Yarn Along with another Prayer Shawl for my girl...

Good morning everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We had a wonderful time at the Lowell homestead (the home where I was raised) for Thanksgiving.

Let me tell you about these two ladies.

The lovely lady on the left is my first born, Bree.  On the right is my beautiful daughter-in-law Erika (currently pregnant with twin girls).  Bree is married to Matthew, they will be celebrating their second wedding anniversary next week.  Bree and Matt would love more than anything to have a child of their own, but after trying for almost two years, many doctors appointments, tests and a recent trip to a fertility clinic, they have found out that it is not possible.  Not without serious intervention and A LOT of money.  They are heartbroken and I am (we all are) heartbroken for them.  Because Erika is very pregnant (and it should be noted that she herself had to wait 5 years to be pregnant), we were all a little guarded and sensitive to both women and their feelings around the current situation.   Thanksgiving would be the first time they would see each other in months.  Although hard at first, the love they have for each other combined with the understanding Erika has of fertility problems  helped melt away any hard feelings and sadness; LOVE overcame all.  We don't know what lies ahead for Bree and Matt.  What I know and witnessed is that love prevails.  Every day and night I pray for a miracle as I did for Andy and Erika.  My prayers for Bree are now being knitted into this prayer shawl.

I chose green as it signifies fertility, growth, health and healing. The yarn I'm using is super chunky.  It's SO warm, I'm going to miss knitting it as it keeps me very warm and  cozy.   My hope is she'll wrap herself in it with her favorite cup of herbal tea and her books and her three kitties and know that God is with her.  Patience is not something my Bree has ever had a lot of, but she is gaining it more and more these days.  I'm so proud of her and her strength.

I hope this post isn't too depressing because I (and our whole family) really do have a lot of hope for Bree and Matt and the future of their family.

I hope you are all well and I can't wait to see what you all have been working on lately.

Reading:
Still Reading Written In My Own Heart's Blood, but also have brought out my treasured copy of The Greatest Gift by Ann Voskamp.  I love Advent.

Joining Ginny

Yarn Along - A Baby Shower and a Watermelon Hat

Hi Everyone!

I've been quiet these past few weeks as I've been busy with baby shower plans.  It was beautiful.  I rented a room at a local mansion.   The result was a far more elegant baby shower than I expected which was wonderful.  It was delightfully intimate with just enough people so everyone had a chance to visit and relax.  Momma to be was radiant (and emotional).  I think actually holding items that her babies will be wearing, reading, playing etc. made it all the more real of their family's impending increase in size by two very soon.  I've decided - I love working with pink!  That cake? (not made by me) Was that ever beautiful!  We hated to cut into it, but it was just as delicious as it was beautiful, so well worth it!

Most of these past few weeks, I've been knitting washcloths (along with a couple of my friends/co-workers) as favors for the shower.  I bundled two together (a nod to the twins) with a tiny bar of lavender goats milk soap with a cute little saying on the tag.  These favors were a hit.  So I haven't been knitting much of anything else (I did take the time to sew the bunting seen in the photo above - that was SUPER fun to make)

So now with the shower over and some time before Thanksgiving, I've started this watermelon hat.  I had a bunch of leftover Knit Picks Comfy sport (from the washcloths) and happened to have appropriate "watermelon" colors, so I thought I would give it a try.  I plan to make two if all continues to go well.  It is knitting up very quickly.  It should be noted that this is my first time using different colored yarn in one project - go me!  Oh and absolutely LOVE my new medium drawstring bag!  Thank you Wanda for making such a wonderful product!

Reading:

I'm now reading Written In My Own Heart's Blood, the last in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.  It should help me pass the time until the television series continues in April.

Hope you are all well and keeping your creative hands busy with beautiful handmades.

Happy Wednesday!  Joining Ginny!

Yarn Along washcloths at work and a wedding

This past weekend my two daughters and I attended a wedding of my oldest daughter's very first friend she made when she changed high schools as a sophomore, 10 years ago.

