Busy, Busy............

Lest you think that I am buried under yarn and fabric, you can rest easy. That project is coming along with lots of reorganization and a vow to concentrate on using my stash in the future. Although not much stitching has happened, we have been very busy. First, two weekends ago, we helped to celebrate Brent's 40th birthday. Can you tell that DD2 surprised him?

Since Monday was a holiday that cancelled our usual Monday tasks and the weather was beautiful after days of rain, we drove north to Darrington. The mountains are full of snow and the sky was crystal clear and great for photos.

Can you imagine this view from your backyard?

We've also downloaded Skype and had fun playing with our new webcam. Isn't technology grand? One of the nurses at the hospital told me yesterday that a patient used the webcam to read a bedtime story each evening to her son back home, another mom communicated daily with her mother in Hungary! Here's Sophia in Chicago, enjoying one of her books.

The webcam pictures aren't quite as good as the ones that come via email, but both are a great way to keep in touch with distant family members. Wouldn't our folks be amazed? Daniel is growing like a weed and getting ready to crawl.

Here's David, enjoying the snow while, unlike last winter, it's been unusually mild here, and you can see from my header that the witch hazel is blooming as it does every January.

In the midst of all this joy and abundance my thoughts keep turning to the people in Haiti. May they know how much we care. Sheila has a very interesting link on her blog to a young friend of her daughter, who's in Haiti doing what she can right there on the ground. Bless her and all the others who've answered the call.

What Have We Been Doing?

Whatever possessed us to create this mess? Well, we'll be having lots of company in April, some of whom will need a place to sleep. Since one of our bedrooms has been "off limits," with the bed barely visible, for a really long time, that's been our motivation. Now all the yarn and fabric, as well as miscellaneous stuff, has been sorted and restashed in the closets. As for me, I am on a stash diet!

Almost everything else has taken a backseat to our cleaning frenzy, but I did finish hiding the ends of these two dishcloths though. And since they kind of fit along with the cleaning theme, here they are:


Now, it's back to work!

Happy New Year!

Tonight is New Year's Eve, the last night of 2009 as well as another full moon. You can read all about the "blue moon" on Susan's blog. It looks like we won't be seeing it though as it's raining here. We did, however, catch a glimpse of the almost full moon last night as we walked through our neighborhood, enjoying the clear skies and the remaining holiday lights. Waiting in our email this morning were two new photos from Chicago.

Look who's almost up on his hands and knees. Jill and Michael do such a good job of sending us photos and helping us keep up with the daily changes in our 3 grandchildren. It's hard being so far away, but thanks to technology we can stay in touch. Here's Sophia wearing a robe that my mom made for Jill many years ago. Jill, however, did not have the same pair of sparkly shoes that Sophia is wearing.

Now that we've celebrated Catherine's birthday, I can show my last few handmade gifts. In keeping with Seattle's green effort, I knit a bag for Catherine to take to the market. It's Vicki Square's pattern, a free download from Knitting Daily some time ago. The basketweave stitch which is used on the edges was quite interesting and fun to do. Catherine had admired the Rhythm scarf, so it is now hers. We enjoyed a fun evening altogether with Dick's brother and his wife, Mary, Brent, Carl, and Melinda all there to wish Catherine another happy year. (And yes, we had Coca-Cola Cake!)

One other project which I sewed for Catherine for Christmas was a case for her Kindle, using Kim Walus's Bookeeper pattern from the Moda Bakeshop site. It's a fun way to use a bit of stash and useful to boot.

As the last of 2009 draws to a close, I'd like to wish everyone a blessed New Year, one of happy times and good health. With two family weddings in the early part of the year, 2010 promises to be interesting!

Knitting Projects: Hats, a Scarf, Some Socks, and a Dishcloth

Knowing that my BIL, Bob, was spending Christmas on the Oregon Coast and time before New Year's visiting friends and relatives back East, I decided he might need a warm hat since he's used to the relatively mild weather in Palo Alto. Dee supplied me with the link to a fun pattern and here is the Ryan hat:

Our other BIL lives in Minnesota and can always use a warm hat in the winter, this one especially. So, I used some yarn from last year's hat-making and created a two tone version of Ed's Hat, a pattern from the Lionbrand website.

For my SIL, Mary, I made a scarf using a very interesting yarn called Bahamas. That particular Ironstone yarn has huge slubs which make it a little tricky to knit with. I love the color.

And then David asked for a pair of blue socks. For those I used one of the balls of cotton yarn that Jill found in a knitting bag I had given her. The receipt was there too with my name on it, so I reclaimed them and of course, David chose the blue one. What was I going to make with those balls of red, white, and blue? I have no idea, but I sure have enough for quite a few pairs of socks for little feet!

My last big knitting project I can't show till after Catherine's birthday, but I did give her a dishcloth in her favorite colors. She pronounced it "too pretty to use" which got me thinking. How come we have the idea that dishes don't deserve to be washed with something pretty? Oh well, most people have dishwashers now days I guess.

Aprons A-Plenty, a Bib and a Few Potholders

Now that all the gifts have been opened, I can share some of my fall projects. Earlier I posted a photo of an apron made for Angelina's December birthday. Well, since I really made 6 of these Vanilla House patterns (3 large and 3 small) plus 1 bib and several potholders with the leftover fabric, I think this pattern needs a rest. The really fun part is picking out the material and buttons, but it's a relatively quick and easy project, once you've done the first one.

Apparently Sophia has taken to sleeping in her apron along with her new Bert doll and a miniature broom.

This one was for my sister Jane, who made an apron for each of her grandkids and forgot to do one for herself.

I used pickle fabric on the back of Sophia and Jill's aprons and a tomato print for David, Michael, and Daniel. Everyone has chicken buttons as a reminder of the Ohio farm trip, while the girls have sunflowers and the boys have red peppers as a reminder of this year's garden bounty.


Would you believe there is still fabric left? Now that I have a bit more time, maybe I'll make some napkins! That sounds about my speed at the moment!

Happy Holidays!

Enjoy this special time with friends and family!
Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday, Michael!

Guess who just turned 40 last Friday?

Jill broke with tradition and made something other than a Coca-Cola cake because David, whose current interest is Outer Space, wanted a space shuttle cake for his daddy. I think she did a great job!

David and Sophia had a great time celebrating Daddy's milestone birthday.


And in case you're interested, here's the family birthday cake recipe for COCA-COLA CAKE
(from a friend who found it in the Farmer's Almanac long ago)

Sift together:
2 cu flour
2 cu sugar
3 heaping T. cocoa
½ tsp. salt

Bring to a boil and pour over sifted,
dry ingredients:
1 stick margarine
½ cu cooking oil
1 cu Coca-Cola

Add:
½ cu buttermilk or sour milk
1 tsp. baking soda
2 eggs, unbeaten
1 tsp. Vanilla

Beat batter till smooth, then
fold in 1 ½ cu mini-marshmallows.
Turn into greased 9X13 pan. Spread
marshmallows around with spatula.
Bake at 350 for 45-50 min.

Icing
Put in saucepan:
½ stick margarine
3 T cola or milk
2 T cocoa

Bring to boil, then add:
1 ½ cu powdered sugar
½ tsp. vanilla
1 cu. chopped nuts or coconut (opt.)
Pour over hot cake and spread evenly.
Decorate with sprinkles. Allow to cool
in pan.

Enjoy!