What's up

I just downloaded a graduation packet for Zach to participate in a homeschool graduation ceremony.  I'm pretty sure I'm not old enough to have a kid graduating from high school!

I'm still knitting.  I finished these socks just in time to keep my feet warm for the very wintery weather we had last weekend.

I also made this cupcake hat for a friend's daughter (Christmas gift).  I love the color combo!

I got the mantle decorated with our stockings.  Yes, I knit them all!

The nativities are up.

But still no tree.  Maybe tomorrow.

Greg's parents are coming for Christmas!  They will be here next week and stay through the new year.  We are all so excited to have them.

 Emily is still just as adorable as ever.  Usually.  Soon after that picture with the Veggie Tales nativity she through it down and broke off the star.  Gotta work on that temper!

Me and my big brother!

With her new doll, a gift from a friend for her adoption.

Planking on the stairs?!

Another baby blanket

I finished another baby blanket over the weekend.

You can find the pattern here on Ravelry. Proceeds from the sale of this pattern go to earthquake/tsunami relief in Japan.

The blanket is for my friend Tiffany's new baby Gabriella. Nearly four years ago I blogged about Gabriella's big sister who was born at 28 weeks and lived only a few days. This family went through so much grief over losing their baby and then struggles with getting pregnant again. We are so happy for them and their miracle baby.

Easter and a blanket

Easter weekend didn't go quite like we had planned, but we managed to make the most of it. Greg was sick and the weather of course was awful. Benjamin and Jonathan (reffing) had soccer games Saturday afternoon. I thought the weather would be ok, but by the time we got to the field the wind was howling and dirt was blowing. Yuck! Greg and I ended up staying in the car with the girls until they finished.

Then it was home to get ready for church. It wasn't very warm, but we dressed up the girls in their new dresses and I put on a skirt (first time since last summer I think!). We did manage to get some cute pictures (that I can't post here).

We went to Chick-fil-A for dinner and to see Zachary. He had to work and wasn't able to go to church with us.

Everyone got Easter goodies (baskets for the girls) Sunday morning. More cute pictures I can't post here. Zachary ran sound for the kids services (4 services!) all morning. Jonathan and I served in the preschool ministry for 2 services.

We were supposed to have a picnic Sunday afternoon with some of the families in our small group. But once again the weather did not cooperate. So instead J and I went to Walgreens for cough syrup for Greg (he's still sick) and Domino's for pizza for dinner.

At some point over the weekend, I finished the baby blanket I had started before the girls came.

It's for a friend due next month. I was just glad I finished it before the baby was born. Now I'm working on another baby blanket for another friend due next month also. I'm pretty sure I won't finish this one in time!

What's up?

My sister Renee and niece Sarah (17) were here over the weekend. Sarah had hadn't been here or wanted to come for a couple years because there was nothing for her to do and boys were no fun. But she couldn't wait to come meet the girls.

It was so nice to have them here and they were such a help. Renee was great at rocking M to sleep and Sarah kept J entertained.

Greg ran in the Batan Death March Memorial Marathon yesterday at White Sands. He said it was brutal: running mostly uphill in the sand in 4o mph wind. It took him just under 6 hours. He is very sore and moving slow today!

I'm still knitting when I can. I'm getting closer to the end of the baby blanket I've been working on, just a few inches to go. Then I came across another pattern last week and had to try it. It's the Mitered Crosses Blanket on the MasonDixon Knitting blog. Proceeds from the sale of the pattern go to relief work in Japan. I bought the pattern and have almost finished one square. Once I finish the square, I'll get back to the baby blanket.

Renee was at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs a couple weeks ago and got to see the Duggars being interviewed for the radio program. (The only thing I miss not having satellite TV anymore is their show 19 Kids and Counting.) Renee bought me their book, The Duggars: 20 and Counting. It's a good book and very well written. It tells their family story and also gives lots of parenting advice and tips. I'm now finding myself thinking, "How would Michelle Duggar repond?" Although I don't want that many kids, I admire how they are raising their family.

Sure wish I could post pictures of my beautiful girls.

Finished baby blanket

I finished up this baby blanket yesterday.

It has been on the needles since last summer when I started it to use up some leftover yarn. I'm glad it's done. I don't like to have projects left hanging for too long. I sort of followed the Mason-Dixon pattern for the Moderne Log Cabin Baby Blanket. Then I added a crochet scallop border that I just made up.

I'm not sure what I'll do with it. I was thinking of donating it somewhere, but now I think I'll hang on to it in case we get a little one.

As soon as I finished this one, I started on another baby blanket for a friend due in few months. Gotta keep knitting!

Finished!

I finished the socks!

One done!

I finished the first sock last night while watching the movie Letters to God. Really good movie by the way.



I like this pattern so much better for this yarn and it's a much easier pattern to knit. Now on to sock number 2!

Starting over

Sometimes you just have to start over.

I've been waiting for a few months to get my hands on this yarn. I love the yarn, and I found a cool pattern (which would be great on a more solid color yarn). I finally started this sock on Christmas day. I wasn't loving how it was turning out, but I kept knitting anyway, thinking it would turn out ok. But by this morning I'd had enough. The colors were pooling weirdly, the pattern was lost in the color, it was going to be too big, and on top of that the pattern is quite difficult to knit. Did I really want to finish a sock I didn't love and then have to knit another one? No.

So I ripped it all out. More than a week's worth of knitting down the drain. But better that than another two or three weeks and a pair of socks I don't like.

So I started over. A found another pattern on Ravelry called Down the Rabbit Hole. I think this is going to be better. Sometimes starting over is a good thing.

After Christmas

Christmas may be over, but Christmas break is not. We are all enjoying the time off school. Over the last three days, I've gotten all the decorations and lights packed away. The house looks empty, but it's nice to have it done.