The wedding was held at the absolutely beautiful St. Augustine Catholic Church in Augusta, Maine. I'm not Catholic, I'm Episcopalian which is quite close, so I just love the opportunity to attend a catholic service, especially a wedding. I snapped this photo as we were waiting to exit our pew.

Here we are - "the must have selfie" at the reception. My oldest, Bree (center), is married to the most wonderful man, Matthew.  They live in Augusta as well so I get to see her often.  Michaela is almost 17 and quite independent.  So to have the opportunity to spend a Saturday celebrating with these two made my weekend (as evidenced by the smile on my face).  We had a great time.

Okay, now down to business!

Knitting:  Washcloths galore!  I'm knitting at work (at lunch), in the car, at home, morning and evening.  They are coming along nicely.  I even have two volunteers to help me! Two of my co-workers offered to help, and now I think I've given them the knitting bug.  How blessed am I to have such wonderful friends and co-workers.

I placed a large order from Knit Picks. It's their comfy sport yarn.  It's is so delightful to work with.   Softness that I didn't expect.  It really does make for a special washcloth, more for skin than pots and pans.  Because it's so nice and soft it makes me want to knit all these little buggers and I have yet to get bored!




Not spending a lot of time reading these days a page or two at night, but since the forecast is looking promising for accumulating snow this Sunday, I hope to spend it with yarn, book, tea and of course...football and family.

Happy Wednesday everyone! Joining Ginny

Yarn Along with an answered prayer and baby shower favors

Good morning all!

Knitting

I have some wonderful news regarding my sister.  More testing revealed that treatments would be minimal...like apply a cream for a while, minimal.  No chemo, no radiation.  They are making sure there aren't other places to be concerned about, but for now it's looking really good.  So, I will continue with the shawl, but it will be gifted to her as the "answered prayer shawl"  I thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and hugs a few weeks ago.  It truly lifted my spirits and the power of prayer is so strong.  I feel completely blessed by all of you  taking the time to send your warmth my way. Thank you! Thank you!.  

As you can see, progress is a bit slow, but this pattern is a bit more complicated (for me) and requires me to concentrate.  Of course if you've read my posts, you know I do a fair amount of frogging along the way.  But for the last few days, things have gone well.  I bought this yarn and pattern especially for my sissy.  I pray that I can continue to make it and that it will turn out as beautiful as she.

There's a baby shower in the future...So, drawing inspiration from Wanda at Reinventing Mother, I decided that I would gift two pink washcloths with a special soap bundled all together with a pretty ribbon to give as shower favors. I'm very thankfully to have good friends that are helping me knit up a these washcloths so I can concentrate on the many other details required for the perfect baby shower for momma and her twin girls. I can't wait to see how these favors turn out. I even pulled out an old set of pink needles for the endeavor...and yes, I have a pink terry cloth bathrobe that is about 15 years old that I hope to have forever.  I LOVE it so!

Reading

Still plugging away at Bringing Up Bebe.  I find the authors writing very easy to read and entertaining so far.  I need to read more....see next paragraph.

Reading/Knitting Nook

This past weekend, I had a thought.  I need a corner of this tiny house to myself.   I occasionally crave quiet, actually I always crave quiet. I certainly need a place to read and knit where I can concentrate.  I like television, but not like my husband likes television and I find it too distracting when concentration is required - I'm convinced this has to do with my many knitting mistakes and inability to read without distraction.  I had an antique/family heirloom rocking chair in the attic (it should not have been up there!  What was I thinking?)   So it occurred to me that I have the perfect corner for it.  Right in my bedroom.  So I dusted it off, threw the afghan, crocheted by my best friend Betsy, on the back and put a knitting basket on the floor next to it.  I need to find a floor lamp or a little table on which to put a little lamp and keep my books and some other touches to make it cozier.  As you can see, it's a work in progress.  The walls are unfinished and we need new carpeting - the carpet will have to wait until we no longer have geriatric pets...if you know what I mean. :-)  But for now this is my little space and I love it.

I hope you are all well and enjoying your knitting projects and your good reads.  I look forward to seeing what you all have going on!  Happy Wednesday!  Joining Ginny!

