Another Scarf and Some Hats

Mary's Scarf
Lately, my stitching projects have been put on hold to do some knitting for gifts. Lots of babies seem to be arriving along with varied birthdays. The scarf is for my sister-in-law and is made from the same Little Flower yarn by Crystal Palace, yet another colorway. The pink and purple hat is #3 from the hat class yarn and the blue variegated is Bunny Hop and has just a touch of angora. It's also by Crystal Palace.
Hat for Baby Miles
I made up the striped pattern on Sophia's hat, and there might even be enough yarn left for a 4th hat, but I need to get busy and work on my project for Jayden who arrived safely about a week ago. Grandma Nancy called us from SLO this past Wednesday, but Dick talked to her and wasn't sure of the exact date.
Sophia's Newest Hat

What's This Tree?

Chocolate is a fruit!
The first time we saw this tree was in the arboretum in Pittsburgh, PA, and this time it was growing happily OUTSIDE at the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, which has twenty-five acres of beautiful plants, many of which were blooming.
The Explanation

Can you believe he's already three?

Look at all the snow near Chicago!
It seems like only yesterday that Jill and Michael called to tell us of David's safe arrival, and he has just celebrated his third birthday by visiting their local fire station with his friends! And just last summer, he was joined by Sophia, who at six months thinks he's the best.
Don't I have a cool big brother?
Aren't grandkids just the greatest?

Who'd Have Thought?

One Too Many Squares
Here are all the pieces, plus one extra as I discovered, of another toy made of knitted squares. The book Knit a Square & Make a Toy includes directions for 24 different projects that are pretty doable for new knitters. (I've been teaching knitting once a week at the UW hospital to women in the antepartum unit, some of whom have been there for weeks. Just yesterday, for a change, I helped a young lady learn to cross stitch, and she was so happy to have something to help pass the days.)
Loppy Lamb
After a bit of sewing, a little embroidery, and with the help of a couple of bows, I finished Loppy the Lamb, so-named because her ears are a bit lopsided. And once again I learned that I can't count: this time I came up with an extra leg-square. Oh well, she's done, and that should be enough samples at least for a while!

Yet Another UFO

Amish Sampler
While rummaging through my many bags of projects, I found two cross stitch UFOs that were really demanding to be completed and have been working on one of them. From Charlene , I got the suggestion to set up a rotation where you work on a section of a project and then switch to another project. This seems to work really well for me, too, and helps keep up my interest and focus. I've been switching between this design, one of Diane Graebner's on 18-count fabric, and the Valentine SAL as well as several knitting projects. And, praise be, some of these things are actually getting completed!

Tagged by Debbie

Mount Kilauea
Just the other day, I was tagged by my friend Debbie and asked to tell 6 quirky things about myself. So here goes! And I've included a photo that is probably more interesting than the rest of the stuff: We were on the way to church when Mount St. Helens erupted here in WA in 1980; I was born in Tulsa, OK, but spent my growing up years in Wisconsin; after 9th grade, I canoed with some other girls for several days on the Wisconsin River; I met my husband at a Halloween party 44 years ago; my grandfather directed our church choir in WI; I was privileged to sing with our current church choir at a Mass in the Basilicia San Marcos in Venice; my youngest cousin was born 2 days before I left to teach in Colorado and is 22 years younger than I. OK, that's enough trivia!

My First Heart Swap

Linda's Heart Before
This is Linda's heart that she pieced and partially embellished before she sent it to me. We have both been hesitant to participate in the established swaps at Crazy Quilts for Newbies because we're both beginners, so we created our own swap following the guidelines for the STS swap. Her heart had been languishing in our mail until we returned from vacation, and this week I've been working on it. I'll mail it back tomorrow on the way home from church. Above is the heart as done by Linda.
Linda's Heart After
I had a lot of fun embellishing this heart. Linda had done all the seams, and at first I felt like there wasn't anything for me to do. But after I got started, the ideas kept coming, and here's how it turned out. One thing I learned was that I really like the way the Sassa Lynne Perle Fine gives definition to the stitches that doesn't seem to happen with ordinary embroidery thread. I also like the way variegated thread looks. It was fun to use some of the beads that I bought in Hawaii; it took 3 trips before we "caught" the bead shop actually open! (But it was worth it!) BTW, double clicking on the images shows the most detail.