Two Good Things!

I loaded my knitting needles with the first sock of the year!  (Thanks, Sharon, it is some of your yarn!)

And my parents arrived for the winter!!!!  No, they didn't come in separate cars, my brother and sister-in-law drove them down to their place first and then both couples had their own cars tonight!
It is a long hard two-day drive but it is over now and they are going to fly home in the Spring which is a change for them but a good change which made for some lighted loads on the way down!
It is good to have your comfort zone tested!  Dad and Mom did great with the changes and rose to the occasion!

It Happened Without Me

 On Monday I finished knitting this little hat for Ella, I had made one in the hospital that was just too small for her!  My fault for trying a new pattern under duress~  :'(

I folded up my birthday present of these batik fat quarters and arranged them in rainbow order!

And then late morning, the FLU hit; like a truck and I have been in bed since.  Yup, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day came and went without waiting for me.  A good point to remember for the new year ahead..........

Ella's Home Coming!

Ella came home yesterday; all wrapped up in her new entrelac blanket from Grandma...........

Spinning

 I spun some Suri Alpaca.  I teased all the long locks open by hand.

 And made a cloud of fiber which I then spun into yarn.  It wasn't the most fun I have had spinning and I was glad to get to the end of the sample, truth be told.

 To its credit, the yarn is very soft and shiny.

 I got a very pretty knitted sample which goes to prove that knitting covers a multitude of (spinning) sins!

I finished my Suri Sample page which marks the end of FiberBinderClub's 2012's spinning entries!

Ella's Arrival!

 Caleb and Cassandra are holding their daughter, Ella Coral........6 lbs 6oz, 20 1/2" , a blond fuzzy head and well, just perfect.

The only relationship that beats parenting........grand-parenting!

Post Christmas Post

 The Poinsettias and Christmas cactus are all doing their blooms right on time!

 I did my big Ta-Da moment with the entrelac blanket for Will and saw I had made a parachute instead of a blanket!   I had added an I-cord edging which looked good except it didn't lay flat!
Sometimes this go like this when you are knitting.  I just didn't notice it was too tight while it laid in my lap working on it.

 The only cure was to rip the I-cord out.  I do not want to work on this another two to three days to find a right balance for another I-cord so--it is finished!  Ta-Da!!!

It is soft, machine washable and will match his nursery!  (36" x 42")

 Now on to some quick projects on the needles-a pair of socks are calling me!

(Caleb and Cassandra are in the hospital now; they will begin inducing labor early tomorrow morning!  Can you say excited?!)

Merry Christmas!

I hope you have a blessed day!

Bill and I are sharing the first 'just the two of us' for Christmas morning since our first

Christmas after marrying in 1976!

Later this morning, we are driving up to Matthew and Ashley's to have lunch with them and 

to wish Will a happy first Christmas.

Waiting............Still

 We are all just hanging out and waiting for word that our newest grand daughter is coming into the world!

I am doing the usual Christmas preparations and made these key ring organizers for a few friends.  It is just big enough for some change, a license and credit card.

HB to Me!

Well, my grand daughter didn't make the arrival on my birthday but Caleb and Cassandra did meet us at Corky Bells for a great lunch !  It was a very tropical day in the 80's and a delicious breeze-couldn't ask for more!

Snuggling

 So much beauty.  Isn't he perfect?!  Belly is full here, he is snuggling next to his Mom.

 It was such a privilege to be able to stay with Matthew and Ashley to help out and to get to know Will.

 Thanks so much for this gift, you two!  This is a very early morning snuggle.

 Bill came today to bring me back home but first, he and Matthew did some home improvements.  There were no shelves in the closets and they remedied that today!

 It is fun to see Matthew with tools!  (This is a family joke because when he was very young he said he wasn't going to learn how to do 'fix-it' stuff ' because he was going to have so much money he would pay others to have manual labor done!  I am glad he now knows the joy of DIY !!!

I worked on Will's entrelac blanket in between snuggles........its about 3/4 done now!

Sewing and Knitting Gifts

 I made a new Kindle Fire cover for my son-in-law who got an early Christmas present.

 Gave it a fit with mine-we took advantage of the Black Friday sale at Amazon!

 Ah, holding a newborn. grandson.  perfection.

 Even Grandpa got in a snuggle!

 Will is wearing the newborn cap I made!  Now that is love!

We took a little detour on the way home to view the Christmas lights.  Very pretty.

A Grandson!

William Isaac Minota was born last night at 5:43 pm  ; weighing in at 7lbs 3oz , 19"
Can you say utterly perfect?!  I will be going back to visit today-hugs are in order!

Sharing the Waiting

 Here is the jokester, Caleb, posing with his wife........I love the expression on her face!

 This was at the baby shower on Saturday.  We got home late and then I had a disagreement with the fast food we ate on the way home and didn't get to post this sooner!

 On Monday, I painted this 12" ten foot long board for a shelf over my quilting frame.

 This morning, I sewed another purse organizer and then put up the shelf with Bill's help.

So much fun to organize and display all my 'old' sewing notions!

Baby Preparations

 I bound off the edges of the entrelac knit afghan for Caleb and Cassandra's daughter!

 I then washed it and blocked it.  The final dimensions were 36 x 48 but it did flatten while blocking but textured right back up when dry!  I am already knitting on the second one in boy colors!

 I finished the quilt and ran into a little label problem-I had bought the wrong kind of printable fabric-the non-washable kind so the first label didn't stand the steaming portion of the work!
Then the 'permanent' marker didn't hold up and this label became a blur of ink after the washer and dryer!  Off to the store for a new fabric marker-finally, I had a label to stand the test of time!

 I also got the 'baby's first Christmas ' ornament and her stocking done.

 I also mounted the vintage 1950's hanky for the wall.

 And, the quilt is finished.  Everything is wrapped and ready for the baby shower!  And the baby...

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas...

 All the decorations are up in the house....

Sissy promptly knocked down 5 ornaments and chewed a little branch right off!

 The Penta are both in bloom-the butterflies just love these flowers!

 Bill bought this tea plant when we were at the Purple Cow Festival a few weeks ago-it stands 5' tall and has these beautiful 4" blooms which are delicious as a tea-it is called a Roselle plant.

 The bloom only lasts one day but the plant itself just keeps putting out blooms-very pretty!