Yarn Along with baby news and a new bittersweet project

Good morning Yarn Alongers -

I'll start off with the good news.  The twins are....GIRLS!  Two very healthy baby girls growing on schedule and making their parents and all of our hearts soar with happines with every strong heartbeat!

We thank God for these two little ladies baking away in momma's belly.  I can't wait to meet them in January/February.  More baby knitting ahead with more hints of pink (mom still prefers neutrals) I'm hoping she won't mind a little pink in some of the knits from Nanny Liz :)

The bad news is this:  I received a call from my sister on Sunday evening.  She's been diagnosed with a very serious illness that she is keeping somewhat underwraps at the moment until she knows more, but needless to say it's not the kind of phone call one wants to receive from anyone, particularly a loved one. So as I absorbed the news I decided to stop thinking baby knits for the time being and start thinking prayer shawl for my beloved big sister (from here on out referred to as Sissy).

On Monday, with her and a shawl in mind, I picked up this pattern and this lovely merino/silk blend yarn.  The color is silver and it is gorgeous!

I bet many of you reading this have made prayers shawls before.  This is my first and I hope it turns out beautifully - and that my hands will work quickly so she'll have it for those cold Vermont winters.

There are two people in my life that are incredibly unselfish. My sister and my husband.  They are givers. Sissy is a Nurse Practitioner for about 30 years - a calling she worked very hard to fulfill as a single mother 800 miles from home and family.  I could spend paragraphs and paragraphs describing my adoration for my Sissy, but I think I will share those stories for the weeks to come as I make progress on this shawl.  A shawl certainly to be filled with prayer and gifted in love.  Life is full of change and challenges.  It's hard to accept sometimes - especially when the change is challenging.  My sister needs me...those four words are very powerful to me.  I'm the baby of the family, she's the first, I've always needed her.  Well it's my turn now and I'm going to be there for her for however long she needs me.

Reading:  Erika and I discussed this book Bringing Up Bebe.  I've always wanted to read it, even though it's been a LONG time since my babies were bebes (and I think they turned out pretty darn well!)  I understand that it's a controversial read but thought I would give it a try and then pass it along to Erika to see what she thinks.  I'll let you know.  Any of you read this?  If so I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Thank you for stopping by and reading about my happiness and my sadness this week.  I hope all is well with you and that you're enjoying your reads and your creative hands are busy as can be creating lovely handmades !  Joining Ginny

Yarn Along with another baby hat and an apron

Knitting:
Still plugging away on the Forever Baby Blanket - this is going to be a familiar statement for weeks to come I'm sure!  Our time at home has been very precious and very little these past few weeks. Concerts, a wedding, and new (unexpected) car purchase has kept me from my needles.  I'm glad the calendar is slowing down a bit now.  In order to keep myself from going nuts over the blanket,  I needed a project that I could finish quickly .  I had started the preemie hat; although cute, I struggled with the lighter weight yarn and small needles and didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped so I rewound the yarn and decided I'd revisit it another time.  So, I picked up my favorite yarn, Cascade 220 Super Wash in Ivory,  and cast on the Tegan Baby Hat.  It didn't come out exactly right as I struggled with the instructions for the top. I knew I wasn't understanding the instructions at the end, but everything was perfect to that point, so I just winged it and came up with what you see here. Still cute, just not exact.

Sewing:
I embarked on a very different project (not yarn along material, but I'm really proud of it and wanted to share).  Years ago when Erika joined our family, I didn't know what to give her for Christmas, so I made an apron for her. Over the years it has delighted me to see that she has used that apron and that it is well loved.  I thought it would be fitting to make a new apron with a little more room in it for her two occupants.  I was very happy with the finished product.  I gave it to her last weekend when we visted them.  She put the apron right to work and made delicious chili and cornbread for us to enjoy while we watched the Patriots.  I've never seen anyone as happy as these two. Waiting 5 years for their miracles would make anyone smile.  They deserve it!  Fingers crossed the babies will cooperate next Monday so I can have a gender reveal on next week's Yarn Along!

