Lots of Snow Meant Time to Knit!

Last week we were pretty much snowbound because we live on a hill, and our street is low on the list to get plowed.  

It sure was pretty, especially at night!

This little angel was totally buried for awhile, but now her feet aren't covered any more.

There was lots of time to knit and bake.  (The knitting kept me from eating all the baking!) This is another Interrupted Cowl made with Bamboo Bloom yarn. In sorting through my stash I found some more of this yarn and have already started yet another one.

While I don't expect to wear this any time soon, it is finally finished thanks to Judy L's UFO Challenge.  These socks were supposed to be completed in January but they are done now, too.

They don't quite match, but it was an interesting pattern that results in a right and left sock.

This is what our driveway looks like now, so we should be able to return to our normal weekly schedule thankfully.  However, I now have lots of new projects waiting to be finished thanks to a bad case of "startitis" and easy access to my stash.

This sweet plant decided to add some color to our kitchen this past week.  I got the start from my sister, and it's been a consistent bloomer ever since.

.On Saturday we were able to venture out for our first trek through Seattle's brand new tunnel and a visit with the grand kids for the first time since it started snowing.  If you have youngsters to read with, may I recommend  There's a Dinosaur on the 13th Floor  As you can see, they loved it and so did our daughter.  Me, too!  Have a fun week!

Two Birthdays Down, and Two to Go!

Three birthday gifts have been delivered, and two have been opened.  One is still on the needles and not "due" until the end of the month.  The recipient of number three has wonderful self-control and chose to wait till his real birthday......so stay tuned for that reveal.

This is the vest I made for Max, and much to my surprise he immediately put it on!  It fits with room to grow. (The pattern fits sizes 2-8 and is an uncomplicated knit.)

It's hard to believe that this little guy is now six!  We had a fun time on Saturday watching him play with the Magic Tracks that were also a part of his gift.  He's in kindergarten now and learning to read.  In fact he read the book that we gave him to me when he took a break from playing.  Happy Birthday, Max.  May this be the best year yet with many more to come!

Where Did April Go?

April has flown by all too quickly!  First we were gone, and then when we came back home, we were busy catching up.  We spent the early part of the month in the Midwest visiting our older daughter and family. Our days there were filled with the kids' activities, including a swim awards program, and a couple of school visits as well as lots of chatting and hugs. After all these years, and on a lovely spring day, we went into the city of Chicago and finally saw "The Bean."

Millennium Park is huge, and we only saw a little bit of it.  The kids had a great time at the play area, and we enjoyed watching them have fun as well as a great lunch afterwards.

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We got back home here just in time to celebrate Easter with our other daughter's extended family.  The Littles found lots of eggs with the help of their older cousins.

They also like to explore their own yard!

Speaking of yards, ours is full of blooming plants at the moment:

These three are about done now, but the ones below are just starting to shine.

And not to be out done, the indoor hibiscus surprised me with a flower this week and even a couple more buds! 

You may have noticed lots of  unraked leaves in some of the photos.  Our recent rains have made getting out to rake a less than desirable option. (We have had the most rain ever here since they probably started keeping track in 1895!)  Mocha and Ginger don't care about the weather though.  As long as they can find a register to sleep/lie on, they are happy.

Oh, and I have finished a couple of projects, but they are drying now and will have to wait till another post.  Happy Thursday!

Where Does the Time Go?

Here it is almost the end of January, and I've only written one other post.  How come the days go by so quickly?  I have, however, finished several projects.

As you may have seen on Araignee's blog, I made her a pair of mitts as a thank you for the soap she sent me.  The pattern is Fetching; the cables show up better on a plain color though.  i do a normal bind off rather than the picot one in the pattern

Lately I seem to be fixated on mitts.  This is the second time I've made these music mitts, and they are a fun project.

This time I used a Hatti kit, two actually, to make another pair of slippers.  There's probably enough yarn left for a hat.

Last fall, one of my grandsons requested a pair of socks in red and yellow, and I finally finished them.  Hope they fit and he likes them.

And at long last the seams in this sweater are DONE!  The pattern is Pacific Pullover and the yarn is Berroco Briza.  It was done ages ago except for the seaming which I always seem to procrastinate.

Here's the youngest modelling a hat made long ago.  Looks like it still fits!  Enjoy the last two days of January. Happy almost Ground Hog's Day.  Do you think he'll see his shadow?

June Crazies!

