Is She a Girl?

One thing about not knowing the sex of our new baby is the suspense. But how can I not knit gender-specific items when they are so cute? So, this is for our baby if she is a girl. If not, I will pass it along to one of my childbearing friends. I wouldn't be lying if I said I hope she's a girl after having 3 boys in a row!

I got the pattern here: "A Little Hat"
It knits together very quickly. I will definitely be making more of these charmers.

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Peace Fleece Baby Sweater

I just finished this baby sweater that has been sitting in in my knitting basket since I was pregnant with my 6-yr old!! I came to a stop when I didn't understand the instructions and just put it away. With help from people on Knitter's Review board, it is now completed and I am thrilled! It was bought as a kit from Peace Fleece in Maine. This was the first time I have used a chart for the collar. The buttons are as cute as can be!

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More Baby Socks

Finished another pair of infant socks. This yarn is so yummy - it's a 3-ply of navy, plum, and aqua. I don't even know what kind it is - it was leftover from an infant sweater project I completed 11 yrs ago. This is the first time I've made a picot edge - I love it! Knitted using magic loop method on 2.5 mm Addi Turbos.

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Our Family's Christmas Celebration

Our Favorite Things at Christmas

Christmas Carolers

Our 15-yr old son pieced this table runner and Pearly-girl (11 yrs) machine quilted it. I will always treasure this table runner!

The children woke up around 7:30 a.m. and opened their stockings. The stockings were stuffed with all kinds of snacks (nuts, mango, gum, corn nuts, hot chocolate or mocha packages, little gifts, juice boxes, etc). While the children were snacking and opening their stocking gifts, dh and I slept in. Dh woke up a little later and prepared our special tradition of crepes for Christmas morning breakfast.

Pearly lighting the candles for Christmas breakfast.

Dh's homemade crepes

This is what we look forward to each year!

The crepes are filled with cream cheese and cherries, topped with a drizzling of powdered sugar.

After a delicious breakfast, we sat around while Papa read the Christmas story from the children's Bible.


And, of course, could a day ever be complete without rough-housing with Papa? Not with 4 boys!



Finally by the time the Christmas story is over, it's about noon and time to open gifts. Here's one happy camper.

The rest of the day was spent playing with our new Christmas toys. Later, dh made a superb standing rib roast, mashed potatoes/gravy, peas, etc. It was out of this world. Dh was wonderful - he did all the cooking which gave me the freedom to take care of my nearly 37-wk pregnant body that is not doing so well lately! My dh is a keeper!

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family!

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Happenings at the Homefront

This is what has been going on at my house. Uncle R. came over and helped the kids build this Lincoln Log structure for our train we put up every Christmas. The train takes up the entire living room. I guess my dh doesn't think there is a need to entertain guests in the living room. As it is, when the flute teacher comes over, she has to straddle the tracks so they can have the lesson there - lol. But oh what fun! This train has brought hours and hours of fun to the kids - all of them from the 42-yr- old Dad down to 3-yr old son!

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What kind of a knitter are you?

Here are my results:


You appear to be a Knitting Guru. You love knitting
and do it all the time. While finishing a piece
is the plan, you still love the process, and
can't imagine a day going by without giving
some time to your yarn. Packing for vacation
involves leaving ample space for the stash and
supplies. It can be hard to tell where the yarn
ends and you begin.
http://marniemaclean.com


1118 other people got this result!
This quiz has been taken 3120 times.
36% of people had this result.



What Kind of Knitter Are You?
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Finished Baby Sweater!

Finally - a finished project! I am on a roll finishing unfinished projects. This was one I started 3-1/2 yrs ago. It is Sirdar 3959 size 12 mos.


There were a couple of new skills I learned with this sweater. First was intarsia - working different balls of yarn and twisting the yarns behind the work to avoid holes. This is a bit challenging as it causes the yarn to get twisted. I'm still need to refine this skill. You can see the result of twisting on the inside of the sweater (where the yellow and pink yarns stay put neatly in the blue section).


Ok, I'm ashamed to admit it, but I was never taught how to seam a sweater and I have made quite a few sweaters since learning how to knit in 1992! I have been sewing for years, and so when a pattern said to "seam" the pieces, I assumed you put right sides together just like sewing. I never could figure out how people got flat seams! After purchasing some great reference books: The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques, by Nancy Wiseman and The Knitter's Companion, by Vicki Square, I have now figured out how to have nice seams. I am so pleased with this side seam!

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Great Reference Books

These two books are wonderful! They both are smaller-sized and spiral bound which definitely is beneficial so you can hold the book on your lap while holding your knitting in your hands. The Knitter's Companion is made with thicker cardstock paper (definitely a plus) and loaded with quick tips, knitting techniques, different increases/decreases, cast ons, bind offs, yarn requirements, formulas, etc.

The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques gives nice instructions on finishing techniques. The photos are in color and Nancy does a great job detailing the reasons to do various finishing techniques.

Both are great resources and I know they will be put to use often and better yet, either one are small enough to fit in your knitting bag just in case you run into a trouble spot!

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Christmas Tree Farm

Did you know that Oregon sells the most Christmas trees in the US? This is a picture taken from a friend's small Christmas tree lot. It's so pretty. Our tree was a 7-ft tree for $15 - not bad!



And here are two boys looking for the perfect tree.

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