Reading:
I've been reading God at the Kitchen Sink.  I'm so very much enjoying having something like this to open up and read while enjoying my first morning coffee.  Warmth from the coffe to soothe my soul and simple words of faith to lift my spirits.  What a great way to start every day.  (Am I the only one that "wiped" at the cover when they first picked it up because it looked dirty?  lol)

Happy Wednesday! ~ ~ Joining Ginny

A wordy Yarn Along with a finished project!

Good morning!

First of all a BIG thank you to those of you who took the time to send encouraging words to me last week regarding my knitting woes; I greatly appreciate it.  This week it has been about finding the time to knit.  I work a full-time job that I love, but let's face it, it cuts into some serious knitting time.  I knit in the evening after supper and  in the morning while I have my first cup of coffee, and spend as much as I can on the weekends - after chores of course (blah).  Oh, and the car.  I love to knit while riding in the car.

This week I thought I would share with you a completed project.  This is a hat from the book I purchased a month or so ago.  Someone on Yarn Along suggested it on their blog. Not only does it have adorable baby hat patterns, it is informative with clear, concise stitch instructions.  It will come in very handy for the future especially for a newbie such as myself.

While visiting my 84 year old mother this past weekend, we talked a lot about knitting.  I told her I had made mistakes with the baby blanket, and she asked "why?" Good question mom!  I love my mom and feel so lucky to have her around and in such good health too; perhaps knitting is the secret to longevity?  Knitting is something she has done since she was a child so the idea of making mistakes and not fixing them is hard concept for her....I get it; and I will work on it.  She was so excited to give me a  book she's had for 30+ years (pictured below).  I remember this book from my teen years.  Any of you have it? I really love the button poncho pattern.  It's HUGE so not something I will plan to start anytime soon with all the baby knits to get done, but maybe someday.  I appreciated her gift and the enthusiasm behind it.  It makes me think she's proud of me for taking up and sticking with knitting.  I wished I had been more patient years ago so she could have taught me.  I actually ended up learning the basics from a co-worker 12 or so years ago.

As a few of you suggested, I cast on the preemie hat.  This is my first time using such fine yarn.  I'm loving the color (the picture doesn't do it justice) Shouldn't take me long to finish it. I hope to share the completed project next Wednesday.

Still reading Echo in the Bone.   --must.find.more.time--

Thank you all for stopping by again :-)  Happy Yarn Along Wednesday!

Forever Baby Blanket Continues

Knitting: I'm still entertaining my baby blue Forever Baby Blanket.  True confession, I'm feeling discouraged this week with this project.  I'm not a fast knitter, certainly inexperienced with big projects and I made some mistakes in the beginning that I chose to slog through instead of fixing because 1) I had ripped it out so many times to start again and 2) my inexperience with fixing mistakes didn't help.  Ugh!  I'm fighting the feelings of inadequacy with knitting.  BUT I'm trying to keep in mind that as long as I maintain accountability through blogging and continuing to practice will help me progress.

I want to finish it, but there are so many other things I want to do too.  Now that I'm in a good rhythm with the pattern, it's been a while since there has been a mistake - which helps, but I get discouraged looking at the overall project.

I have another project ready to start...the Hand-Painted Preemie Hat for the twins. I'm going to knit the newborn size.  My decision to not choose the preemie size, I feel, goes along with my prayers that those babies will come to full term before making their entrance to the world.  A while back I purchased a skein of Cascade Yarns Heritage Paint Collection in Cherry Berry to make booties, so I think there will be plenty to make two hats and two sets of booties.  I've never really  had more than one project going at a time...many of you seem to, so I think I will give it a try.

Reading:  Still reading Echo In The Bone.  The combination of this past week being  a bear at work and finding myself drained at the end of the day (the only time I have to read) = not much progress with getting through this book. The Goldfinch up next to read on my Kindle, I can't wait to get started

Onward and upward by next week!  Thanks for stopping by, I really do appreciate it.  I know I'm new here, so any words of encouragement and/or sharing your mistake stories would be so appreciated.  Can't wait to see what  you all have on your needles and see what your reading.