Wow, here it is almost the Fourth of July, and I've not posted anything since early June! Well, it's been a bit crazy here.  I had a "significant" birthday, and the unexpected festivities lasted almost 2 weeks!  Jill and Family from Illinois surprised me at the Spaghetti Factory at what was supposed to be a celebration for our son whose birthday is 2 days before mine.

Here are all the grandkids having lunch across from the Locks after a fun morning exploring there and Golden Gardens.

This railroad bridge has to go up to let tall sail boats through.

A few salmon were using the fish ladders much to the kids' delight.

Everyone enjoyed looking for rocks and shells in the tide pools.

I don't think this heron was looking for shells or rocks though!

Later on at the end of the week these two from MN (my sister and her hubby) plus Dick's brother and wife (who managed to escape our camera) were among the guests at a surprise party which I thought was going to be a small family BBQ. ( Yep, I was shocked when I walked in the door with my large bowl of requested potato salad and was greeted by family and friends.  That is one birthday I will never forget!  There even was a photographer, but we've not seen her photos yet.) All six of us had a fun ferry ride one day and explored a bit of the Kitsap Peninsula.  Bob and Mary left for San Diego the following day to attend one of their grand daughter's high school graduation.  Jane and Ted stayed a couple of days longer, and I'll do another post about those adventures soon.  Haven't done much crafting aside from another couple of headbands though.

Apparently this little one has decided headbands are OK as she's finally wearing the one I made at Christmas.  It's a tad large though, so I made her this one in her favorite color.

And this one from leftovers from the one I did for Sophia.  I made both a bit narrower and snugger, however. (It's a quick and easy pattern!)

That's it for now.  I'll be back soon with more about our adventures.  Have a Happy Fourth of July or whatever occasion you happen to be celebrating!

Spring Has Sprung!

You may be wondering where I've been.  Well, the sun has been shining pretty consistently, so we've been outside in the garden, trying to clean up.  I have a number of projects in the works, but they are all going slowly.

This pretty azalea was a Mother's Day gift a few years ago from our son.  Every year since it has outdone itself with blossoms.  What you can't see in this photo is that it's a small tree!  You can, however, see the leaves that are everywhere, waiting to be raked.

Finally our dogwood decided to bloom!  When we brought it home, maybe four or five years ago, it was covered with flowers, and then nothing until last year when it graced us with ONE bloom.  What did we do differently?  Nothing!?  Maybe it took a while to feel at home?

Each year our trillium has a few more blossoms.  I love flowers! Are you surprised?

And here's someone else I love.  Stella's showing off her first haircut and modelling a sweater I made ages ago that finally fits!  Carpe Diem!

We All Survived!

Precious little in the way of any kind of crafting, except for a few unsuccessful attempts at drawing monster trucks, happened this past week.  We were babysitting these two while their parents rendezvoued  in Hong Kong over the weekend after Mommy's business trip. We were well occupied from Thursday evening until mid-Sunday when the other grandparents took over.  (Good thing!  We were pretty tired by then.)  Mama should be done with Customs and on her way home by now, and Daddy gets back this evening.  What an adventure it was for everyone!

Strawberries were a big hit, and we even managed to get everyone, including me, dressed and off to preschool on Friday.

We are back home now, and the cats are happier even though we made trips back to care for them.  Little Miss and Big Brother don't believe we have cats as the two of them are gone as soon as the kids set foot inside the house.  Even we don't know where they hide. As you ponder this mystery, I hope you all have a very Happy Halloween!

It's Getting Longer!

The scarf is almost twice as long as it was! With the exception of the game on this past Sunday, the Scoreboard Scarf is up to date! (Each game is separated by a grey row, the dark blue represents our score, and the green is our opponent's score. Each row = one point.) It's about time for more yarn!  I'm thinking there's way too much green, and I need to get crackin' as there's another game on Thursday and 50 rows to add before then.......

Here I am working away before the game turned "sour".  Dee asked for a photo of the cats, and you can see how excited they are by football.

Not only did I catch up on the scarf, I completed two Christmas stockings for our local Ronald McDonald house.  Each year our group makes over 80 stockings, so my contribution isn't much, but at least I do something.  Right in the middle of this project, my sewing machine started making horrible noises and quit stitching correctly.  I fiddled around with it, but it wasn't till DH watched my fiddling that it started behaving.  Guess that's what happens when you're confronted by an engineer!?

The other day when we looked out our bedroom window, we saw this wonder.  Spiders must be the ultimate lace makers!  It's more filled in now and reminds me of a lace doily.

We are going to be spending time this weekend with these two.  Don't you just love how they are concentrating?  

Hope everyone has a great week, too.  Happpy Stitching!