end of November all ready to grow. It's been blooming constantly since December when the "Stars of Bethlehem" popped open. (That little flower was our troop crest in Junior Girl Scouts years ago. How did Janet know this?) Just when we thought the plants were all done, one last amaryllis appeared with a blossom in time for Valentine's Day! How fun is that? Many thanks to Mike and Janet for such a long-lasting and beautiful gift!

My Christmas Sampler serves as a reminder, along with the Advent scarf, that some holiday projects remain uncompleted. This week I did do a little stitching as promised on the reindeer. Now I'm wondering why I started with the end of the alphabet?

Starting from the end gets to be a habit, I think. Anyhow, the mystery sock began with the toe, a skill I wanted to learn. The last clue, the cuff, was posted yesterday. Another 17 rows and this sock WILL BE DONE! Then the challenge remains, sock #2. Will I remember the magic cast-on? Time will tell!

But wait you say, "Isn't anything new happening?" Well, yes, the cupboards arrive next Friday, and the old ones are slowly being emptied. We are even getting rid of a few things. Shocking, isn't it? And on our walks we are noticing that the moles think spring is coming. Destructive little buggers, aren't they? We are SO glad this isn't in our yard.....yet.

A Bit of Stitching/Knitting, a Skeleton, SNOW and a Recipe

Last week was pretty crazy. We are getting ready to update our kitchen and spent quite a bit of time trying to decide exactly what we wanted to do before ordering the new cupboards. That left little time for blogging or stitching. I did, however, make a little progress on my mystery sock. Actually I have finished clue 3 which includes the gussets, but this photo only shows clue 2. This pattern requires some concentration, and I ended up doing some ripping on the third clue because I hadn't read the row numbers correctly.

Certain felines were somewhat interested in my progress on clue #3. Too bad they couldn't give me any advice! Their catnaps take precedence over absolutely everything.

Even though we were busy, we managed to keep up with our walking. One afternoon we noticed something quite intriguing near the sidewalk under the pines: leaf skeletons! Neither of us had seen anything like this before and later brought some more home to put in a vase. We think they are rhododendron leaves.

While we were merrily taking our walks in the sunshine, DD#1 and family were experiencing the great Chicago blizzard, and DS was feeling quite good for barely missing it. (He returned home from David's birthday weekend late Sunday.)
Check out the neighbor's garage door!
Hours and much shoveling later, the same driveway looked like this:

Last night I finally picked up my Christmas SAL, having put it away in November to concentrate on the holidays. At that time, it looked like this:

Here's the promised recipe for those of you who were interested. It freezes well, too! As for me, I'm off to work on letter "R," that reindeer.

Cranberry Nut Bread (I used gluten free flour and dairy-free margerine.)

1 cu. coarsely ground cranberries (Mix with ¼ cu sugar and set aside.)

Sift together:
1 cu. sugar
3 cu. flour
4 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3 T. grated orange rind

Blend in:
1 cu. milk
3 T. melted butter
1 egg, slightly beaten
½ cu. chopped nuts

Fold in sweetened cranberries and pour into large greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Cool and remove from pan.

(Will make 3 small loaf pans but you have to adjust the cooking time.)

One Dishcloth, Some Stitching, and Something PINK!

The month of September got away from me. We were gone for ten days, and I didn't do a whole lot of knitting or stitching. I did work on a couple of sweaters but need to make a button run for both, and a sleeve and front for one. I did finish this little dishcloth though, summer's last butterfly.

The backstitching on the letter "V" is finally finished on the Christmas SAL, and it's done except for the beads. I've been saving that part for last but have been wondering if I should do them as I go. I'm afraid they'll be in the way of the hoop. As you can see, I've started a couple of new letters. Wonder how long they'll take? It's certain that this project won't be done this year!

Did you know that tractors come in pink? That just happens to be Sophia's favorite color for the moment. Doesn't she look happy? (I know this has nothing to do with either sewing or knitting, but hey, what's a gramma to do?)

April Projects

While most of April was consumed with celebrating Catherine and Brent's wedding, I did manage to complete a couple of sweaters just in the nick of time.

The last button was sewn on this one for David about 15 minutes before we left to pick up Jill's family at the airport.

And this one for Sophia was finished a few days earlier. Now I need to get busy and knit something for Daniel! (The details for these sweaters can be found on Ravelry.)

Earlier in the month I worked on the Christmas SAL but forgot to report. My progress is pretty slow and slowed down even more by sore hands, a reminder that I can't stick at stitching like I used to.

The Rest of the......Cross Stitch!

With the exception of our Chicago family, we were all together for dinner on Easter evening, so we gave Catherine and Brent their wedding gift. Over the years I have made many trays to commemorate special family occasions. For this pair, I chose a pattern by Twisted Oaks Designs. It's the Marriage sign from their Pennsylvania Dutch quilt series but in a more muted version of the recommended colors. As you may notice, the BIG day is getting closer!

Wedding Cross Stitch Revealed

Four sleeves, one sock, and part of a shawl later, we are back home in Bellevue to find sunny skies and our camellias in bloom!