Joining Ginny on my favorite day on the internet (thankfully Time Warner fixed the wide spread outage this morning)  I won't lie, I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be able to Yarn Along today! :-)

Nikko Blue Hydrangea

Living in New England; July/August is when hydrangeas are in full bloom and are in their full glory.  I've lived here all my life, but it wasn't until my husband and I visited Nantucket that I REALLY noticed them.  I think it's because everything on Nantucket Island is postcard perfect.  I recall one night walking back to the inn after dinner saying to my husband I feel like we're walking on a Hollywood movie set. Quaint, clean, quiet, and just beautiful.  That trip, a gift from my stepdaughter, was four years ago and we still beam when we speak of it.

Below is a picture of the front of the Coffin House, Nantucket; the inn where we stayed.

Our house is not Nantucket beautiful.  But it's home and I wanted those hydrangeas in front of my house, because they are so beautiful and would always remind us of our trip.  I dabble in a little gardening, I'm usually indecisive when it comes to plants to buy and where to place them.  (we have a lot of shade)  So three years ago I went to my local garden store, and ended up being helped by a man who had landscaping experience on Cape Cod.  I started to mention Nantucket  and the beautiful light blue hydrangeas and he said "Nikko Blue Hydrangeas" "Very popular on the Cape"  In no time at all after that, he put two in my cart  and told me what to do.  They were already in bloom when I purchased them so I couldn't wait for the next year to see if they would bloom and did they deliver!

I love that it's some of the first signs of life after a long Maine winter.  In the spring, when I  start removing the mound of mulch, placed after the plant has been cut back in late fall, there are always several small, bright green leaves waiting to greet me.  Beautiful green foliage adorns the front flower bed with promise of more color somewhere in mid to late July.  I leave the flowers on for as long I can then right about this time of year, when they are starting to fade, I clip a few and bring them inside to be placed in my white pitcher.

Just three blooms fill this container!

  

I love living in the Northeast (especially this time of year).  Warm days, cool nights and putting my favorite flower inside my home after enjoying them for so long outside my home.  Thank you Nantucket.

Yarn Along

My very first Yarn Along with Ginny blog post!  This is a blog I started last year so I could start participating in Yarn Along.   It's my hope to blog more this year. I'll call it a mid-year resolution and see if I can actually make it happen.

Knitting is something I learned (just the basics) many years ago, but with kids to raise and a full-time job,  I never felt I had the time to invest in more than a dishcloth or scarf once in a great while.  Now there are twin grandchildren on the way (due in the middle of the upcoming Maine winter),  and viewing Yarn Along for a few years now, I'm inspired and determined to make my grandchildren something from my hands.

I'm knitting the Forever Baby Blanket using Cherub Aran by Cascade Yarns in a baby blue color (no we don't know what gender the twins are yet) but this blue is so pretty, I had to have it.  I love the feel of it, it is so soft and the pattern knits up into a very squishy feeling texture.  As I knit, I dream of one of the bundles of joy wrapped in it or perhaps he/she will carry it around everywhere they go - like both my girls did with their favorite blankets (that sadly were not handmade).

As you can see the progress is slow. But prayers for the babies, feelings of determination  and certainly the inspiration I find every Wednesday from all of you on Yarn Along keep me going.  I'm hoping participating weekly
will also help keep my progress steady.


Reading:
I'm reading An Echo In The Bone by Diana Gabaldon.  I've been reading her series for years, and now watching the Outlander series on Starz (based on this series of books).  I love it but I think I'm ready to move onto something new...reading wise; the show is just starting and I'm completely hooked.

I had planned to have nicer pictures this morning, but as you can see, our sweet 11 year old "kitten" Roxanne was a little curious and way too cute to concentrate on a really good photo.  She's quite the hunter - for an indoor cat :-)


Your comments and encouragement would be so very welcome.  I just love Wednesdays!  Thank you for including me!