Zach had his friend Brandon over for a while this afternoon. Jonathan is spending the night with his friends, twins Jacob and Gregory. Their brother Eric is spending the night here with Benjamin. We took them to McDonald's for dinner.

I spent the afternoon knitting. I just decided I needed a new scarf.

Looks cool, but it's really very easy. You can find the pattern here on Ravelry.com.

And now I'm off to knit some more and watch a movie with my hubby. Enjoying the peace and quiet while it lasts!

Two finished blankets

These were both started in September and I was glad to get them finished!

This one I made for my friend Alyson whose mother recently passed away. Her mom had given me the yarn after she was diagnosed with cancer and knew she wouldn't be able to use it. I knew that I had to make something to give back to the family. It turned out to be a weird shape because of the way it was knit corner to corner, but I think it will be perfect for snuggling on the couch. I gave it to Alyson yesterday. She cried. She loved it!


This is the crochet-a-long afghan from the Bernat blog. I'm giving it to Zach for Christmas. It was not easy to finish - way to many squares to sew together! I love how the colors came together.

Now to finish some yellow socks I'm knitting for Jonathan for Christmas. I've finished one and started the second. It hasn't been easy because I can only work on them after he's gone to bed or when he's gone (which is rarely). At least I'll have one to wrap up!

Happy knitting!

Baby Hat

A friend in Virginia asked me to knit her baby a winter hat. She needed something with a strap so her little one wouldn't be able to pull it off easily. I found this pattern on ravelry.com. The flower is crocheted. Here is the pattern also on ravelry.


It turned out so cute!

Knitting update

I finished the socks.


These are now on their way to my friend's brother and will be part of his display at WWII reenactments. It was kind of cool thinking of all the socks women back then knit for soldiers from the same pattern I was knitting from.

And these little hats are on their way to my friend Kristen. Next week these little hats will be on their way to Africa with Kristen's sister and mom. Soon these little hats will be warming the heads of some newborns in a maternity home in Ethiopia. Knitting doesn't get much better than that.

And in other news...

Everyone is healthy!

Too many projects?

I'm usually only working on one or two knitting projects at a time. Somehow I have way more than that right now.

I started this baby blanket out of leftovers a couple months ago. Not too much more to go.


I'm making this blanket for my friend Alyson. (Hope she doesn't read this!) Her mom, who only has a few weeks left to live, gave me this yarn. So I decided to make it into a blanket and give it back to the family. I'm about 1/3 of the way through it.
This project is actually crochet. I'm doing the crochet-a-long on the Bernat blog. I'll get instructions for new squares each week. I'm looking forward to improving my crochet skills along the way. I'm not looking forward to sewing all those squares together in the end.


I'm making these cupcake hats, pattern from chileconyarne.com, for my friend Kristen to sell in her Etsy store. All the proceeds go the The Mercy House, the ministry she is starting in Kenya, Africa to help pregnant girls living on the streets. I'm trying to see how many I can get done before my trip to Houston next week when I'll see her. I'm on my 4th.

Plus I've been commissioned to knit a pair of socks from this WWII era Red Cross pattern for the brother of a friend who does WWII reenactments. The yarn will be here later this week and I'll have to get started on those right away as I'm actually getting paid for them.

Who knows when I'll get around to using my pretty sock yarn. I think it will be a while!

And finally...

This is not a knitting project, but these boys sure are cute!


Happy knitting! or crocheting! or whatever it is you love to do!

Yummy Yarn

This yarn arrived in the mail a couple days ago.

I'm in love. So soft and yummy! I've been drooling over this yarn and all the beautiful colorways it comes in for months. Seriously - go look! It was hard to pick, but in the end I had to go with my favorite color combo pink and chocolate.

I think it will be turned in to these socks soon.

As soon as I finish the baby blanket I started weeks ago and the blanket I started two days ago. Or as soon as it gets cold enough to wear them!

The last stocking (for now!)

I finally finished Greg's Christmas stocking last night.

Now all five are done.


I really hope I have to make one or two more before Christmas.

Another Stocking

I finished Zach's stocking last week. Love the blues!

Zach is just concerned it won't hold as much as his other one!

I'm working on Greg's now. Then I'll be finished with stockings until I get to do another pink one!

Family

I always enjoy every minute I get to spend with Greg's family. I seriously love each one of them. One morning we all went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel where our niece Hannah is working for the summer. Isn't she adorable?


Here's a group shot. Wait, where's Grandma? I think she went to the restroom.

Oh here. She's back now.

We spent a day at King's Dominion (an amusement park) with our niece Tammie and her husband Daniel. They are so fun to hang out with. (We'd love to go on a cruise with them someday.)
The park was fun, but it was so HOT that day. There was a water park, but it was so crowded we had to wait in line for everything including the lazy river.

But the boys did manage to stay cool! (Don't know who that other kid is!)

I think Zach is done.

And here is Tammie's daughter Faith wearing the dress and hat I knit for her. It was hard to get her picture. She's always on the move and fast!


And in adoption news...

We signed the foster adoptive parent agreement yesterday which was the last step in the paperwork/homestudy process. We should get a call next week from a placement worker to start the search for a little girl who needs a family.

Finished - finally!

I finally finished the baby blanket I've been working on. I started it almost 2 months ago. I never thought it would take this long to finish. But I persevered and I love how it turned out!

I had to knit 16 of these (12 blue, 4 green) mitered squares


and them put them together like this.


It took me about 3 hours to sew all the pieces together (not my favorite activity) and another hour to add a row of crochet around the edge. But now it looks like this!

And it's huge, way bigger than I expected. My great nephew (due next month) will be able to use it for a long time!