Would you believe we travelled in 2 cars all the way from Chicago to Minneapolis last Friday with our 3 little grandkids who, by the way, are wonderful travelers, their folks, and our son? Our younger daughter and her fiance flew in from Seattle, and it was a grand reunion, the first time we'd all been together since Christmas of 2007. "Through a Series of Unfortunate Events" as Lemony Snicket would say, however, we managed to arrive at the wedding on Saturday just as our niece and her now husband were saying their vows. (Car #2 witnessed the KISS.) Despite that glich we had a wonderful celebration. It was the first time that all of our kids and their cousins had seen each other since 2003 when Jill and Michael got married. And since that day in August, eight children have been added to our family!

A few posts ago, I shared a peek at our wedding gift for Leanne. The cross stitch, a Lizzie Kate pattern, is framed in a Sudbury tray. Hopefully it will remind them of the beginning of their long and happy marriage!

Christmas SAL and Knitting Update

Whew! I've finished two whole letters on my Christmas Sampler and only have 24 more to go. This is proving to be a more daunting project than I expected; all those close colors and tiny stitches are a real challenge to my aging eyeballs. Plus, I am reminded that I don't really like Aida cloth. Oh well, it will be pretty if it ever gets finished.....

Every week when Dick and I head into Seattle to volunteer at the UW hospital, I work on my "car" knitting and have finished quite a few dishcloths that way. The latest is the Citizen Kane pattern which can be found on Ravelry.

I also completed a different type of diagonal scarf and used up a ball of Moonlight Mohair from my stash.

We're in the process of packing for our trip to our niece's wedding, so I need to run. Happy crafting; we'll be back soon.

Let the Wedding Festivities Begin!

This past Sunday I attended a lovely shower given by our daughter's bridesmaids, so I can finally reveal some of my secret wedding projects. While walking with her to the shower, she asked me if I could please make a ringbearer pillow. Little did she know that the requested and completed pillow was in one of the boxes I was carrying. Tada! Here's the frontside with their initials. Except for the cording string and the golden rings, ALL the materials were in my stash!

And here's the back which is the Shaw plaid. Some while ago, Ele sent me the little bear which is perfect. David thought Catherine asked him to be "ring bear" and responded with a growl. Now that he knows he can't wear a bear costume, he's not so sure. Perhaps this little bear will help?

In my recent cleaning frenzy, I found the old (April 2004) issue of The Cross Stitcher magazine containing the purse pattern, located all the required parts, and decided to make a small wedding purse. Since I put in the very last stitch on the night before the shower, I added that project to the wrapping decor.

With CQ in mind, I finagled a small, make that tiny, piece of the wedding dress fabric to use on the back of the purse. Where is it, you say? Remember, I said tiny: It's the teeny, weeny triangle just above the "love " bead!

Meanwhile, here's what we're leaving behind as we travel to the snowy Midwest for our niece's wedding next week. As soon as we hear that her gift arrived safely, that photo will be shared.

Apparently our cats are noticing the heightened excitement at our house. At least Ginger has made it clear that she'd prefer a bit of attention too; Mocha merely growls, "Yeah!"

Christmas SAL, finally, along with Signs of Spring!

After weeks of working on wedding projects, I've finally made a little start on my Christmas SAL project. I had a bit more done until I noticed that it was in the wrong place, and you can see by the big holes exactly where I frogged. Hopefully that won't show once I do the part that really belongs there.

Meanwhile, out in our yard we have lots of signs of spring, at least a month earlier than usual. It's fun though to see all these lovely colors after all the winter grey.

Back in the Midwest crocuses would come up through the melting snow. They don't have to do that here, but they are among the first signs of spring in our area as well.

Even the currants are blooming!

The other day the paper said that the daffodils are in full bloom up north, and that heralds tulip season, again much earlier than usual.

This little guy is a start from the large bush in our sideyard; I thought it might do better in the front where it's sunnier.

If you look in the right spot from our bedroom window, this is what you see. Signs of spring are everywhere.

Not to be out done by their outside relatives, our houseplants are in a springlike mood. The african violets have buds, and this plant which comes from my sister's plant is full of little "goldfish" and very happy to see longer days with more light. Yea, spring!

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's been a busy week, and this coming one promises more of the same. Before any more time passes though, I want to thank Pam for this cute little bird that is now perched on a shelf in my sewing room. Isn't it cute? Pat Winter surprised me with a pretty little heart pin yesterday, and I'll show that on my next post.

The wedding projects are almost finished! Here's a sneak peak at the second one, and I just put the last stitch into the ring bearer pillow tonight. I have one other thing I might make, but these three projects have been top stitching priority since the holidays. Now, I can finally get to work on the Christmas SAL. I've done a little stitching on it and lots of ripping!

Both of our traveling kids are back home. Here's a photo that Catherine sent to prove that she really did make it to the top of Mount Kenya. Quite a hike, I'd say, on top of a busy work schedule... I think she looks a bit chilly, don't you?

And I guess it's cold in Chicago, too. Jill sent this photo of Daniel wearing the bunting I made five years ago for David. That was a cute pattern, and I'm happy that it has proven useful.

And on our various trips this week in the car, I finished off a couple more dishcloths. I really like the color choices of Sugar 'n Cream; believe it or not, this one is called "natural"! Now I need to get back to the sweaters that have been languishing on my needles since before Christmas.